starting a new 55 gallon tank

[ryan]

any suggestions for fish plants and filters. all ideas welcome. also should i have a fishless cycle or with fish also how long should the cycle take place and what should i do for the cycle kinda forget its been a couple of years? thanks everyone.

 

[malkore]

fishless cycle...check the articles section for a nice outline of the process.

typical cycle is 3-6 weeks, fishless or fishy. fishless is kind of foolproof...at the very least if you make a mistake, no fish are harmed, no foul.

for filters, I'd go with a canister filter. rena filstar xp2 is what I like.

fish, totally up to you. go with what YOU like

plants...we have a separate section for planted tanks. you might wanna look there, as you can have a low light, low cost platned tank, or a high light, high tech planted tank that costs almost as much as a full SW reef - roughly $10-$15 per gallon to setup, not counting fish or plants, just hardware (mainly lighting, and CO2) and the plant substrate.

 

[ryan]

my fish list for my new tank tell me if its good or not.

2 cutters cichlid
2 electric blue hap
2 johanni
2 nyasa golden cichlid
2 slender pseudotropheus
2 keyhole cichlid
2 pseudotropheus joanjohnsonae

most od these are the scientific names i hope my lfs has them im starting a chilchlid tank and related members. also tell me requirments for these fish thanks. ryan