# 75 Gallon Tank with three fish Idea



## verbosity (Nov 16, 2007)

Alright. I'm thinking about giving all my fish in the 75 gallon to a pet store because two of them can't stay in fresh water, two of them need 4 more to be happy.. and the Serpea's are just mean as hell.

So anyway. I am thinking about getting some juvenile's and letting them grow. The following:
1 Oscar
1 Jack Depsey
1 Pleco

That's it. For 75 Gallon.
I know all three of these fish can get big. 
I'll provide the hiding spaces they need. And they will all be purchased as juveniles so hopefully they'll get along.

What do you guys/gals think?


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## fish_4_all (Nov 13, 2006)

It hink it should work fine. If oyu canf ind one, I would get the Royal Pleco because it gets a little larger width wise than others and will add some really nice color. It still may outgrow the tank eventually but should fit in for quite a while. (I am not sure how long Royals get). If you can find a pleco that gets to about 8-10 inches and stays there that would work best. 

A large centerpiece of some kind might serve for a territory seperator for the Dempsey and the Oscar and make feeding them easier so they don't fight over food. Maybe a large piece of driftwood would serve the ourpose well.


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

_Hypostomus plecostomus_ are a nightmare for a 75g. They will seriously require a 150 gallons at 22 inches and above in size. _Pterygoplichthys pardalis_ are a little smaller at 18 inches.


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## beetlebz (Aug 2, 2007)

Ill have to do some research, but back when I wanted to get one, before I realized my common was going to grow to be over a foot, I found one that looks VERY similar to a royal. The coloring and football like proportions were the same but it only got to be about a foot. Ill have to do some more looking and get back to you guys with the name and/or L number.

Im not knocking the idea of a dempsey and oscar, i think that would be AWESOME  im just throwing out there the idea of getting a male and a female oscar or dempsey, rather than one of each. 

update: I FOUND IT! Dull eyed royal pleco, L191  there were a couple others that were close but I will have to check more when I get home from work


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## fish_4_all (Nov 13, 2006)

I don't know which species my LFS has but they have had him for years and his only 10-12 inches long. It might be a smaller species or just a smaller tank keeping him small. He is, or at least was, in a 125 but who knows now.


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## verbosity (Nov 16, 2007)

Alright, I under researched the Jack Dempsey.  He'll get to big for my tank and I don't see an upgrade anytime soon. So now I am looking at convict fish.

I probably won't be getting a dull eyed royal pleco since they are not good algea eaters.

I haven't finished my research on convicts yet.. Mostly because every site I go to just talks about breeding them. But I'll let you know what I am leaning toward.. Convicts or Oscar.

I wonder if one oscar can handle two convicts in a 75. Hrmm.


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## verbosity (Nov 16, 2007)

Whoa.. Please ignore my last post about the jack getting to big.

So here is what I am trying to decide on now.

Jack Dempsey & Oscar
or 
Oscar and a pair of Convicts

Which would do better together?
I'm the Convicts would be better until maybe it's time for them to mate (Which is as soon as I add water  ) What do you think?


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

verbosity said:


> I wonder if one oscar can handle two convicts in a 75. Hrmm.


Oscars are brutes. I wouldn't be surprised if the turnout will be a reverse.


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## verbosity (Nov 16, 2007)

yeah, I was reading that a convict will take on a fish 4 times bigger then it.. Do you think convicts with the oscar would be bad idea?


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

verbosity said:


> yeah, I was reading that a convict will take on a fish 4 times bigger then it.. Do you think convicts with the oscar would be bad idea?


The problem is that cichlids have very different personalities. Convicts and oscars do not share the same origin so in short, either the convicts get defeated by the tankbusting oscars or the oscar gets defeated if it fails to retaliate any possible attacks in the convicts' attempt to defend their fry and territory. The result can vary but I would not chance it. If I were you, try other options. Your choices are rather pushing to the edge.


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## verbosity (Nov 16, 2007)

Ok, well I don't want to any fish to die. Or not be comfortable..

Do you have any idea how many convicts could a 75 handle?


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

verbosity said:


> Ok, well I don't want to any fish to die. Or not be comfortable..
> 
> Do you have any idea how many convicts could a 75 handle?


With their habit for breeding a lot, I'd simply stick with 2-3 pairs with several hiding places but if I were you, change your options. How about Lake Tanganyikan cichlids?


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## verbosity (Nov 16, 2007)

Give me some ideas from that.. I'll look into them and see.


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## fish_4_all (Nov 13, 2006)

Well get them young and I mean young. Raise them together and they should do fine. I have actually seen an Oscar, a Jack Dempsey, an Arrowana and a Red Terror kept in the same tank together and they never fought for well over 6 years. They were all the same size when they were put in the tank and grew to very different sizes. The arrowana had to be removed at 3 years old because the tank was to small but the fish never fought. 

Is kinda like having a Pit Bull, it is not the breed but the owner, do it right and you can raise an Oscar with Guppies.


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