Large freshwater fish

[hansgruber7]

Peacock cichlids aren't as aggressive as other cichlids, especially if you set up the tank right. But I agree, there's more to think about than with other fish.

 

[FishNewbie82912]

Peacock cichlids aren't as aggressive as other cichlids, especially if you set up the tank right. But I agree, there's more to think about than with other fish.

I’ve decided on peacock cichids! That’s too funny. I did some researching about less aggressive ones. And I love how these look!

 

[LordHappy]

Happy day...you've experienced a nice array of thoughts here, shifting through the genres. Perhaps keep reading a bit more, dial back on the impulse and see how you feel after a week of watching YT vids and such, then make the purchase.

 

[FishNewbie82912]

Happy day...you've experienced a nice array of thoughts here, shifting through the genres. Perhaps keep reading a bit more, dial back on the impulse and see how you feel after a week of watching YT vids and such, then make the purchase.

Thanks. Yes I’m going to make sure I educate. That was my first mistake with my 25 gallon as a newbie fish owner. You go through a lot of learning. I’m going to get the tank going and cycling. I was thinking of using water from my established tank since I finally have a good chemistry in there. It’s been 2 years and the first year was very rough. Is that okay to do? Use water to get the bacteria going?

 

[LordHappy]

Happy day...I that's a great idea. You could even squeeze some of the muck out the 25s filter into the water, or just put the whole cartridge into it.

 

[hansgruber7]

Thanks. Yes I’m going to make sure I educate. That was my first mistake with my 25 gallon as a newbie fish owner. You go through a lot of learning. I’m going to get the tank going and cycling. I was thinking of using water from my established tank since I finally have a good chemistry in there. It’s been 2 years and the first year was very rough. Is that okay to do? Use water to get the bacteria going?

It's ok, but using the water won't really transfer any bacteria. Most of it resides on the filter media. So if you wanted to speed up cycling, you would need to transfer some filter media, not the water.

 

[hansgruber7]

I’ve decided on peacock cichids! That’s too funny. I did some researching about less aggressive ones. And I love how these look!

Great! Just do your research carefully. There's some bad advice out there. Start with the Aquarium Co Op video on keeping cichlids.

 

[Colin_T]

You could also look into Electric Blue Jack Daniels, Acara, Oscar, Peacock cichlids.

Freudian slip, someone is thinking about alcohol. The fish is a Jack Dempsey named after a boxer.

You could look into some of the more peaceful African Rift Lake cichlids. They grow to 4-6 inches and many have blue or yellow colouration. The peacock cichlids (Aulonocara species) mentioned above are nice fish. They can be kept with rainbowfish too, and both like hard water (GH around 300ppm and a pH above 7.0).

-------------------

Okay so I will move on from that idea. Last question...rainbows and angelfish? Yes or no?

No.

 

[ClownLurch]

Thanks. Yes I’m going to make sure I educate. That was my first mistake with my 25 gallon as a newbie fish owner. You go through a lot of learning. I’m going to get the tank going and cycling. I was thinking of using water from my established tank since I finally have a good chemistry in there. It’s been 2 years and the first year was very rough. Is that okay to do? Use water to get the bacteria going?

Water doesn’t really do it. Filter media and hard surfaces do.
Buy the filter for your new tank ASAP and run it in one of your current tanks alongside the filter already in there until transferring to the new tank.
Also put some of the ornaments, wood, rocks, caves etc that you’re going to use in the new tank into your current tank until the new tanks ready to start.

 

[madmark285]

Holy cow I just looked up the prices on discus fish! They can be like $80 a fish! That can’t be possible.

So if your husband still wants a saltwater tank, check out the prices for saltwater fish...

Great choice on Peacocks, the next issue may be, where can I find some high quality peacocks? I see all these brilliantly colored peacocks on the web but nothing like that at my LFS (local fish store).

If you order online, expect to pay ~$60 shipping cost. Cost wise, it make sense to make a large order to save on shipping, you just have to make sure your new tank can handle a large bio load. If going this route, I would cycle your tank with bottled ammonia. I believe this forum recommends 6 doses rounds of ammonia.

 

[FishNewbie82912]

So if your husband still wants a saltwater tank, check out the prices for saltwater fish...

Great choice on Peacocks, the next issue may be, where can I find some high quality peacocks? I see all these brilliantly colored peacocks on the web but nothing like that at my LFS (local fish store).

If you order online, expect to pay ~$60 shipping cost. Cost wise, it make sense to make a large order to save on shipping, you just have to make sure your new tank can handle a large bio load. If going this route, I would cycle your tank with bottled ammonia. I believe this forum recommends 6 doses rounds of ammonia.

Oh yes we saw salt water fish at a store and I told him he’s crazy. I think the peacocks will be beautiful. And I found some beautiful ones at pet smart actually. I have 2 pet smarts within 15 mins of me and one has a huge aquatic section and you can really find some cool stuff in that store. Petco was awful. But I have a private pet store near me that has advertised unique cichlids so hopefully I luck out locally.

 

[FishNewbie82912]

Water doesn’t really do it. Filter media and hard surfaces do.
Buy the filter for your new tank ASAP and run it in one of your current tanks alongside the filter already in there until transferring to the new tank.
Also put some of the ornaments, wood, rocks, caves etc that you’re going to use in the new tank into your current tank until the new tanks ready to start.

Thanks that’s what I’m doing. I took my sponge from old tank -which was pretty new unfortunately and I took this other little mesh bag of media. Not charcoal but it’s something to help with ammonia. Anyway hopefully that gets things going. I have 2 filters going on this new tank. 2 aqua clear 70’s. 2- 200 watt heaters. And I just added my substrate (which looks great but was larger gravel than I wanted). I also have a bag of crushed coral coming that I might add. I wanted to do sand so badly for the cichlids sake but I read so much about vacuuming and filter maintenance that I decided last minute not to. Once I finish the substrate I’ll steal some plant decor from the old tanks.

 

[madmark285]

Oh yes we saw salt water fish at a store and I told him he’s crazy. I think the peacocks will be beautiful. And I found some beautiful ones at pet smart actually. I have 2 pet smarts within 15 mins of me and one has a huge aquatic section and you can really find some cool stuff in that store. Petco was awful. But I have a private pet store near me that has advertised unique cichlids so hopefully I luck out locally.

That's great, I think you made an excellent decision on peacocks. Concerning Pet Smart vs Petco, I think it depends on the local managers. I can't judge my local Pet Smart since the vast majority of their tanks were empty My PetCo stores are far better.

FYI and I am not trying to change your decision but, I read that if you over stock Mbuna African cichlids, they become less aggressive. I am not sure if this applies to Peacocks or Haps.

I love my new 75 gallon tank, my LFS sells them for $100, I plan on setting up another tank, Mbunas! On aquascaping, have you looked at the BIOTOPE AQUARIUM DESIGN CONTEST website? Lake Malawi and Tanganyika are rocky environment, they are some very cool looking tanks there. For myself, buying rocks at my LFS is out of the question, just one rock will cost me $20. I been working on some ideas on building rocky environments with PVC pipes and locally collected rocks. Let me know if interested.

Note: be careful with putting large rocks into a tank, I scratch my brand new 75 gallon tank with a large rock and spend an entire day buffing it out. Argggg...

Mark

 

[FishNewbie82912]

That's great, I think you made an excellent decision on peacocks. Concerning Pet Smart vs Petco, I think it depends on the local managers. I can't judge my local Pet Smart since the vast majority of their tanks were empty My PetCo stores are far better.

FYI and I am not trying to change your decision but, I read that if you over stock Mbuna African cichlids, they become less aggressive. I am not sure if this applies to Peacocks or Haps.

I love my new 75 gallon tank, my LFS sells them for $100, I plan on setting up another tank, Mbunas! On aquascaping, have you looked at the BIOTOPE AQUARIUM DESIGN CONTEST website? Lake Malawi and Tanganyika are rocky environment, they are some very cool looking tanks there. For myself, buying rocks at my LFS is out of the question, just one rock will cost me $20. I been working on some ideas on building rocky environments with PVC pipes and locally collected rocks. Let me know if interested.

Note: be careful with putting large rocks into a tank, I scratch my brand new 75 gallon tank with a large rock and spend an entire day buffing it out. Argggg...

Mark

Good luck with your project!! So I ordered 2 drift wood tree root ornaments. They’re pretty awesome looking. Have some “Moss” and green in it and a great gray drift wood color. I’m looking into Cichlid caves but I don’t like how those look so I just looked into the pvc diy projects and I’m thinking of what I could cover the pipe with that’s cool and pretty looking. I live on the NE coast line and we have very nice beaches full of rocks. But can you just put any rocks in a fish tank?

 

[madmark285]

Good luck with your project!! So I ordered 2 drift wood tree root ornaments. They’re pretty awesome looking. Have some “Moss” and green in it and a great gray drift wood color. I’m looking into Cichlid caves but I don’t like how those look so I just looked into the pvc diy projects and I’m thinking of what I could cover the pipe with that’s cool and pretty looking. I live on the NE coast line and we have very nice beaches full of rocks. But can you just put any rocks in a fish tank?

Pour vinegar on the rock, if it bubbles, don't use the rock (limestone?).

What I been experiment with, cover a rock or PVC pipe with polyurethane Gorilla glue then toss it into a bucket filled sand (or whatever subtract you are using). Below is a test using play sand which is a great and cheap substrate.