What is close to a s/w tank in freshwater.

[Steven A]

I would love a s/w tank but am not willing to spend that much money so I will stick to what i know best. I would like to know what people would say Is close to a s/w tank but in freshwater. This is regarding livestock and the tank set-up etc ..... I would especially be interested in freshwater inverts but I know nothing about them at all and if they can live in tanks that have a sand base with rocks such as texas holy rock and tuffa rock etc ...
I was also thinking about shell dwellers.
BTW this is for the 10 gal tank as soon the rainbows will be gone ... I think

 

[m249saw]

I would say the Rift Lake Cichlids will be the closest to salt with aquascape and fish coloring.

Never done them myself though.

 

[Jchillin]

I agree with m249saw. Do a search in the photo gallery for "Mentallylost". He has a great looking rift lake setup in there.

 

[koffee]

He said a 10G... I don't think that would make a nice rift tank.

A SW tank is one that has saltwater. So you can't do a FW tank that is like SW.

There are many styles of SW: Fish only, fishless, reef, etc. But it seems that inverts are often an important part of any SW tank, where as they are just another addition in most FW. Of course, many of the SW inverts are not going to be visible with the naked eye.

The only FW inverts I see regularly at my LFS are shrimp and fiddler crabs. I don't know if the crabs will eat the shrimp, though.

Anyone will tell you the problems stocking a small tank. But you still have options. In fact, you could even go with a low-water setup for hermit crabs. (Get a secure top, though... they are climbers.) Maybe you can even squeeze a pond/land environment in there with the right critters.

There are many reasons people go for the expense and hassle of SW... and most of those reasons cannot be reproduced in FW. So I would suggest stop thinking "like SW" and take a look at what FW offers that SW doesn't.

 

[Steven A]

Well I like the idea of "Red clawed crabs" but I would also like to keep some shrimp so any one know if the crabs would eat them ?

 

[Steven A]

I also like the idea of shell dwellers any info on them and links, How much do they cost ?

 

[koffee]

I stand corrected. It seems the smaller shell dwelling cichlids can be fine for a small tank. I haven't encountered any personally, so I never bothered researching them. But now my own interest is piqued since I was planning a small tank (possibly cherry barbs).

 

[mr funktastic]

so do you want the colour and general set up of a salt water tank but not actually saltwater? that is pretty much impossible with a 10 gal but if u are willing to invest a little and get atleast a 20 gal u could have a few dwarf cichlids. u could use lava rock which has the same appearance as live figi rock after you get a little algea growing. then u could add electric yellow or blue cichlids becasue there colours almost make them look like salt water fish. but if u are stuck with only a 10 gal u may want to do what koffee said and look into what freshwater can offer. a heavily planted tank can be just as beautiful as a saltwater one just in a different way. here is a pic of a nice planted tank that you might like. this is only an 8 gallon tank it it look awsome. just imagine what u could do
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/download.php?id=14614

 

[czcz]

Planted invert tank. Caridina and neocaridina sp. shrimp are relatively expensive, though. Check out shalu's: http://aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=58558

 

[travis simonson]

I agree with czcz, if you're willing to deal with the difficulties of live plants (lighting, fertilization, and possibly CO2) you can have a very colorful FW tank, even without vertebrates. There are several very colorful varieties of inverts (shrimp and snails) that would thrive (as Shalu's tank shows) in such an environment. Unfortunately a 10G is too small for most of the brightly colored FW fish that would rival those of SW. But those shrimp can be pretty cool

 

[Joey17]

Fiddler crabs and red claw crabs need brackish water. Keeping them in freshwater will only make them weak and they'll die. They also need land .

 

[Steven A]

Over here in the uk they are kept in freshwater.

 

[Joey17]

They don't last ling in freshwater.

 

[Codefox]

I think trying to make a FW tank in the hope of it being anything at all like a SW tank might sound nice, but realistically just isn't possible. You're really just setting yourself up to be dissapointed.

That said...if you go into it with the thought of making an amazing FW tank, the sky is the limit. FW and SW fishkeeping involves very different fish and very different looks. SW you deal with the inverts and with FW for a truely unique and beautiful tank, you deal with live plants.

Just my 2 cents though.

 

[greenmaji]

You might want to look into doing some reaserch on reef aquaria.. just a thought..

 

[virus]

howabout a brackish tank with some gobies? hmmm and tere are some kool ones i seen, plus you can have mollies in it to

 

[Steven A]

I have just made a post about gobies,Because I am thinking about it lol.