New 75 Gallon Fish Tank

[Raindropsinla]

Hi All. Obviously I am new here. I just acquired a 75 gallon fish tank from my brother-in-law who got this from a friend. Right now looking at my tank, it is empty...All I have is a beautiful stand and an empty tank. I went to my local PetSmart today and got a few things to "start" my water with when I get it going. I have an undergravel filtration system and a filter for the topside. I plan on getting a heater and that is about all for now. I am going to do freshwater. The largest tank I have ever had is a 20 gallon. I've never had any problems with it. So here are a few of my questions.......How much gravel to I need for this 75 gallon tank?? How long do I have to "let it cycle", which I know absolutely nothing about. I can probably do it from all that I have read on the internet, which is quite a bit. Also I have a piece of driftwood that a friend of mine got from a river...it has been dried and out of water for years, can I put that in my tank with freshwater and plastic plants and decor? I'm so sorry for all the question. Just trying to get started. I've never had a tank this size and am anxious about getting it ready for use. Any suggestions would be helpful . Thanks so much, looking forward to hearing from some of you. Thanks!!

 

[Raindropsinla]

Hi All. Obviously I am new here. I just acquired a 75 gallon fish tank from my brother-in-law who got this from a friend. Right now looking at my tank, it is empty...All I have is a beautiful stand and an empty tank. I went to my local PetSmart today and got a few things to "start" my water with when I get it going. I have an undergravel filtration system and a filter for the topside. I plan on getting a heater and that is about all for now. I am going to do freshwater. The largest tank I have ever had is a 20 gallon. I've never had any problems with it. So here are a few of my questions.......How much gravel to I need for this 75 gallon tank?? How long do I have to "let it cycle", which I know absolutely nothing about. I can probably do it from all that I have read on the internet, which is quite a bit. Also I have a piece of driftwood that a friend of mine got from a river...it has been dried and out of water for years, can I put that in my tank with freshwater and plastic plants and decor? I'm so sorry for all the question. Just trying to get started. I've never had a tank this size and am anxious about getting it ready for use. Any suggestions would be helpful . Thanks so much, looking forward to hearing from some of you. Thanks!!

 

[dbacksrat]

First of all, welcome--since no one else is up at 4:49 AM, I guess I can tackle this one

1) you'll need about 75 lbs of gravel
2) as for cycling, I believe there is a good sticky in the stickied section at the top of this forum
3) The driftwood could have tanins which will temporarily discolor the water, so you're going to need to either a) boil it if small enough or b) soak it in a big rubbermaid trashcan for awhile. Make sure you scrub this driftwood really good at some point, just in case.

I'm sure the others will help out too--good luck

 

[cybersymes]

hey there...welcome to the tank...
wow...75...me envious...me only got a 40[imp]...

gravel...enough for inch+1/2...2 inches deep...
...rinse it...rinse it...rinse it...
...get dark substrate...brings out the color in the fish...
...[wish i'd known that at the start...]...

cycling...fishless or with fishies...???
...super-stickie top of this board...

driftwood...boil it...and soak it for days...
...tannins are harmless but will colour the water...
...polyfilter will remove the colour an also any nasty stuff...

whatcha gonna put innit...don't tell me...clown loaches...
...a dream of mine ...

 

[Raindropsinla]

Thank you for all your replies! I'm not sure what I'm going to put in it yet. I had gone to look at the fish and had seen several fsih that I liked and had seen online that were good fish to put in it. So that is still up in the air. My tank will be fishless when I cycle it. THe person who gave it to me, gave me an over the side filter as well as and undergravel filter, both were dirty, she said that they needed to be dirty in order to cycle my tank correctly, is this correct?? I've heard of using gravel to do this but not a dirty filter?! I will probably be on here alot to ask questions. I really want to try to get this right the first go 'round. I'm off to the pet store in a few to get some gravel.

 

[cybersymes]

Thank you for all your replies! I'm not sure what I'm going to put in it yet. I had gone to look at the fish and had seen several fsih that I liked and had seen online that were good fish to put in it. So that is still up in the air. My tank will be fishless when I cycle it. THe person who gave it to me, gave me an over the side filter as well as and undergravel filter, both were dirty, she said that they needed to be dirty in order to cycle my tank correctly, is this correct?? I've heard of using gravel to do this but not a dirty filter?! I will probably be on here alot to ask questions. I really want to try to get this right the first go 'round. I'm off to the pet store in a few to get some gravel.

dirty gravel is good...
but how long has it been out of water...
i guess the bacteria would be dead by now...
you need dirty water from a running filter...

 

[Raindropsinla]

From what I understand it has only been out of water for about a week or so. What happens if I start off with new water, which is likely the case here. At the pet store they gave me...StressZyme,Clarity, and Prime. She said that was all I needed to do to treat the water, but from doing all the reading I have done, I have a feeling she is wrong..seems to be a lot more fo me to do and she said that I had to run my tank for 2 weeks minimun before adding fish. Correct? I planned on letting run for quite a while..getting it set up and displayed as I wanted before putting fish in. They said they would test my water for me as well. Now I am off to the pet store...gravel and a heater needed. Wish my brotherinlaw would get here so I can fix my undergravel filter so I can get this started.

 

[cybersymes]

hey...i'm no expert...but i would guess that bacteria is kaput...

new water is cool...it has to be de-chlorinated...

as you are going fish-less...it's out of my experience...
i ran my tank for a week with 'cycle'[product] added...
my lfs then tested the water for me for free...
after the 7 days i added three fish...
after 14 days and another free test...added another 3 fish...
after 21 days and another free test...added three more fish...
and so on and so on...
now at eight weeks...heaps of fish...all healthy...no worries...

the big deal seems to be regular water changes...
i do ten percent every other day...
and i really enjoy doing it ...

this...in my humble opinion is a good way to do it...

easy...stress free...[for me and the fish]...

all the best...cyber...

 

[Limi310]

Hi there,
As far as cycling your tank without fish.....make sure you have a source of ammonia so the beneficial bacteria starts to form....thus the 'cycle'.
You can't just fill the tank with water and run it for 2 weeks....nothing will happen. There are good sticky's in this forum regarding directions on fishless cycling........

 

[Raindropsinla]

I'm going to check out the sticky's on cycling my tank without fish. If I were to do it with fish, what kind of fish would you recommend? Which is easiest? with or without fish? And when do I add the fish if I cycle with fish? I know I sound dumb, but hey this is the first attempt at a 75 gallon..never really had to cycle my other tanks..they always did just fine regardless.

 

[Seleya]

First, you may want to rethink the undergravel filter. When it gets mucky, a 75 gallon tank is a bear to totally redo.

Gravel -- how much depends on what you want to do. In goldfish tanks, I like to barely cover the bottom. With an undergravel filter, you need 2 - 3" of substrate. Usually, the advice is a pound a gallon, but that is a guideline only -- a 20 long vs a 20 high vs a 20 hex = different footprints. If I were going to use traditional gravel for an average 75 gallon fishtank, I would purchase 50# and open one bag at a time until I had what I wanted.

Cycling -- a tank doesn't cycle without some sort of catalyst whether it be fish pee, straight ammonia or Biospira/Stability (which are the only two available 'cyclers' which I have heard anything positive about) Cyber's approach works great, so does the fishless cycling, fresh 'dirty' media works well for jumpstarting a cycle as well, but it needs to be kept wet and used within a day or so or all the bacteria will have died off. The Clarity and StressZyme can be returned to the store if you haven't opened them yet. You need the Prime to dechlorinate.

As long as the driftwood has been sitting for a few years and is clean, solid (no rot) and has had the bark removed, scrub it up with some hot water and a new, non antibacterial scrub brush and pop it in.

Before you get ahead of yourself, you need some sort of idea of what you're hoping to put in the tank. Some fish you may really like may have very specific needs that you can better meet by planning ahead.

BTW, get your own test kit.

 

[Raindropsinla]

How exactly does the undergravel filter work? I had one before in a smaller tank...but i just didn't seem to do the trick. I think my husband had no idea how to set it up. I also have a 60 gallon pump filter that the person who had the tank is giving me. She said she used both and had no problems. (she got rid of this tank and is going to a larger one...I can't imagine!!) If I want to use "dirty" media...what exactly does that mean. I have neighbor who has a fish tank...do you mean put her water in mine? All the help I can get here will do me good! lol I really don't want to mess this one up!

 

[TLM4x4]

Well, thats the problem with undergravel filter systems, they DONT work, and all of that waste just sits there in the bottom of your tank so how are you gonna get it out when you need to clean it? Yep, tearing down the whole tank. Many ppl had them years ago, myself included but that was like in the late 70's. What you could do, is set up the hang on the back filter without putting any new filter pads in it OR cleaning the media part, get your neighbor to bring their filter pads over and squeeze them out into your filter system. If much of the good bacteria has died drying out, this will help "seed" your filter and get that process going again. Ive never done a fishless cycle so I cant help you there, but with your filter being seeded, hense, jump starting the cycle, you could go ahead and put afew danios and guppies in there to cycle it for you. Be sure you get fish in there asap so the now jumpstarted media will not die without the fish waste feeding it.

 

[Raindropsinla]

Well, I think you just pretty much answered my question from the post I just posted. I think I may try the cycle with fish..seems like that would be the best way to do it. I everything I need to go ahead and set it up, except for the bigger filter. I suppose I could get started. I'm sure I'll be back with more questions.

 

[Raindropsinla]

Let me ask you this...I have a 10 gallon tank that has had fish in it for quite some time. In the last month it has had no fish in it, I lost the last one I had due to children!! I won't go into details. Anyway. This has a filter pad in it. I just got a beta a few days ago and he is enjoying that tank all by his lonesome. Can I use my filter pad from that tank??

 

[Seleya]

Seeding the tank -- if you can get someone's fresh outta the tank with fish in it filter pad (which has been used at least 30 days) you can pop it in your filter and very conservatively add some fish to your tank. Gravel from an established tank also helps -- you can pop some into pantyhose legs if you don't want to mix it in with yours due to color etc. Whenever a tank has sat for more than a day or two without fish, don't expect much of the bacteria to be viable. The 10 is likely cycling itself (which is why I suggest you get your own test kits which at the very least test ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH) The betta wil weather a cycle better than some fish because of his labyrinth organ but you still need to keep an eye on that tank.

Cycling -- if you intend to cycle with fish, please read the sticky about it and test regularly. Figure out what fish you hope to include in your tank and you can determine if any of them are hardy enough to be included in your cycling plan. Stock SLOWLY and be PATIENT. This board is full of stories full of high optimism and even denial only to be followed by disappointment when avoidable problems crop up.

Have you narrowed down your fish choices yet? With a 75, you really have an incredible number of options.

 

[Raindropsinla]

Fish..hmmm I have thought about it. I was looking at barbs, Gourami, and tetras. That's about what I think I want to start with. I wanted to have an oscar, but I had on in my 55..one day he was an inch long, the next day he was just under a foot!!! I think I will pass on that one. He was an excellent fish, but needed to be alone. lol

 

[Seleya]

One way to decide is to find one gottahaveit fish and build your community around it. I have found I prefer biotopes (fish from one specific area) tho I have a couple of different loose biotopes in various tanks (Australia/New Guinea, Amazon, Central America) and also have a few goldfish tanks and then there's my pond and containers I do during warmer weather.

Oscars are neat but sure limit your choices. LOL!