starting a freshwater tank

[divedeep1689]

Hey guys i am starting a freshwater tank using my old 55 gal reef tank i will cleaning it well no worries. I have a african chiclid in a 5 gal bucket someone gave me. Wat type of fish can be kept with them? I kinda want to get a fish easy to breed lol.

 

[dkpate]

You can keep other cichlids of the same area with it? What kind is it?

 

[divedeep1689]

no clue all i know is he came from petco along time ago i am a salt guy never had freshwater fish know nothing about them i will take a pic of him tomorow afternoon when i get home....

 

[dkpate]

Cool, I love cichlids! I wish I had some....*sigh*
What color is he/she?
Rookie knows a lot about cichlids, so he will be able to help you out a lot.

 

[divedeep1689]

he is yellow but i think he used to be blue lol

 

[mfdrookie516]

Take a picture of it... for the most part, you'll only be able to keep africans with it, assuming it is indeed african. Alot of what you do in sw will carry over to an african tank. You'll need lots of rocks with caves built for them to hide in and claim as their territory. They prefer hard water and higher ph, but pretty much anything over 7 will be fine. They require alot of filtration. Theyre really messy eaters (and of course we know what happens once the food is eaten...). Sand is the preferred substrate, i highly recommend pfs as it is heavy enough to sink, but doesnt clump up and trap gasses in like some of the finer sands. BTW, make sure you take lots of pictures of the tank as you set it up, i love seeing other peoples tanks

 

[divedeep1689]

every one on here likes seein pics My gf is trying to talk me into guppies and mollies and tetras she dont like chiclids lol but i like the chiclid. i will get a pic soon as i can

 

[dkpate]

I didn't like cichlids when I first got on here either, but there are SOOO many different kinds, you can't help but fall in love with them! Guppies and mollys are boring lol.

 

[divedeep1689]

lol true but you can keep lots more diff fish if you do go chiclids...

 

[dkpate]

There are just so many kinds of cichlids and they are freshwater and colorful! That's why I like them. My favorites are the shelldweller multi's though. SOOOO cute!

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

Ive been really hesitant to like any of the cichlids except the kribs but i went on my weekly visit to the lfs and found some really cool looking ones. Might be getting that itch.

 

[divedeep1689]

lol i will take my time to decide i have alot of cleaning and set up time ahead of me anyways plenty of little barnicales to get off my old tank