10 Things I Wish I Knew Before Buying a 75 Gallon Aquarium
This video covers ten not so obvious things we learned, some the hard way, about owning a 75 gallon aquarium.
*Contents of this video:*
0:00 – Intro
0:41 – 1. Rinse any non-living items first
1:23 – 2. Fill filter’s tank with water
1:51 – 3. Buy good tools
3:00 – 4. Buy a nice light bar
3:13 – 5. Buy algae cleaner
3:46 – 6. Buy aquarium salt
4:11 – 7. Angelfish and the Devil’s tango
4:35 – 8. Water temp stability during changes
5:21 – 9. Clean hose every now and then
5:38 – 10. Buy an automatic fish feeder
6:00 – Thanks! 🙂
*Corrections and updates based on comments:*
Paraphrasing a common refrain from @kaitshea7620, @yawg333, @shredman59, @mikecatalano4987, and several others – “Don’t use regular tap water to clean the filter media. It can kill the beneficial bacteria they contain and possibly lead to crashing your nitrogen cycle.” I should have mentioned that my home has a whole home water filter which filters our things like chlorine and chloramine. I apologize for not mentioning that in the video. The footage of me rinsing out the filter media and cleaning the filter casing under the kitchen tap is a bit misleading without this information.
From @acemcgillicutty4420 – “First, I would recommend a filter with the pump in the water so you don’t have to prime it. This will allow the pump to restart itself in case of power outage. Second, you can clean your filter media but do not use tap water out of the faucet. Use a bucket of de-chlorinated water so you don’t kill your beneficial bacteria and unbalance the tank. A side note, I have multiple tanks setup for years without doing water changes (just top offs) with little scrapping. Just use a good substrate, real plants, don’t overstock and don’t overfeed.”
From @nadlerg – “You could add more live plants. They will use the nutrients otherwise available for the algae. Hence less algae. Don’t be too diligent cleaning the filter media. They house essential bacteria transforming toxic fish waste into less harmful plant nutrients. Hence way more biological stability and happier, healthier fish.”
From @nedstevens2779 – “Bottom feeders and algae eaters really help ease the need for cleaning so often.”
From @justpostin123 – “I guess one thing Id say, is to invest in a quarantine tank – it can even be a food grade tote for budget (just ensure that the size is appropriate for the fish) since aquarium salt and other medications can affect cycle as well as plants – also other fish that aren’t sick.”
From @grayaquatics852 – “With a tank that’s as long as 48 inches, you should really have a HOB (hang on back filter) on each side. Helps prevent dead spots!”
From @luiscarlosherreramarroquin2065 – “Write on the top of your filter when and how did you set it, specially canisters, that’s how you are going to know when to clean them correctly.”
*A few useful links, some mentioned in the video, are below:*
20 Things you should never put in your fish tank:
How to Clean New Aquarium Substrate (Sand/Gravel)
What to do when your angelfish lay eggs!
How to clean aquarium hoses
7 Reasons why your fish tank has bubbles:
How to clean up an old aquarium:
Funky angelfish procreation music
This one isn’t covered in the video but it covers an important topic every aquarium owner should know – how to lower ammonia in your fish tank
