Got a free 75 gallon aquarium

tuscarora dave

tuscarora dave

Active member
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
5,408
Reaction score
12
Was looking for a free small aquarium to keep bait fish in and instead found a 75 gallon for free. Darned nice tank for free!!

I've been spending a lot of time on Aquaria Central forum seeing where I'd made any mistakes along the way. Seems that there's a lot more to fish keeping than just adding water, adding dechlorinater and conditioner and tossing in the fish like I did.

I tossed in 6 wild minnows and it seems I need to learn how and then properly cycle this tank to ensure there's beneficial bacteria in there so that the fish can have a healthy environment to live in. Not sure if I can catch these little darters to remove them while I properly cycle the tank.

Any hobbyist fish keepers here?

Here's a photo of how I set the tank up. It's a start anyway.

 
There only minnows use them to cycle the tank and if they make it great, if they don't no big loss. With 75 gallons and only a few fish you should be good to go. Also, hope you didn't use tap water. Algae city. I have saltwater which is a whole different deal, the fish cost $$$$.

This is my 24 gallon salt set up, had it for about 8 years or so. What's amazing is that blue damsel in the front is about 5 years old. I got away from big tanks years ago, too much work.

 
Nice tank man. I did use tap water and treated it with "AquaSafe" to remove the chlorine. Do you think a few Plecos could handle the algae you speak of?
 
Nice Dave! Had I known you wanted/needed a tank. You could've had the one that was in my garage!

Nice rigs everyone.
 
OMG better you than me. I came home from a business trip to find my wife and daughter bought a gold fish when she was in Brownies. Well that morphed into a full on tank that Dad had the plesure of cleaning for what seemed to be 10 years. That gold fish just kept on ticking.

Happiest day of my life was the day after it passed. F R E E D O M no more tank cleaning.

They look great all fixed up and your free tank is awesome but it's not for this camper.
 
I've always wanted one but my wife is dead set against. Plus keeping up with those things seem pricey? Is that the case?
 
I don't have fish but have 3 turtles. Turtles are way more messy than fish and I don't have any problems with algae using tap water in my tanks. Unless you have a wet/dry sump filter or some expensive contraption I forgot about, I'd recommend the Rena Filstar canister filters to keep your water clean, clear, and cycled.
 
We gave had a 30 gallon tank with various fish for years. Right now we have two breeding Chilid Covicts in it. They have babies about every two months. The babies die within a week or so.

We have another 25 gallon tank with a Parrot Fish and a Jack Dempsey.

Chilids seam to be the easiest to take care of for us...
 
If I get another tank I will go with salt water since the fish are really cool. However what is involved in taking care of a salt tank? Is it a lot of work?
 
Sommy said:
If I get another tank I will go with salt water since the fish are really cool. However what is involved in taking care of a salt tank? Is it a lot of work?
Click to expand...


alot more than fresh water for sure. it's a commitment and a major learning curve and lost of $$$
 
Dave, are those saltwater or freshwater minnows? It makes a difference in terms of cycling the tank. Saltwater requires much more maintenance and equipment (time and $$$) than a freshwater tank. You may know that already but I don't want to simply assume you have freshwater. I grew up with fish tanks and have my own 65 gallon freshwater in my office. Two of my brothers have salt; myself and brother #4 have freshwater.
 
mwoolfso said:
Dave, are those saltwater or freshwater minnows? It makes a difference in terms of cycling the tank. Saltwater requires much more maintenance and equipment (time and $$$) than a freshwater tank. You may know that already but I don't want to simply assume you have freshwater. I grew up with fish tanks and have my own 65 gallon freshwater in my office. Two of my brothers have salt; myself and brother #4 have freshwater.
Click to expand...

These are fresh water minnows that I caught with a net from a local stream. I really know nothing about aquariums at all so I look to learn as much as I can about them. I'll be getting some supplies to test the water for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates as soon as I get to the local aquarium supply.

I was told by someone over at Aquaria Central that these few minnows probably won't be causing any ammonia issues (less that 10" of fish for 65 gallons of water) but I'll get the testing supplies ASAP and read, read, read just like I did to learn the craft of detailing.

I'm actually wondering currently if I can put a few Plecos in with these minnows...? I'm not even sure yet if Plecos are fresh water fish only or if there are salt water Plecos too..? I'll be doing some more research before I make a move though.

Any info you have, or just general fish/aquarium talk is encouraged and hoped for in this thread.

Thanks to all of you for your replies. TD
 
Dave, as the tank goes through it's first cycle you need to be careful how quickly you populate the tank and then use the test kit as you add more fish. The AquariaCentral person was spot on. The minnows won't generate enough ammonia to increase the toxicity to levels that would put them in danger (think along the lines of carbon monoxide poisining). By the time the ammonia build up gets to a noticeable level, nitrite will form and begin consuming the ammonia. Eventually nitrates will do the same to the nitrites. If the tank never gets cloudy then you are cycling the tank at the right pace.

As far as water is concerned, with freshwater tanks you can use regular tap water. You just need to use conditioner to remove metals and chloramines. Put enough into the tank to cover 45 gallons of water (more on this later). Unless you add more water, the conditioner is a one-time deal for cycling. Over time as water evaporates you will reach a point where you will want to add more. Adding some once every 2 months is a reasonable expectation.

The whole process to get your tank fully populated, if done right and with patience, will take 3-4 months.

Based on what I see with the tank you probably have 45 gallons of water so your 65 gallon tank is actually 45 right now.

In your mind logically break the tank into 3 sections. Top, middle and bottom. When you populate your tank with fish you want a good mix of fish that occupy each level. No overcrowding at any level is best.

Top-feeders generally have their mouths pointing to the surface (like molly's). Middle-feeders will patrol the middle section; as their mouths are horizontal (silver dollars and may other tetras). Bottom-feeders have their mouths pointed towards the bottom (pleco's, cats, etc...)

I wouldn't add any bottom-feeders right now because you have no growth on the gravel at this stage. Plecos like algae and you won't get algae for awhile You need hearty fish such as Danios at this point. You can get 10 of them and you will be in good shape with the minnows and the tank cycling.

Once you have the initial population, then test the tank every couple of days. Over time you will see ammonia rise, then fall. As ammonia falls the nitrites will spike. Nitrates will follow-suit as well. If you put too much fish in the tank the ammonia and nitrites levels will increase together. If that happens you will need to perform water changes; which lengthen the cycling but keeps the fish alive and healthy. There's a lot more but I hope this works for you over the next 6 weeks. PM' me if you have any questions.
 
mwoolfso said:
Dave, as the tank goes through it's first cycle you need to be careful how quickly you populate the tank and then use the test kit as you add more fish. The AquariaCentral person was spot on. The minnows won't generate enough ammonia to increase the toxicity to levels that would put them in danger (think along the lines of carbon monoxide poisining). By the time the ammonia build up gets to a noticeable level, nitrite will form and begin consuming the ammonia. Eventually nitrates will do the same to the nitrites. If the tank never gets cloudy then you are cycling the tank at the right pace.

As far as water is concerned, with freshwater tanks you can use regular tap water. You just need to use conditioner to remove metals and chloramines. Put enough into the tank to cover 45 gallons of water (more on this later). Unless you add more water, the conditioner is a one-time deal for cycling. Over time as water evaporates you will reach a point where you will want to add more. Adding some once every 2 months is a reasonable expectation.

The whole process to get your tank fully populated, if done right and with patience, will take 3-4 months.

Based on what I see with the tank you probably have 45 gallons of water so your 65 gallon tank is actually 45 right now.

In your mind logically break the tank into 3 sections. Top, middle and bottom. When you populate your tank with fish you want a good mix of fish that occupy each level. No overcrowding at any level is best.

Top-feeders generally have their mouths pointing to the surface (like molly's). Middle-feeders will patrol the middle section; as their mouths are horizontal (silver dollars and may other tetras). Bottom-feeders have their mouths pointed towards the bottom (pleco's, cats, etc...)

I wouldn't add any bottom-feeders right now because you have no growth on the gravel at this stage. Plecos like algae and you won't get algae for awhile You need hearty fish such as Danios at this point. You can get 10 of them and you will be in good shape with the minnows and the tank cycling.

Once you have the initial population, then test the tank every couple of days. Over time you will see ammonia rise, then fall. As ammonia falls the nitrites will spike. Nitrates will follow-suit as well. If you put too much fish in the tank the ammonia and nitrites levels will increase together. If that happens you will need to perform water changes; which lengthen the cycling but keeps the fish alive and healthy. There's a lot more but I hope this works for you over the next 6 weeks. PM' me if you have any questions.
Click to expand...

Awesome reply!! Thanks man!! I initially put the wild minnows in there and then introduced about 8 or so shiners that I bought for catfishing bait that came back to the house after fishing. Those guys didn't survive and I got them out of the tank as quickly as I noticed them dying.

The wild minnows are thriving and growing fairly quick. They are good eaters and they know me as the one who feeds them and when. It's pretty cool when I wake up after sleeping in a little on a Saturday morning. I wake up and the dog is looking at me as if to say, "Mornin Dad, time to eat right?"

Then I look over at the aquarium (it's beside my bed) and the largest wild minnow is at the end of the aquarium closest to me "eyeballing" me. He's prolly thinking the same thing the dog is thinking. lol...:laughing:
 
Dave see if Lee might want it. Jake is giving me his old one in the garage as soon as I get over there with a truck.
 
mwoolfso said:
Dave, as the tank goes through it's first cycle you need to be careful how quickly you populate the tank and then use the test kit as you add more fish. The AquariaCentral person was spot on. The minnows won't generate enough ammonia to increase the toxicity to levels that would put them in danger (think along the lines of carbon monoxide poisining). By the time the ammonia build up gets to a noticeable level, nitrite will form and begin consuming the ammonia. Eventually nitrates will do the same to the nitrites. If the tank never gets cloudy then you are cycling the tank at the right pace.

As far as water is concerned, with freshwater tanks you can use regular tap water. You just need to use conditioner to remove metals and chloramines. Put enough into the tank to cover 45 gallons of water (more on this later). Unless you add more water, the conditioner is a one-time deal for cycling. Over time as water evaporates you will reach a point where you will want to add more. Adding some once every 2 months is a reasonable expectation.

The whole process to get your tank fully populated, if done right and with patience, will take 3-4 months.

Based on what I see with the tank you probably have 45 gallons of water so your 65 gallon tank is actually 45 right now.

In your mind logically break the tank into 3 sections. Top, middle and bottom. When you populate your tank with fish you want a good mix of fish that occupy each level. No overcrowding at any level is best.

Top-feeders generally have their mouths pointing to the surface (like molly's). Middle-feeders will patrol the middle section; as their mouths are horizontal (silver dollars and may other tetras). Bottom-feeders have their mouths pointed towards the bottom (pleco's, cats, etc...)

I wouldn't add any bottom-feeders right now because you have no growth on the gravel at this stage. Plecos like algae and you won't get algae for awhile You need hearty fish such as Danios at this point. You can get 10 of them and you will be in good shape with the minnows and the tank cycling.

Once you have the initial population, then test the tank every couple of days. Over time you will see ammonia rise, then fall. As ammonia falls the nitrites will spike. Nitrates will follow-suit as well. If you put too much fish in the tank the ammonia and nitrites levels will increase together. If that happens you will need to perform water changes; which lengthen the cycling but keeps the fish alive and healthy. There's a lot more but I hope this works for you over the next 6 weeks. PM' me if you have any questions.
Click to expand...

EXCELLENT REPLY!!!!!:dblthumb2:

@Dave,

Just use the el-cheapo fish to cycle the tank. Some will even use goldfish (the most nasty fish alive). :rolleyes: Once it's been cycled the filter(S) should be OK from then on.

I've got a 75 gallon plant tank that's been up and running about 12+ years now. Was a freaking fortune in the beginning. First light setup was six 48" tubes and an air cooling system.

Once upon a time I had to literally trim the plants once a week. Was running C02 injection back then. They grew so freaking fast they'd choke out the tank.

Over the years I've let it go from growing like crazy and keeping up tons of plants to no light at all, (letting them all die). To just a pair of HO 48" lights and a mix of live and artificial plants. :laughing:

Do remember the fish load for it would be no more than a couple dozen, say 30 at the most, once it's cycled. That is unless you are running two big filters (I run a Fluval 405 and a 305 with a inline UV unit) and want to vacuum clean it weekly. Although for now I don't even have but half a dozen really old fish in there. Some really healthy Rainbows that are over 10 years old! :)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top