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75g Tang Tank: Stocking List

2K views 28 replies 5 participants last post by  Storiwyr 
#1 ·
I finally have my tank at home. It's set up with substrate, some rocks, shells are ordered and on their way, filter and heater and thermometer are placed. Tomorrow I'll be adding water and a rock from my Mbuna tank at work and plugging everything in to get it cycling.

So now, it's time to think seriously about my stocking list. The one thing I am 100% sure of is that I want Shellies. They're my main reason for my obsession with having a Tang tank.

I would like either Brevis or Multifascietus, preferably Brevis. Is the recommendation to stock 6 and then thin them out when they pair up so that there's space for everyone?

Other than that, I'm pretty open, I just want a fun mix. I do have rockwork on one side of the tank--Texas Holey and some Lace Rock. The other Tangs I've seen that I just love are black Calvus, Caudopuncs, Eretmodus cyanostictus, and Julidochromis marlieri. How would these fit into a 75g and how many would I stock to start with?

What about a sandsifter species?

Are Cyps the best/only choice for open water, or are there others I should look into?

Thanks so much, guys!
 
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#2 ·
Can't think of anything other than cyps for the top half of the tank. A dozen non-jumbos would be good.

With shellies, you don't want sand sifters. You already have your bottom dweller.

Choose two rock-dwellers. I like calvus and caudopunctatus, but julidochromis would work too. I'm sure you could do gobies, maybe instead of a rock-dweller, but I'll let others chime in on how to stock and numbers.

Buy 6 and let a pair form. Plan to remove the extras. Calvus are not likely to tolerate more than one male in the tank, but sometimes the male will accept a harem and you can keep the females.
 
#3 ·
DJ covered the major points. :thumb:

But- water will not help you cycle the new tank. You need a "seeded" filter- I suggest starting to run your new filter on your old tank to make sure it gets good and colonized with the beneficial bacteria. Once you have those bacteria in a new filter, they will need to be fed... so don't move the filter until you get fish, or look at maintaining the bacteria by adding ammonia. No matter which way you choose, make sure to pick up a test kit for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate... Here's a good article about cycling your tank before getting fish: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/f ... _cycle.php. Since you have an established tank, you will skip most of the hassle, but it's good to understand the process. I am constantly up-and-down sizing how many aquaria I am running, so I'm swapping filters and media frequently. My favorite tool for cycling a new tank is a sponge filter. They're cheap, easily movable, and always a good idea as a backup to a primary filter. You can also swap out half the media from the new filter with half the media from an established filter... and voila' you have 2 functioning biofiltration systems. :D But anytime you are monkeying around with the filters like this, keep testing for ammonia and nitrite in both tanks.

Stocking-
Cyps are the best for open water, and for your tank make sure you are getting non-jumbos. As far as entertainment value, multies beat brevis 10-to-1 for being out and about and chasing off fish 4 times their size to protect multiple generations of fry; but it's your choice, either will work fine. However, J. marlieri is not a good mix with shellies... the smaller julies (J. transcriptus or ornatus) are fine though.

Here's what I'd suggest for your whole list:

12 C. leptosoma (non-jumbo)
6 shellies (your choice)
6 E. cyanostictus (my favorite fish, great neighbor to the rest of your list)
6 A. calvus OR 6 L. caudopunctatus
 
#4 ·
Thanks so much, guys. :) I was planning on snagging a rock or two from my other tank and using it in my new one, but I like the filter idea a lot. The filter I bought is a HOB AquaClear, how long would I let it run in my office tank before it would be ready for the new tank? Then would it be good to just to put in my new tank and it's automatically cycled?
 
#5 ·
Oh, and I meant to say ... for some reason I have not figured out, given the office tank was a Cichlid tank BEFORE too, the person I inherited it from was using an Undergravel filter. So I don't think media swapping is an option, unfortunately.
 
#6 ·
The rocks aren't going to help much either... some, but not much.
In an established tank, a new filter should get inoculated pretty quickly- especially if you let it run while stirring up the tank substrate a bit. A week would be good, two weeks better, but a couple of days with some substrate from the bottom of the tank thrown into the HOB can get the job done.

BUT- In all cases, monitor your NH3, and NO2.

UGF are good as secondary filters, but I haven't seen a tank run on only a standard UGF... how is your nitrAte concentration on the tank at work?

I like the AC HOBS... I hope you bought two of them though. For your stocking list on a 75 gal tank, you're going to need at least two AC70s. If you have an AC110, look at adding a large sponge filter at the other end.
 
#7 ·
Nitrate tends toward high on the work tank, but manageable and fish seem to be fine. Nitrite and Ammonia are always zero. The undergravel filter is hooked up to two pumps. I just bought a new pump for one side because the old one randomly stopped working ... the one I bought is an AquaClear 70, because I THINK it is the same gph as the one it replaced.

The filter I bought for the new tank is an AC110. Would it work okay to get two more AC110s, stick a second one on the other end of my home tank, and the final one on the tank at work?
 
#9 ·
Okay. Now as for the tank at home, should I fill it with water now, and see what the pH/Hardness does while I'm running the filter on the work tank? I was told at the LFS that our water is soft, and that the sand I got in combination with the Texas Holey Rock and (to a lesser extent) the lace rock would help raise the pH. Should I also dechlorinate it when I add water initially, or wait til I'm closer to having the fish?

If I cycle a filter on the work tank, then I don't have to add ammonia to the home tank unless I'm going to stick the filter on it and run it with no fish to 'feed' ammonia to the bacteria, right? I could just swap the filter over and put fish in it immediately?
 
#10 ·
Why dont you start the new tank cycling using the ammonia while your filter is getting seeded, that way you would have the best of both worlds, when you do move the filter from your work tank, the filter in the new tank will have had a good start, you would need to buy another filter to do it this way but you said your buying 1 anyway.
 
#11 ·
When are you getting your fish? Do you have another pump to agitate the water while your filters are getting cycled? If you have at least a couple weeks, I suggest seeding your filter for 10 days, then filling your new tank with dechlorinated water and bringing over the seeded filter. Then, feed your tank ammonia (a tablespoon a day should do it) until the day before you get the fish. The day before, do a 75% water change, adding dechlor and buffers... and test all your water parameters to make sure they're where you want them.

Speaking of buffers- Any bump in pH, hardness that you see from your substrate or the limestone will be short lived (after the fine particulates are gone, forget it). Measure your pH and hardness right out of the tap, and again after the water has sat out for several hours. If your water is soft enough to dissolve your substrate, it still won't happen quickly enough to help your fish out. Practice your buffering and hardening on plain tap water, and pretend there's going to be no effect from your substrate.
I use baking soda and Epsom salt- they're cheap, easy, and not harmful if overused.
 
#12 ·
As of now, I think my plan for stocking is:

12 C. leptosoma
6 multies
6 E. cyanostictus
6 A. calvus

I don't have an exact date to add the fish, so my answer for when I'm getting them is 'As soon as possible while not risking their lives with my impatience'. ;) My intention is to get what I can locally, and if I can't find it locally when I'm ready to buy then I'll order online. I know I was reading something about introducing in a certain order. Would I want to get the shellies first and let them get settled before I add anything else? The Shellies and the Calvus?

As far as agitating the water, would it be okay to run one filter on my work tank to get the bacteria in it, and keep the other filter on my new tank to agitate the water, then let it get populated by the 'cycled' filter when I bring that home? Or do I want to run them both on my other tank?

As for buffering and hardening, is it directly proportional by volume? As in, if I test by amount it takes to get the right hardness and pH on a gallon of water, can I multiply that by 75 for the amount to use on the full tank? What's the best way to do water changes if I need to accomplish buffering/hardening each time I change the water without harming the fish once the tank is established?

Thank you so much, I really appreciate all your help and advice. I've read so much on all this stuff, but I understand so much better when I can ask someone questions and have more of a conversation. :)
 
#13 ·
I'd put them all in at once if possible. I would not fill the tank at home and run both the filters on the tank at work...why not have 2X as much beneficial bacteria? Yes, if you get the correct pH on a gallon of water you can extrapolate for the rest of the tank. Just do your 2G mix weekly and agitate with a powerhead in the bucket to mix thoroughly while you vacuum the substrate/remove water from the big tank. Then dump in the 2G with buffer along with the refill from the Python.
 
#14 ·
Perhaps I'm being a bit of a noob here, but what do you mean by 2G mix?
 
#15 ·
Wow, I've learned a lot just by reading through all this. :)

I've also wondered on how to do a water change while maintaining parameters in my new Tang tank. Is this what a Python is for?

Fortunately my tap water is relatively hard with a high pH and I don't have to do much - but I would like to bump up the pH a bit. Tap is about 7.5.
 
#16 ·
Okay the Python is mere convenience and doesn't do anything to add ingredients and/or chemicals. I thought perhaps it drip fed and/or premixed agents into the water going back into the tank.

So do most people do their water change THEN add whatever agents they use to increase hardness/pH? Same question for dechlorinator... I've heard chlorine kills bacteria fast - so do you add the dechlorinator before refilling the tank? I never worried about it too much with mbuna but I've heard Tangs are more sensitive and I want to do it right.

Sorry - I'm not trying to hijack this thread :). I hope this information is useful for both of us.
 
#17 ·
I need to bring home my test kit and check it out of the tap. I live really close to my LFS, but it would be nice if my tap water were more like yours, Dawg! Would save me some work! ;)
 
#18 ·
I think it's better to add dechlor first and buffers midstream.

2G mix is 2 gallons of water in a bucket mixed with ehough buffer for your whole water change. Add it as you refill the tank with tap water from the Python.
 
#19 ·
Okay! I thought that might be what it was, DJ, but wanted some confirmation. Thanks so much!

Dawg, please keep asking questions if you have them, I'm definitely learning from them too! ;)
 
#20 ·
It's too bad DJ is on the other side of the country or I'd offer to take you guys out for a beer/margarita and trade sec... er... listen to his wisdom :oops:.
 
#21 ·
So how's the cycling going?

Any changes to the stocking list?
 
#22 ·
Was a bit delayed in my plans by being sick the last two days, but we're going to set up the filter on the office tank this afternoon and run it ten days. We're probably going to use only one filter for now because there isn't a good way to put two on the tank at work at this point.

No real stocking changes, though I was looking at the ocellatus earlier today and pondering the possibility of doing those instead of multies. I just don't know yet. I probably won't know for sure til I actually go to get fish! ;)
 
#23 ·
Sorry to hear you've been sick :(.

I have Gold occies here at work. They'd really stick out nice against that Tahitian Moon sand you got :thumb: . My understanding is they're a little more... aggressive than multies... and the males/older juvies are more likely to cannibalize fry. They sure are pretty though... gold bodies with the purple tinting.

Anyway, was just curious... It's fun to strategize even if you change your mind the day of purchase :)
 
#24 ·
My husband would like to know if there are any Synodontis catfish that can live in (relative) peace with E. cyanostictus, Cyps, Multies and Calvus? Do they occupy the bottom too much and then just stress out the shellies?
 
#26 ·
Poor Shellies, so easily stressed and yet SO awesome. I may have to go your route eventually, DJ and do a Malawi tank with Synos. :)
 
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