Alternative to a marine tank

[Cichlid Man]

If you thought marine fish are the most colourful fish out there, then you'd be wrong. And if you have been wishing to get a marine tank for Christmas then hold your horses for a while and take a browse through this page, as you don't really need a money burning, back breaking, time consuming saltwater tank, when all you need to do is select the right fish and decor before jumping ahead and going to the store buying the cheapest fish you come across, do a bit of window shopping first.

If you like the idea of having a marine tank because of the nicely colored decor, the coral reefs, the flashy invertabrates, the wriggling anemones, then you can buy all of these things for the freshwater tank, as your fish won't mind as long as they have plenty of places to hide.

You can buy dead coral for your tanks, however only use them if you are intending on keeping hardwater fish because it can alter the water chemistry.



You can also buy all sorts of rock for the marine tank that would also feel at home in the freshwater tank.

So you thought you couldn't have an anemone in a freshwater tank
This is a lifelike plastic one. They even move in the water flow like a real anemone:



I have saltwater tanks because I can afford them, but if you haven't got much spare cash, then how about this!
Instead of having these colorful marine fish, you can have freshwater substitutes.

Instead of having a clown fish AKA nemo....



You could have a clown loach.



Or a cheaper option could be a school of tiger barbs.



If you would like a humbug damsel, but would prefer to do without the salt mixes, the protein skimmers, and the UV sterilizers.....



Then this zebra cichlid is for you!



Wouldn't it be nice to get a cardinal fish that could be kept in soft water and not hide all day......



Well you can! This is a ram.



So you want a batfish do you?



No you dont! Why would you when you can have an angelfish that can live with your tetras.



So you want to spend your weeks wages on a school of these lyretail anthias?



Then you're an idiot. Just chuck a few of these in your tank.



You thought nothing could imitate the pantherfish?



Then what's this jaguar cichlid doing?



The end result is a beautiful freshwater tank, and your visiters won't even be able tell that it's not a setup of saltwater fish, corals, and rocks from the tropical seas.



Here's my tank:









Just goes to show that you don't necesserily need to epmty your wallet on marine equipment when you can make do with a freshwater tank.

[Osiris]

interesting! Never thought about it like that. Good comparison in pics bro.

[Fishfirst]

hah! I prefer spending my money til its all gone and all I have left is enough for a package of easy mac and a glass of water!

[Alin10123]

Wow! THANKS chiclid man. This sure is useful info. I've wanted to get a SW tank for a while but was worried about money and maintenance of it. This helps a lot.

BTW... you mentioned some marine items will turn the water hard so make sure that the fish like hardwater. Are the fish that yuo mentioned above? Do they like hardwater?

thanks again

[AshleytheGreat]

Hahah nice job CM

[flamingo]

Pretty good.

So far I think my cichlid tank is harder to mantain than my sw lol. Constant worries about aggression, water quality decreses quickly because of how the y eat ( bunch of fast pigs), and all that.

I really do recommend cichlids for anyone who wants to have a sw tank but needs to put it off because of costs or whatever reason. My paragraph up there isn't trying to scare anyone off lol thats just my case and personally I prefer sw tanks WAY over fw ones.

oh btw... th eother good thing about an alternative to the panther grouper is you wont have to worry about a 20 inch + plus fish lol. I've seen some cichlids that looks pretty similar to them.

[Chumpp_308]

flamingonhot
"So far I think my cichlid tank is harder to mantain than my sw lol. Constant worries about aggression, water quality decreses quickly because of how the y eat ( bunch of fast pigs), and all that."

have you tried pellet or granular food? clean as a whistle.

[flamingo]

They only eat flake and nothing else.

They just hit it so fast and it shoots all over the tank. It has a sand bottom and it's full of rocks and driftwood so cleaning is a pain in the butt.

In a while the cichlids are getting sold and the tank is either going to be for some clownfish or seahorses or something. After a while II might try cichlids again.

[micstarz]

lol but imagine if a beginner went and chucked all those fish in a FW with coral for decor! If not incompatialbility, then the PH will get them first!

[pyrofish]

Originally Posted by micstarz

lol but imagine if a beginner went and chucked all those fish in a FW with coral for decor! If not incompatialbility, then the PH will get them first!

Hopefully this topic is not too dead...(although stickys never really die)

...But don't most cichlids (particularily Africans) prefer a pH between 7.8 and 8.6? I am actually in the process of switching to coral sand in my cichlid tank. I've read from several sources including www.cichlid-forum.com that coral pieces can be benificial in cichlid tanks to provide proper pH buffering and increase water hardness. Please correct me if what I am saying is horribly wrong...

[DUSTIN323]

No your right pyrofish except for "most cichlids". African ciclids from the rift lakes like extremely hard and alkaline water. Which your right coral, crushed coral, marine sand, shell will be good for a tank with them as it will buffer & help mantain a high ph & hardnesss. But all of the fish listed above don't like that. Central American cichlids like hard & alkaline water but not quite as hard & alkaline as the Africans do especially those from Tanganyika. But then on the other hand South American cichlids and some African ones that aren't from the rift lakes like soft and acidic water.

[DUSTIN323]

As you ca see the pic of that tank is full of African cichlids and its got sand, dead corals, & shells

[pyrofish]

Oops! I didn't realize that the cichlids in the pictures weren't African. I looked 'em up though and you are right. I'll do my homework next time.

Fortunately for my fish I read some species profiles before buying the coral sand (they are all from Lake Malawi).

[micstarz]

lol

im confused
doesnt coral like dissolve into the water? if someone had coral sand wouldnt it quickly dissolve and vanish?

[Alin10123]

Originally Posted by Cichlid Man

If you thought marine fish are the most colourful fish out there, then you'd be wrong. And if you have been wishing to get a marine tank for Christmas then hold your horses for a while and take a browse through this page, as you don't really need a money burning, back breaking, time consuming saltwater tank, when all you need to do is select the right fish and decor before jumping ahead and going to the store buying the cheapest fish you come across, do a bit of window shopping first.

If you like the idea of having a marine tank because of the nicely colored decor, the coral reefs, the flashy invertabrates, the wriggling anemones, then you can buy all of these things for the freshwater tank, as your fish won't mind as long as they have plenty of places to hide.

You can buy dead coral for your tanks, however only use them if you are intending on keeping hardwater fish because it can alter the water chemistry.



You can also buy all sorts of rock for the marine tank that would also feel at home in the freshwater tank.

So you thought you couldn't have an anemone in a freshwater tank
This is a lifelike plastic one. They even move in the water flow like a real anemone:



I have saltwater tanks because I can afford them, but if you haven't got much spare cash, then how about this!
Instead of having these colorful marine fish, you can have freshwater substitutes.

Instead of having a clown fish AKA nemo....



You could have a clown loach.



Or a cheaper option could be a school of tiger barbs.



If you would like a humbug damsel, but would prefer to do without the salt mixes, the protein skimmers, and the UV sterilizers.....



Then this zebra cichlid is for you!



Wouldn't it be nice to get a cardinal fish that could be kept in soft water and not hide all day......



Well you can! This is a ram.



So you want a batfish do you?



No you dont! Why would you when you can have an angelfish that can live with your tetras.



So you want to spend your weeks wages on a school of these lyretail anthias?



Then you're an idiot. Just chuck a few of these in your tank.



You thought nothing could imitate the pantherfish?



Then what's this jaguar cichlid doing?



The end result is a beautiful freshwater tank, and your visiters won't even be able tell that it's not a setup of saltwater fish, corals, and rocks from the tropical seas.



Just goes to show that you don't necesserily need to epmty your wallet on marine equipment when you can make do with a freshwater tank.

One more thing... can all of the above fish that you mentioned all live in the same tank at one time? Will there be any territorial issues or anything?

[Cichlid Man]

NO, but then again neither can their saltwater equivalents.
For example, those jaguar cichlids and panther groupers will predate on anything that can fit into their mouths. And the zebra cichlid will grow too big for other fish to cope with.
Also, things like rams can't be kept with corals as they are soft water fish, and corals will raise the pH to around 7.5-8.5.
The clownloach, ram and angel fish can be kept together as they are all softwater fish. Quite a natural looking marine tank made from river sand and synthetic corals, anemones. As long as there is enough cover in terms of caves etc, the fish will be quite at home.
If using real dead corals, then ideal fish would me a mixture of malawis and tanganikans, but remember when mixing africans together and least one hiding space per fish should be added, and if you are housing larger cichlids with smaller ones, it's always a good idea to have many hiding places where the small ones can fit into but not the larger ones, this means that they can have their own breeding territory without being evicted by their larger cousins.

[pyrofish]

Originally Posted by Cichlid Man

If using real dead corals, then ideal fish would me a mixture of malawis and tanganikans, but remember when mixing africans together and least one hiding space per fish should be added, and if you are housing larger cichlids with smaller ones, it's always a good idea to have many hiding places where the small ones can fit into but not the larger ones, this means that they can have their own breeding territory without being evicted by their larger cousins.

Does this mean I could house yellow labs with shell dwellers if the tank were properly arranged?

[Cichlid Man]

Originally Posted by pyrofish

Does this mean I could house yellow labs with shell dwellers if the tank were properly arranged?

You can't, becaue you're going to collage remember?

[pyrofish]

I was thinking theoretically.

That is a very good point though...I don't wan't to get myself into more fish related trouble than necessary!

[ron v]

Ha, ha, ha. CM........