Fake Marine

[freddyk]

Lastly, discus - the most obvious option - rival many marines in color. They are not all that difficult to keep if you do your research and, perhaps, are the perfect stepping-stone towards going marine.

This is a cichlid too, except it's defeating the purpose. Discus like a heavily planted tank - hardly a marine-like setup. He wants lots of rocks. This means rock dwelling fish. This is why African cichlids come to mind as the best alternative. Maybe I'm misinterpreting the post, but it sounds like he wants a marine-like setup, not just marine-like fish.

 

[Matthew5664]

Lastly, discus - the most obvious option - rival many marines in color. They are not all that difficult to keep if you do your research and, perhaps, are the perfect stepping-stone towards going marine.

This is a cichlid too, except it's defeating the purpose. Discus like a heavily planted tank - hardly a marine-like setup. He wants lots of rocks. This means rock dwelling fish. This is why African cichlids come to mind as the best alternative. Maybe I'm misinterpreting the post, but it sounds like he wants a marine-like setup, not just marine-like fish.

Got it in a nutshell there I like the rock outcrop and sand bed look of the marine tanks (don't get me wrong the fish are nice to) But in Farley new to the hobby and would like to wait a wile b4 I have a fully marine environment. The fish for the "fake marine" I would like to be striking but I'm not looking for exact salt water alternatives! As for the crabs in was an impulse thing coz I sor them in my LFS and thought that they would go well with the rocky look of the tank! These no way I’m trying to imitate a marine set-up exactly. Look and Navarre’s 220gallon set-up no way I could pull that off using FW fish!


PS Who is the bruce willis??

 

[Navarre]

Ok lets get the important things out the way first.. Bruce willis is "supposedly" a great hollywood actor My mate in the thread is "supposedly" ment to look like him.. (i dont see it myself but he was chuffed to bits!)


OK and now for the rest of the trivia...

Sorry sylvia but i cannot agree with the species you have named. Whilst these are lovely fish in every respect, i cannot agree that these fish can match the colour of marin fish with perhaps the exception of betas and malawis, not even the boldest Discus comes close to a Regal angel or Empero angel etc.

As for learning freshwater before starting marines.. Well many go down this route and feel they will cut their teeth on the "easy" side of the hobby before starting the difficult stuff. Firstly, freshwater being the easy option is not true, Many freshwater fish are far more difficult to keep and maintain than most salt water. Whilst niether side if this hobby is a piece of cake by any standards, freshwater is far more demnding on maintenance than marines.
Which links me to the next part and this is that should you try out the frshwater route first then alot of the habits and routines you learn and have ingrained upon you are a freshwater keeper needs to be frogotten as a marine keeper.
I find people that head straight out and keep marines first develope into far better marine keepers than freshwater converts. NOt that i am trying to say that freshwater converts cannot make great marine hobbiests ( i kept freshwater before doing marines) but it takes alot longer for them to stop using old "freshwater" habits.

 

[Matthew5664]

Didn't see the resemblance myself either


As for the marine side I think you've convinced me and the new tank will tank shape soon watch this space.

 

[George Farmer]

Please don't mix fish with crabs or lobsters (crayfish), it always results in something getting eaten and its usually the fish. Inverts with claws and fish do not mix.

The closest thing to a marine tank you can get with freshwater is a Malaiwi Cichlid tank. Many of the fish found in lake Malaiwi have colours to rival those of marine reef fish and their natural habbitat is rocky outcrops and sand substrates.

The behaviour of Malawi's is also similar to many marine's i.e. Damsels, Clownfish etc. One big advantage over marine's is the stocking, Malawi's "need" to be overstocked to reduce aggresion, so if you decide to take the Malawi route then large bio-filtration (big externals) and water changes are the order of the day.