What Should I Have In A 6 Foot Tank

[superman1]

Hello

well i am picking up a 6 foot tank on the weekend. it holds roughly 4-500 litres and want to know peoples oppinion on what they would stock if they had this.

i am currently looking into making it a Cichlid tank but want to know if i have overlooked anything

i have previously had a marine tank and Piranha tank which i dont want to get back into.
so i am torn between tropicals or Cichlids.


so what would you choose and what would you stocking be..

thanks

 

[hihi100202]

a really big community tank or semi aggressive. Maybe 3 balla sharks and a few angels. Then a common pleco, a big school of neons, and like 3 of a big species of gourami.

 

[NinjaSmurf]

There is a lot of difference between 400 and 500 liters. Can you give us the actual measurements of the tank?


Honestly? This is your tank. I understand that you want to hear other peoples ideas, but you will be the one that has to look at the tank everyday. So, I'm going to ask you a few questions.

1: You said you had marine and piranhas, but you don't want to do it again. What about these setups and fish stock makes you not want them anymore? Was it the setup expense, the types of fish, or just that you've done them already?

2: What kind of cichlid were you thinking about? African, Central or South American? Smaller ones or the larger variety? A few single fish with a couple of schools of dithers, or strictly cichlids? Some cichlids can be kept in a typical tropical community setup, such as angels, bolivian rams and various apisto species, while if you go with somewhat larger cichlids you can still have a community, just with larger fish.

3: What community fish do you like? What types of fish, more schooling fish, or ones that can be kept by themselves? Do you like lots of activity or a more relaxed tank? Fish in all parts of the tank, or just a few places (i.e. top, mid-level, bottom)?

4: Do you want plants? If you do this will affect your choices as well.

5: Expense. Lets face it, fish cost money. If you are going to be getting a lot of fish it will most likely cost more. I can get a severum for 6 dollars, a school of 15 Neon tetras will cost me 15 bucks. However, this changes depending on what you're going for. Discus are going to cost a lot more than, say, a couple of firemouths, or a large school of neons.

 

[superman1]

There is a lot of difference between 400 and 500 liters. Can you give us the actual measurements of the tank?


Honestly? This is your tank. I understand that you want to hear other peoples ideas, but you will be the one that has to look at the tank everyday. So, I'm going to ask you a few questions.

1: You said you had marine and piranhas, but you don't want to do it again. What about these setups and fish stock makes you not want them anymore? Was it the setup expense, the types of fish, or just that you've done them already?

2: What kind of cichlid were you thinking about? African, Central or South American? Smaller ones or the larger variety? A few single fish with a couple of schools of dithers, or strictly cichlids? Some cichlids can be kept in a typical tropical community setup, such as angels, bolivian rams and various apisto species, while if you go with somewhat larger cichlids you can still have a community, just with larger fish.

3: What community fish do you like? What types of fish, more schooling fish, or ones that can be kept by themselves? Do you like lots of activity or a more relaxed tank? Fish in all parts of the tank, or just a few places (i.e. top, mid-level, bottom)?

4: Do you want plants? If you do this will affect your choices as well.

5: Expense. Lets face it, fish cost money. If you are going to be getting a lot of fish it will most likely cost more. I can get a severum for 6 dollars, a school of 15 Neon tetras will cost me 15 bucks. However, this changes depending on what you're going for. Discus are going to cost a lot more than, say, a couple of firemouths, or a large school of neons.

hello

thanks for your reply. the tank is 183 cm long by 50 cm tall and 50 width. havent worked out exactly the amount of litres that is.

to answer your first question i dont want to go down the marine route as its very expensive in terms of having to buy salt. fish are expensive. etc etc i want something that i can afford even in the long run.
Piranhas although they are beautiful fish. i am severely limited to waht i can have. if i have Piranhas i cant have anything else. i want a set up where i have a nice mix of fish.

in terms of Cichlid i was thinking mBuana cichlids. reasons are they have beautiful colouring and i quite like the look of the scape that they enjoy (coral gravel and plenty of rocks to hide in) if i went down the cichlid route i would like a bigger variety of cichlid rather then have less cichlids but bigger ones.

in terms of tropical fish i like a nice variety. i like to have small schooling groups yet have some that like to go about on there own. i would like to use the whole 6 foot space so i dont just want fish that will always be at the bottom. i would like a mix that would use top middle and bottom. i like alot of activity in my tank.

regarding plants i dont want to go down that route as i want to be able to offer my full attention on the fish and not have to worry about the plants. maybe in the future i might head down that route but not just yet.

expense whys i dont mind spending a bit of money up front rather then having to spend loads on maintence. so if i am happy with the fish then i will pay for it. discus although beautiful im not to into them because there not very active fish. from looking at cichlid tanks the colour, set up and activity in the tanks would probaly appeal to me more. although i like the variety of tropicals.