# 75 Gallon Community tank



## anitsirk92 (Aug 20, 2014)

So I am looking into eventually getting a 75 gallon tank. I want it to be a heavily planted community tank. These are the fish I want to put in my tank. Aqadvisor says my stocking level is 83% but I know its not totally accurate. I was wondering what you guys think about the fish I want to put in my tank. Is that a good amount of fish? Would you suggest any changes? Any input would be awesome! 










Also if my plant is heavily planted what type of filter should I use? Or will the plants be enough of a filter? I'm unsure because of the size of the tank. Also what's the best way to go about water changes in a heavily planted tank?


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## anitsirk92 (Aug 20, 2014)

By the way, I plan doing my first planted tank in a 10 or 20 gallon tank so I won't just be jumping right into a huge tank with no experience with planted tanks.


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## tankman12 (Nov 13, 2012)

Dont do WCMM they are actually a cold water fish. I would also not do all 3 of those bottom feeders.

For a filter i would do a fluval 406 and an aqueon quietflow 20 or 30. 

For water change, a 30-50% every week would be good.
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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

I use two large sponge filters, one at either end, with a strong air pump that had two hose outlets. The HOB for a 75 gallon cost more than twice as much.

As for the stocking - nothing there is ringing any alarm bells, but I don't know a thing about white cloud minnows. It looks like you have a lot on the bottom, only one fish at the top, and (wherever minnows hang out), so you might want to balance it out a little. But that's just my opinion.


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## anitsirk92 (Aug 20, 2014)

Hmm thanks for the info, I'm a big fan of sponge filters so I would probably do that. I chose the WCMM because I heard that they were a better fit with bettas and they are hardier than neon/cardinal tetras. They hang out more in the middle which is why I added them because I agree there are a lot of fish on the bottom but I just absolutely love cories and kuhli loaches. Do you guys have any suggestions for good top/middle fish? Because that's the one fish I had trouble deciding on.


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## tankman12 (Nov 13, 2012)

Neons are wicked hardy so are most of the tetras, rasbora, danios, and non nippy barbs, family. So really any. There is a huge number of options.
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## anitsirk92 (Aug 20, 2014)

Do any of you have experience with Endler's Livebearers? They are beautiful fish and I have heard they are good with bettas and pretty hardy.


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## tankman12 (Nov 13, 2012)

Ya endlers are good. But like hrutan said, it isnt going to have a very balanced look.
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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Endlers are very hardy; and there are a lot of Endlers hybrids that are gorgeous. You can also buy only males to add more color. One thing to consider is the larger a species' shoal the less nipping of other fish. So if you get Endlers or Tetras, etc., get as many as you can.

I would be concerned that with 10 Nerites you wouldn't have enough natural algae to keep them all fed. They are very picky and often do not adapt to being fed algae wafers or vegetables.


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## anitsirk92 (Aug 20, 2014)

So if I did 10-15 endlers and 5 nerites, would that be better? How many nerites would you suggest? Or is there another type of snail that would be better? I just don't want a snail overload because i know many snails breed like crazy but nerites don't.


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## tankman12 (Nov 13, 2012)

In my 29 i have 4 or 5 nerites. So since your tank will be heavily planted (like mine) and more than double the size. I would say 10 should be fine. Only if heavily planted though.

You could do up to like 60 males or like 15 males and 30ish females. That is MAX numbers IMO. So yes 10-15 would be fine.
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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

anitsirk92 said:


> So if I did 10-15 endlers and 5 nerites, would that be better? How many nerites would you suggest? Or is there another type of snail that would be better? I just don't want a snail overload because i know many snails breed like crazy but nerites don't.


The answers depend on whether you are asking about initial stocking or if you are asking what you can eventually have in a mature tank.

Ten Nerites in a newly-established tank will not have enough algae to sustain them. Nerites don't eat plants so whether a tank is heavily planted or not makes no difference in the initial set-up; it's the amount of algae. And there is very little algae in a new tank.

A mature tank is a different story. You can do a lot of things and have a lot of different stocking options in a mature tank. And it will probably hold enough algae to sustain more than five Nerites.

IMO, it is better to start out with a few Nerites and discover your tank can support more than to add a bunch and watch them slowly starve.

Another option is Assassin Snails. They have a very low bioload, will eat pest snails and when they decimate that population, will eat bloodworms, flakes, anything that hits the substrate. They do reproduce but only as much as they are fed and one young at a time. When I had an overload of pond snails, my Assassins reproduce pretty regularly. Once the pond snails were gone, they stopped. I probably haven't seen a new baby snail in six months. They also take care of any dead bodies and in a 75, heavily planted with small fish those bodies are hard to find.


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## jeaninel (Aug 24, 2007)

I'm a big fan of nerites. They're great little algae eating machines especially in planted tanks. I have nerites in all of my tanks except with my Oscar because he eats them.

I agree that in a new tank you should only start out with a couple. I started with two in my planted 55 and they had no problem keeping that tank algae free. I think I now have 4 or 5 in that tank and to me thats plenty. Remember, they do poop alot and so add to your bioload. So start out with a few and gradually add them as you see fit.
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