Re-stocking 18g After Tank Crash

[CAC]

Today my 18 US gallon tank crashed, when some the C02 bottle mixture syphoned into the tank. I saved the only animal which was in there. I CBA with this set-up anymore, and ive removed all the water so the plants are kinda destroyed. Also, I had an infestation of two species of snails, and these small bug which were wierd and there were a couple of blood suckers (or something similar anyways, theres some vid/pics of them on here somewhere) so I want to redo the tank, and this today has finished it off...
Theres a few things that Im considering which are: African cichlids of some sort, shelldwellers most likely, a brackish tank with waspfish and some other bits and bobs depending on what comes along, a native high end brackish or SW tank with native species of goby, shrimp, muscle etc or a nano tank with corals.
A little info about the tank (as these will likely limit what could be kept): The tank has strong overhead lights so I could keep soft corals. It has no lid, and putting one on with the existing lights would be hard. My water is pH 7.2. Its 24lx12wx15h"
Any of the above tank set-ups that would/nt work, or any other suggestions?

Cheers, Mike

 

[dthoffsett]

I'd go with shelldwellers. They'd be pretty happy in your tank. Here's a link.

http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/shel...ller_corner.php

 

[CAC]

Cheers for the link, ill have a good look through it all...
Do you think in an 18g I could have a couple of species or would i be best to stick to just the one? Also, because of my water, would I need to add anything to buffer the water?

Cheers, Mike

 

[dthoffsett]

I'd stick with one species. You'll want to raise your PH and KH, but you can easily do that by adding crushed coral to your filter, or switching to aragonite sand.

 

[CAC]

Ok thanks for that, ive put a thread up in the african cichlid forum to find out abit more. Anyone have any other ideas on the tank?