I currently have a 30 gallon tank that is overstocked but will be getting a 75 gallon within the next month (if craigslist graces me with a nice deal). I thus, just wanted to share what I intend to have for the tank and see if there are some things I may need to consider with your advice.

Currently, I have the following fish:

5 glofish danios
3 roseline sharks
2 cherry barbs
2 rummy nose tetras
2 celestial pearl danios
2 blue rams
2 syno petricola catfish
1 reticulated hillstream loach

All of these are in their juvenile age and are thus very small. The roselines are the largest by far and aren't yet 3 inches long. I'm aware many of these are schooling fishes, but situations (pet stores giving me deformed/injured/unwanted personalities) required me to return what was once a small school of cherry's, rummy nose, celestial pearls. As for the blue rams, they were apparently raised by local breeders, and are thus used to the water parameters of these other fish. They were just purchased 2 days ago and appear to be doing fine. All in all, this particular arrangement of different fishes was an experiment to see if they can live together peacefully.

Current Plants:
1 java fern
1 anubias nanas
1 amazon sword
1 hedge plant
2 anacharis

Current Tech:
Stealth Heater (400 watt I think)
AquaClear 50 (sponge, polyfill, biomax)
AquaClear 20 (sponge, polyfill, biomax)

30% water changes weekly with gravel vacuuming. Sponge and polyfill of one filter is rinsed and replaced every two weeks, alternating between the two filters.

Ammonia ~ 0 ppm
Nitrite ~ 0 ppm
Nitrate ~ 5 ppm


Now I'm aware that most of these guys aren't living in the optimal conditions, either in terms of space, shoaling comfort, etc. Thus why I'm ready to get the 75 gallon now that I've been able to see that these are the fish that I like.

75 tank build:

Future Fish:

5 glofish danios
3-4 roseline sharks - don't school too much + pricey at $20+
4 cherry barbs - certainly have a hierarchy of dominance, but rarely school
6 rummy nose tetras
8 celestial pearl danios
2 blue rams
2 syno petricola catfish
1 reticulated hillstream loach

Also considering the following:

2 gold rams - depends on if they are as tolerant of water conditions as blues
2 double red/triple red/etc apistos cockatoos - unsure if wise, haven't tested
6 tiger barbs - depends on # necessary for them to not fin-nip others
1-2 - some other bottom feeder/cleaner but haven't found anything interesting


Future Plants:
2 anubias nanas
2 java ferns
2 amazon swords
1 hedge
2 anacharis (may return, they litter too much)
2 wisteria (untested)
1 java moss (untested)


Future Techs:
Heater (unsure what wattage to get)
2 AquaClear 110 (unsure, everybody seems to use marineland emperors or canisters for bigger tanks)


Substrate:
black gravel - from 30 gallon
red gravel scattered - from 30 gallon
black tahitian moon sand as majority (untested)



Any thoughts guys? I'm sure I'm doing a lot of things many wouldn't agree with, but that's why I'm asking. I'm unsure particularly concerning the AquaClear 110, I've never seen anybody use them over the emperors in 55+ tanks. I also get mixed reviews concerning canisters so am unsure if I should get them instead of the ACs.

Rams are the same, strains dont matter, if your two are fine now, the new ones will be, drip acclimate them though , a good 2hr drip seems to be fine for them, mine went from 7.6 to 6.8 via the drip system and had no issues. best part is they dont stick to their strains to mate, I got a german blue female and a electric blue male.

I prefer AC's over any filter for HOB uses they are the best HOB you can get, no other filter matches its price and versatility.

Would you prefer a Fx5 fluval canister over 2 110 ACs? I would normally just get the 2 110 ACs, however, it is just that I know I will eventually (in about a year) get a 120+ gallon tank. Once that happens, I assume a canister is better, so I'm just wondering if I should just save myself the trouble of having leftover ACs that I wouldn't use in the future by buying the canister now.

How many heaters and what wattage should I get for them.

I also just realized how I would have to ensure that the "new" used 75 gallon tank isn't contaminated? Sure I could rinse it several times, but would that guarantee it's cleanliness?

Lastly, would I ultimately experience a mini cycle in the 75 gallon tank even if I used the same gravel/plants/ornaments/filter media/etc? I'm not sure what is the best way for me to proceed with the migration of my fish into the new tank. What would be the best way for me to acclimate them into the new tank?

Thanks for any assistance.

Update:

Converting to the finally purchased 75 gallon tank a few months ago resulted in a massive failure that lead to ick, dropsy, swim bladder disease, possibly velvet, and viral/bacterial septicemia.

Cherries, gold rams, most rummys, 2 of the roseline sharks (ouch), reticulated hillstream loach died.

That was a very hectic/difficult month. I wanted to quit, but I decided I couldn't just let the survivors be.

Here is the current tank.

75 gallon tank
2x 110 AquaClear 110 with sponge on intake.
1 Stealth Heater (it isn't enough so I will probably purchase another one.
1 2x54 watt T5HO Nova Extreme for 10 hours a day
Black gravel + black tahitian moon sand with bits of red gravel distributed.

Plants:
1 Laced Java Fern
1 Java Fern
1 Anubias Nanas
1 Hedge Plant
1 Wisteria
1 Water Sprite
1 ... I forgot what it was called
2 Amazon Swords
Some bits of Java Moss

I intend to add more water sprite and some other floating plants to the mix.

Decor: 2 Large fake driftwood, 2 caves

Fish:
1 Roseline (survivor)
3 Syno Petricolas
3 Otos
8 Celestial Pearl Danios
6 Furcata Rainbows
5 Rummynose Tetras
1 Habrosus Cory
1 Pygmy Cory

For some reason, the Habrosus and the Pygmy Corys have been a bit difficult to take care of, their "friends" died off for unexplained reasons. I thought they were relatively hardy but I guess not.

I intend to add the following to the mix

1 Reticulated Hillstream Loach
2 Gold Rams
2 Blue Rams
2 Roseline Sharks
3-4 Habrosus and/or Pygmy depending on which one of the survivors seems to be doing best.

I was expecting the furcata rainbows would illuminate the upper region of the tank as resources suggested it would, but they seem to occupy the middle region (which I was expecting the roseline/rummynose/celestials would occupy), so I may also consider some other upper dwelling fish, though I'm not familiar with any other than the cliche zebra danios/glofish. I was also contemplating that the furcata's may not like dwelling on the top because of the strong lighting with no real cover so I was going to get some floating plants to provide better cover.

They are all quite small fish with the exception of the Roselines (growing to 5 or 6 inches, which is still pretty small) so I don't really feel that I'm overstocking the tank.

I also have a bit of an algae problem, but that was probably due to the fact that I had my lights on for 10-12 hours. I thought it was necessary because that is the only source of food they seem to eat, they've never once tried any supplemental foods (zucchini and algae wafers). Any ideas on how to get them to eat something else so that I don't have to worry so much about the dirty glass?

Any suggestions or comments are appreciated. Let me know what you think I could add/change to make the tank better.