# Brand New 75 Gallon



## Community90 (Jan 22, 2011)

My work place has installed a new 75 Gallon freshwater. It is still cycling but my boss let the employees decide what will fill it. We all agreed on community fish because they seem easiest to care for. However the plan was to have each employee submit one species of fish and my boss would tally them up and decide the tank lay out. 
1 Dwarf Gourami
1 neon blue dwarf gourami
1 honey gourami
1 flame gourami (I think thats the name it is small and has a bright red belly)
1 Opaline Gourami
1 Gold Gourami
1 Pearl Gourami
6 neon tetra
5 serpae tetra
4 lyretail molly (black,dalmatian, gold, creamsicle)
7 small platy (Each a very different color variation)
3 Julii catfish
5 swordtail
7 balloon molly

I have done slight research but iv never had a tank in my life. Doesnt this seem overstocked? And all the gouramis are male. I heard they fight... is this a problem?

One more thing. Someone asked for a bala shark. I heard they grew 14" and were semi-aggressive so I told the guy and the boss and he said it doesnt really matter he just thought it looked nice.

So using all of these species (If possible) how should it be stocked? And was I wrong to express concern over adding a bala shark?


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

The bala is definitely a concern later on down the road but for now, it honestly should be ok. My other concern is the larger gouramis. I've never had them before but I've heard you shouldn't mix the dwarfs with the larger ones like the honey.


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## blindkiller85 (Jan 8, 2011)

You're correct on that the male gouramis could fight. They are more of a semi-aggressive fish when they are with their own species. With that many gouramis period, it wouldn't matter if you mixed sexes to some extent either. Could happen that you get minimal fighting and no deaths, but just recently had that happen to a member here on the forums where one of her fish died.

Weather or not you should mix the dwarfs with the large gouramis like snyderguy said is questionable and probably not the best of ideas. But I can't say for sure on that either.

And again like snyderguy said, the bala shark should be fine for now but will be a big problem down the road for all of these fish.

Otherwise, I hope you stick around and post pictures when it's done!


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## Community90 (Jan 22, 2011)

thank you so the rest of the tank should be fine except the bala and possibly the large gouramis? 

I will definitely post pictures


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

Yup  Should be good. The tetras with the swordtails and mollies will look really cool. I've always wanted to do a community tank like this but just enjoy the larger fish more.  I'm looking forward to seeing these pictures.


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## Community90 (Jan 22, 2011)

sorry I made a mistake serpae tetra was the original plan... now they tell me that they would prefer 5 tiger barbs. Im in charge of researching this... so im coming to people who actually know what they are talking about. I read on petsmart.com that they are a lot more aggressive and would nip. And I read to add them last because they terrorize new fish.


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

Yeah, tiger barbs grow a lot larger than what most people think (I've seen some that are more than eight inches) and they are one of the more aggressive "Community" tank mates. I say "Community" because I disagree that they are.

Why go fresh water when you can instead go down the salt water route? Click on the link in my signature to see MY 75 gallon salt adventure.

Oh, and welcome to the forums!


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## Community90 (Jan 22, 2011)

so tiger barbs are a no? lol i was really hoping they were going to be similar to the serpae because I really think they are nice looking.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

Yeah, barbs are definitely a no. :[


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

My Serpae is a murderer itself! If you have more than four, you should be fine. You also can't have to many Neon / Cardinal Tetras! Go for the S!! Why not? I can disprove any negative claims about it!


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## Community90 (Jan 22, 2011)

funlad3 said:


> My Serpae is a murderer itself! If you have more than four, you should be fine. You also can't have to many Neon / Cardinal Tetras! Go for the S!! Why not? I can disprove any negative claims about it!


Why no neon/cardinal tetras? And im sorry you mean go for the serpae as in the S right. And you are confirming that I should have more than four serpae right? We are planning on hosting five.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Serpaes are almost as mean as Tigers, so you'd need a sixpack of them to avoid the worst.

All those gouramis in one tank is just begging for big trouble, and with fishtanks, you get what you beg for. Pick ONE kind and forget the rest.


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## Community90 (Jan 22, 2011)

Thanks everyone I must say i am thoroughly impressed with the knowledge 
on this site and how helpful everyone is.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Heh. You ain't seen nuthin yet.


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## blindkiller85 (Jan 8, 2011)

TOS Says this but is scared of my threads like it's the grim reaper himself inside! lol 

Or have you been reading them and seeing nothing to worry about?

Knowledge base here is pretty high. But then again, there are alot of hobbyists out there and all over. So it's really no surprise that there's a small congregation of them on the internet.


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## toddnbecka (Jun 30, 2006)

Bala sharks are schooling fish, best kept in groups. and really require a much larger tank than 75 gallons. They're very active swimmers, and a group really shouldn't be kept in anything less than an 8' tank, and even that will eventually become crowded when they grow to full size.
Neon tetras and livebearers (mollies, platy's, etc.) aren't a particularly good mix either. Neons are rather delicate schooling fish that prefer soft, neutral-acidic water. Livebearers prefer hard, alkaline water.
Corydoras catfish are also social fish, best kept in groups of at least 5, more is better.


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## Community90 (Jan 22, 2011)

yea forget bala sharks. not worth it


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