Thinking about possibly going freshwater too...so many ideas...HELP!

F

frankandmaura

New member
Ok...so some people have suggested that I go with freshwater for this tank...I am liking the idea a little better...hate to leave the void behind the bar.

Can some of you give me some ideas for a nice freshwater set up that would be low maintenance (I don't think I want plants - don't want to have to worry about the lights too much).

I don't think I need a sump...I want easy and low maintenance...please. I know there are some of you out there that can help me with this. Let me know what you think!!!

Of course pictures are welcome...

I have not had freshwater for quite some time and I only ever had 10gal tanks. This could be fun to get some nice schooling fish and not have to pay like $10 each for them.

Would I still use RO water? What would I use for filtration?? Do I need any real water flow?? I can use my existing lights (right?)

Thanks all!
 
Do you want something pretty though typical (i.e. neon tetras) or something more unusual?

I've been through all sorts of freshwater setups...
 
Well, I think the objective is going to be to keep it inexpensive. So...I would say typical.

I think it would be cool for some schooling...but I like Graumi's, the cat's, sharks...

I am not sure I want all agressive either. Give me some suggestions...I am totally open at this point.
 
My favorite setup was my Piranha tank. They are very cool fish, but not at all what most people think.

Discus are pretty, though not all that cheap or maintenance free.

Oscars are trainable, which is kind of cool, but not really schooling and they lack personality.


I'd say to stick with small fish and do a variety of small schools...10 neon tetras, 5 red-tail sharks, 5 angels, etc.
 
Yes, they are aggressive (generally speaking... as with all fish, it depends on the actual fish you get) and can easily dominate a tank. That said, I've never had them in anything bigger than a 30g tank.

Oh, one other thing... think about where in the tank the different fish will spend most of the time. Get fish for each level of the tank... sharks for the bottom, angels for the top, etc.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11074782#post11074782 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jacksonpt


Oh, one other thing... think about where in the tank the different fish will spend most of the time. Get fish for each level of the tank... sharks for the bottom, angels for the top, etc.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, this is something I have never really thought about. I didn't realize there was really a difference. Like I said, I have only had really small freshwater so I never gave it much thought.

This could be fun...where can I find out where each breed hangs out??
 
I'm not sure about finding real info on them... I only know from my experience.

All in all it doesn't really matter... but do you want all your fish hanging out in the same place in your tank? Visually it'll be more interesting if there's stuff happening all over.
 
Hi
I would suggest that you go with African cichlids... you can go small or big use regular well water or treated municipal water.
Aquascaping is quite inexpensive you can the necessary rocks and such from a local creek...Lighting is not a factor. regular one strip or two strip light system works great.
You can get colors that will rival some of the saltwater fish,depnding on what you want to go with Tangyanikan or Malawi....Regular canister filter or HOB filter will work fine.
 
I second the cichlids, and yes you can use the water. You'd just have to buffer it up to the correct PH (I used to use baking soda) and possibly and some other conditioner. I have some cichlid stuff (food, buffer, etc) if you choose to go that way.
 
You can use R/o but the cichlids would do better in the regular water plus you won't be spending a fortune on buffers. IF you want to use the r/o then you will need a calcareous substrate. I would mix some crushed coral and a pool sand together that will give you some buffer ability.
Maybe what you should do is add a layer crushed coral tot he bottom of the R/o water can which will also help raise the Ph ..Malawi cichlids like there Ph around 8.3-4, Tangyanikans like it around 9 ...
 
Only Goldfish would be easer to keep then cichlid IMO. I have a 55gal cichlid tank. Its the tank I am using the canister filter I bought from you on, (I didn't tell the wife it was the cause of your flood;)

Take a look at my gallery and you can see it's about a 1/2inch of gravel, flat river rocks from a near-by stream, heater and a filter. The hard water around here is perfect for cichlids and there is always lots of activity in the tank. If you use a stocking guild of about 3-4 fish of each variety you will get some interesting mating rituals, 3 different verities of my fish have spawned in less than a year and two of them were mouth brooders, so it was easy to catch momma and raise the baby's in a separate tank, by the way you are welcome to some if you want. Here is the stocking guild I used and it made a lot of sense, http://www.cichlidrecipe.com/crp22.htm. I also ordered my fish from Atlantis Tropical Fish Inc..

my summery:
1) Cheap to free decoration for the tank.
2) HOT filters work fine to give some flow and run some carbon if wanted.
3) Cichlid are inexpensive and vary hardy (be careful of the aggressive variety's in the local fish stores.)
4) Tap water changes with python and dechlorination.
5) Turn light on only when you want to view the tank and algae is no problem.
 
Ok...I don't need to use RO water...I just have the system so I was wondering...

Do Cichlids have to be the only thing in the tank? I guess I would like to have some variety...sharks and some other larger fish would be cool...

I would love some of your babies...but I am guessing I would have to only have them for a while because they would get eaten...no?
 
If you go with Cichlids be it African(Malawi or Tangyanikans) you will have to stay with them exclusively. You usually cannot mix other species with them. The variety would have to remain in the cichlid family. Which happens to be the largest family of fish so your choices are quite wide open.
I think you would like the Aulonocara family(peacocks) alot, good color ,if you keep males.
If you want to use the R/o water and mix it with tap water you could set up a tank for West African cichlids which do not like water as hard as the Malawi or Tangyanikan. The westies like water more around 6.8-7.0 ph
You can mix other fish like plecos with the africans as long as they have places such as wood to hide out in , the plecos also feed on the wood as well..
Peter Rubin owns Atlantis ,if you order from him you will have to pick up the fish at the airport ,unless they now ship UPS or Fed-ex overnight. You can also take a road trip to place and hand pick them out.It is only 2 hours or so from you, it is a pleasant drive. If you decide to go tell him Jim Davie(Finnyas Finn) says Hello.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11082254#post11082254 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by St.james of reefdom
.... Peter Rubin owns Atlantis ,if you order from him you will have to pick up the fish at the airport ,unless they now ship UPS or Fed-ex overnight. You can also take a road trip to place and hand pick them out.It is only 2 hours or so from you, it is a pleasant drive. If you decide to go tell him Jim Davie(Finnyas Finn) says Hello.
Click to expand...

I have a 55 of Malawi or Tangyanikans (bright blues, yellows, oranges and albinos) that I got as babies from J&J's on Harry L for like 2.99 each! The have the best prices and selection on them and I have really looked around. I also have a plec with them and a Dinosaur Bichir. One of my orange one is building a nest under some drift wood now and its great to watch. Mine also like a little salt in the water and seem to enjoy digging in the sand bed. The only plants they don't seem to eat are African swords. They also seem to like a lot of flow and can be real pigs so I have two HOT filters (on each side) and that seems to help.
 
Hmm...thanks Ben. So you add salt to the water? What would you say the salinity is? You have sand in the tank, not pebbles?

Have any pics of the tank?

Thanks,
Frank
 
I'll take a pic tonight. For sand I used beach (fine crushed coral)play sand from homedepot. They are always digging and sifting thru it. My tank is black with a shiny black background so the white sand really lets the colors show. I think I slowly added about 8 cups of reefcystals to the tank over a few months. Just enough to be a little salty - I had a little bit of ick and as soon as I started that it went away and never came back.
 
The Rift Lake Cichlids (Malawi,Victoria,Tangyanika) and there satellite lakes were once thought to be part of the ocean before the creation and the continent rising from the depths.
This trapped a number of species in the Rift valley and through an evolution became freshwater fish, however the salinity is higher in these lakes than other fresh water lakes.
With all my Africans I add Instant Ocean to the water when I do water changes, They are not Brackish water fish....
 
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