Africans are really cool and some are beautiful. You just have to accept that you won't be having plants. From my experience, you won't be having artificial plants, either! They'll rip them up just like the real ones. I'm trying to remember... isn't it because they don't want any place where an enemy or poacher can hide and then strike at them or their young?
That's the entire reason I wanted Oscars though because of how big they get but I was hesitant to put them in a 40 gallon and it turns out I was correct. I have spoke with others about saltwater and they inform me that it's not difficult but saltwater tanks should be larger as well, I believe. My friend has some breeding, convict cichlids in his planted tank although they're not too big. I've been thinking about angelfish, another cichlid, but unsure yet. I've seen some around town with really nice color variations. Some many decisions, so few tanks.
The python device uses the Venturi principle that we all learned in school but never paid attention to its real world application. The thing they call faucet pump has no mechanical parts whatsoever. It is simply a tube with a constricted opening that speeds up the flow, hence lowers the pressure and allows water to be sucked in. Amazing little thing.
Actually, turtles don't have "asses" per say. They have an all-purpose waste and reproductive organ called their cloaca located on the under part of their tail. Get it right next time.
Convicts can be very aggressive... be careful what else you put in and how many fish you put in there with convicts. Especially during breeding time, those guys can go absolutely nuts defending their turf. This is true of a lot of cichlids. Angelfish can be tricky to raise. They're more temperamental to water conditions and you really don't want to put too many aggressive fish in there with 'em... their pretty fins will be shredded. I've never had a saltwater, but you may want to check on the prices of saltwater fish. Unless you stick with some of the more common clowns or wrasses, you'll probably be paying $20+ per fish. Some of the prettiest fish will run you $35-$175 each. But don't let that scare you... you can have some cool looking fish for a lot less, just understand the fish generally cost a lot more in a saltwater tank. The hardware overall is more expensive in a saltwater/reef tank, but I think marine saltwater tanks aren't quite as demanding. I don't know as much about saltwater tanks, so maybe someone with more experience can help you there.
Don't be fooled by my cavalier attitude towards salt tanks. It springs from my long experience in fish keeping in general, it is MUCH more demanding than fresh. You basically have three things to watch for in freshwater 1) PH 2) Nitrates 3) Ammonia saltwater requires keeping tabs on the following 1) ph 2) salinity 3) nitrates 4) phosphates 5) calcium content 6) temperature 7) alkalinity 8) magnesium 9) and some keep tabs on iodine as well now, those are just the most common tests for a reef keeper, FOWLR(fish only with live rock) tanks, you can probably get away with the more basic testing instead since you dont have corals sapping certain minerals out of the water. how much more advanced and how much more equipment you need to buy depends on if you are going to keep corals or not. If you dont go reef, you dont need special lights, your filtration doesnt have to be as complex and you dont need the amount of flow in the tank that requires the powerful pumps. If you are even the least bit interested, I can point you to places to read more so you can come to a decision on where you want to go. As much as I like some freshwater fish, they really are no comparison to the beauty of the reef.
Yeah but my friend has successfully kept them with other fish including angels, platies, neons, yo-yo loaches, etc. I don't think he has them anymore as he switched them for keyhole cichlids, not sure about that though. Exactly right on all points, which is why it's up in the air now. Yeah, I'm just not sure if I am ready for the jump.....we'll see.
Point away, next thing you know I am going to have a saltwater tank. That's how it starts. My friend gave me some references on planted tanks and now I can't get enough. When I first started my aquarium I had the fake plants, 'clown puke', and cute little signs not anything that is not natural/real is shunned upon. We'll see what happens with the saltwater.
BTW, here are some pics of my friends 55 gallon planted. The first one is an early on pic and the second one is more recent.
http://www.melevsreef.com/tanks.html http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-06/index.php http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/index.php?s= http://www.wetwebmedia.com/
Thanks R2K, I'll look into those sites. I went to a new, local pet store and they had an absolutely beautiful 20 gallon saltwater setup. Of course it only had 1 fish (clown) in it but everything was live and it was beautiful nonetheless.
Rockets2K, did you ever start your reef setup? I just started my first freshwater aquarium this week and I'm letting it cycle. I remembered this thread and thought I would look for pointers. Now I'm interested to see if you have gotten started yet.
I am thinking of doing this, if you guys would, I would appreciate some pics to show what your tanks look like.....with fish etc. Thanks, DD
Due to the recent ice storm up here I lost both my aquariums. Power has been out since Tuesday at my house and temperatures have dipped to the teens and have been below freezing every night since then.
