# 75 Gallon Tank



## BabyNemo (Jul 22, 2014)

Hey everyone. It's been a long time since I've been on here. My 55 gallon got a crack in the side from moving large furniture near it, and we upgraded it to a 75. It houses:
3 juvenile turtles (ranging from 2 inches to 5 inches)
2 blue gourami
2 orange gourami
2 Australian rainbowfish
3 red finned tetras
1 "mickey mouse" tetra

I feel like the tank is super empty, which I could be wrong. If it isn't overstocked, what fish would be a smart addition to the tank? The turtles show zero interest in the fish, and they never have been interested in fish before. Tomorrow I plan to go get some ghost shrimp if they have any.
Here is a picture of the tank:









This was right after setup. Now it has a piece of driftwood on the left side that I'm waiting to sink.


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## brads (Mar 23, 2013)

Congratulations on the new tank. Already starting to look good. Well let's see, I think you're right. It could use a few more fish. What have you got, 10 fish and 3 turtles. Yup, lots of room yet.

Smart additions... Well, first thing to do is get your tank cycled up and your driftwood sunk. (check driftwood for leaching-turns water brown) But after that, it looks like what you mostly have are community fish. (platys, tetras and the like.) The gourami's are kind of territorial and on the low side of semi aggressive so you might not want to get any more of those. No real worries though, they'll kind of stake there claim on an area of the tank and the rest of the fish will soon learn their boundaries and not go there. But, add more gourami's and you increase the possibilities of them not getting along with each other. Maybe they will, maybe they won't. You could try it and see I guess. Other then that, you could get just about any other community fish you like. No worries.

note: Ghost shrimp are really cool but fish like to eat them. Fishy rule of thumb. If it will go in their mouth... they'll eat it. Just sayin'

Anyhoo, keep us posted and have a great time! :animated_fish_swimm


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## BabyNemo (Jul 22, 2014)

Thank you for the reply! I'm not sure if this driftwood will ever sink. But I am waiting for it to leech and turn the water brown. The second it does, though, it's coming out and I may even take it out now. I found out I have 109 dollars to spend tomorrow at petsmart so I could get some driftwood that won't turn the water brown. I've already noticed the gouramis being territorial. Two stay together hidden underneath a rock cave and the others stay inside the little house. I see them during feeding time and that's about it. I can not wait to get more fish and see the tank look better. I tested water tonight and everything was exactly where it should be. So I'm pretty sure it's cycled. Especially since more than half the tanks water came directly from the old tank. My PH was 7.6 though and I think that's a little high?

Also, I've heard about fish eating ghost shrimp. My turtles like to chase them! I'm glad they're only like 30¢!


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## BabyNemo (Jul 22, 2014)

Today we got one pictus catfish and five tiger barbs. Also two golden mystery snails and a piece of driftwood and an tank ornament. Everyone seems super happy.


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## TDunn523 (Oct 3, 2014)

What kind of turtles and where did you get them


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## BabyNemo (Jul 22, 2014)

TDunn523 said:


> What kind of turtles and where did you get them


I have one RES, one possible Painted, and another possible Painted. They were rescues from one person who got them outside and put them in a .5 gallon fish bowl with gravel, no light, no heater, and .5 inches of water. The other two came from a lady who lived in a basement and had five of them in a ten gallon tank with no filter, gravel, no lights, and she was feeding them tortoise food.


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## TDunn523 (Oct 3, 2014)

Wow good for you for rescuing them. I want one for my 55 gallon with freshwater fish. Can't find one who will stay small and underwater completely like yours


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## BabyNemo (Jul 22, 2014)

TDunn523 said:


> Wow good for you for rescuing them. I want one for my 55 gallon with freshwater fish. Can't find one who will stay small and underwater completely like yours


Mine aren't underwater completely, they have a basking area. Most can and will eat fish. My youngest, Nemo the RES was raised with fish since he was super tiny, so he wants nothing to do with live fish. For a turtle that would stay small I could suggest a Map Turtle, males should not get bigger than 6" when full grown. They are very avid baskers though, and therefore a ATBA would be needed if you want to still maintain your water level fully. The rule for turtles and fish tanks is for every inch of turtle, give ten gallons of water. My tank doesn't follow this rule yet, but when I move out in two years I'll be upgrading again. If you have any questions or anything, you can PM me. Thanks.


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## BabyNemo (Jul 22, 2014)

Also just got the O.K. to set up another ten gallon tank once I get my room set up for it. I may even set up two of them so I can have a guppy/platy tank and I want to do a heavily planted tank... Now to get a job.


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## BabyNemo (Jul 22, 2014)

We've lost some fish. Now it stocks
2 Tiger barbs
2 blue gouramis
2 orange gouramis
1 pictus catfish
2 mystery snails
3 juvenile turtles

I'm not sure what's going on.
The gouramis are doing great, but everything else gets sick and dies. The tank is cycled and everything is reading in the right ranges, I don't know why this is happening. I'm going to hold back on fish besides taking the two back that died just now and getting my money back, will probably get another plant. I'm going to work on stocking the left side of the tank with plants. I want to do low light plants that don't require certain lights.


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## chenowethpm (Jan 8, 2014)

Sounds like a problem that fish are dying. What are your water parameters, and maintenance routines?


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## BabyNemo (Jul 22, 2014)

chenowethpm said:


> Sounds like a problem that fish are dying. What are your water parameters, and maintenance routines?


Ph is 7.6
Ammonia is zero
Nitrite is zero
Nitrate was very low 
I do 25% water changes every week on my tanks.


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## chenowethpm (Jan 8, 2014)

Those numbers sound perfect. My only suggestion is maybe do 50% instead of 25% water changes.


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## BabyNemo (Jul 22, 2014)

chenowethpm said:


> Those numbers sound perfect. My only suggestion is maybe do 50% instead of 25% water changes.


Okay. I can do that. Thanks!


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## brads (Mar 23, 2013)

I've already noticed the gouramis being territorial. Two stay together hidden underneath a rock cave and the others stay inside the little house. I see them during feeding time and that's about it. I can not wait to get more fish and see the tank look better. I tested water tonight and everything was exactly where it should be. So I'm pretty sure it's cycled. Especially since more than half the tanks water came directly from the old tank. My PH was 7.6 though and I think that's a little high?

Also, I've heard about fish eating ghost shrimp. My turtles like to chase them! I'm glad they're only like 30¢

Yup, that's Gouramis alright. Sounds like there's no worries though. They have staked out their territories and all is well. I'm sure you're right and your tank is pretty much cycled by now. As far as PH goes, I wouldn't worry about it. The fish will get used to whatever you have. The only time it really becomes a problem is if you use different water sources with radically different PH levels as this could shock the fish. Also, good choice on the driftwood. Better to avoid any potential problems if you can. :animated_fish_swimm

PS Go turtles go!!!


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## brads (Mar 23, 2013)

We've lost some fish. Now it stocks
2 Tiger barbs
2 blue gouramis
2 orange gouramis
1 pictus catfish
2 mystery snails
3 juvenile turtles

I'm not sure what's going on.
The gouramis are doing great, but everything else gets sick and dies. The tank is cycled and everything is reading in the right ranges, I don't know why this is happening. I'm going to hold back on fish besides taking the two back that died just now and getting my money back, will probably get another plant. I'm going to work on stocking the left side of the tank with plants. I want to do low light plants that don't require certain lights.


A thought on losing fish. Since your water parameters sound good, I'm thinking you either got bad fish (this happens occasionally) or possibly your Gouramis are bullying/scaring the others and causing them to go into shock and die. Just keep an eye on them and see how they are. Good choice on not getting any more fish until you're sure. :animated_fish_swimm


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## BabyNemo (Jul 22, 2014)

brads said:


> We've lost some fish. Now it stocks
> 2 Tiger barbs
> 2 blue gouramis
> 2 orange gouramis
> ...


I think I got bad fish. The lady said their supplier gave them a weird shipment. She said once they get their next shipment everything should be okay with their fish again. Maybe I'll try again in a few weeks or a few months.


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## BabyNemo (Jul 22, 2014)

I lost all tiger barbs and my pictus catfish. I loved that little guy.


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## brads (Mar 23, 2013)

I lost all tiger barbs and my pictus catfish. I loved that little guy.


I'm very sorry to hear about your loss. It's always hard to lose some friends. Sounds like the most likely cause was a bad load of fish at your LFS but I would be remiss if I didn't touch on the Gouramis again. So, do you remember if any of the fish had chewed up fins or looked beat up in any way? You know, just in case one of the Gouramis is causing a problem. Unfortunately, losing 3-4-5 fish a night from Gouramis isn't unheard of. Oh, it doesn't matter how long you've had them either. Gouramis are Gouramis. Hope that's not it but, ya know. Anyway, test and re-test the water of course and yes, waiting a while for a new batch of fish might be a good idea. Gives your LFS a chance to change stock and helps to calm the spirit too. RIP little fishes.


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## BabyNemo (Jul 22, 2014)

brads said:


> I lost all tiger barbs and my pictus catfish. I loved that little guy.
> 
> 
> I'm very sorry to hear about your loss. It's always hard to lose some friends. Sounds like the most likely cause was a bad load of fish at your LFS but I would be remiss if I didn't touch on the Gouramis again. So, do you remember if any of the fish had chewed up fins or looked beat up in any way? You know, just in case one of the Gouramis is causing a problem. Unfortunately, losing 3-4-5 fish a night from Gouramis isn't unheard of. Oh, it doesn't matter how long you've had them either. Gouramis are Gouramis. Hope that's not it but, ya know. Anyway, test and re-test the water of course and yes, waiting a while for a new batch of fish might be a good idea. Gives your LFS a chance to change stock and helps to calm the spirit too. RIP little fishes.


The fish we've lost looked fine except two of the tiger barbs. I'm sure it's the gouramis. But, they're great so if they just wanna be the only ones in the tank I'll do that for them. They even tried attacking the new snails.


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## chenowethpm (Jan 8, 2014)

Gouramis are notorious for being aggressive and territorial. Ask me how I learned this. Usually they don't get along with each other either.


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## FishyFriend (Oct 20, 2014)

It's never recommended to keep more than one species of gourami together, especially if you have more than one male as they're territorial & can get quite aggressive, I would rehome one.
Your tank also needs more plants to break up eyelines & give the fish somewhere to hide if they need to, schooling fish in particular feel more secure if they have plenty of places to
retreat to.
I would fill out your number of schooling fish to at least 6 of each kind, tiger barbs are especially nippy in small groups & imo are best kept in species only tanks.
Pictus catfish should also be kept in groups, they're very active fish especially at night & can unsettle slow moving fish like gourami, they'll also take any small fish that fit in their mouths.


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## BabyNemo (Jul 22, 2014)

FishyFriend said:


> It's never recommended to keep more than one species of gourami together, especially if you have more than one male as they're territorial & can get quite aggressive, I would rehome one.
> Your tank also needs more plants to break up eyelines & give the fish somewhere to hide if they need to, schooling fish in particular feel more secure if they have plenty of places to
> retreat to.
> I would fill out your number of schooling fish to at least 6 of each kind, tiger barbs are especially nippy in small groups & imo are best kept in species only tanks.
> Pictus catfish should also be kept in groups, they're very active fish especially at night & can unsettle slow moving fish like gourami, they'll also take any small fish that fit in their mouths.


I lost my pictus catfish and my tiger barbs. I'm working on filling the tank with plants. My gouramis are pretty okay with each other.


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