Need Help Deciding

BJC787

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i have set up a new tank and i am having trouble deciding if i want to go with a chiclid tank or a brackish water tank.
what would be the pros and cons of each.
 
i have set up a new tank and i am having trouble deciding if i want to go with a chiclid tank or a brackish water tank.
what would be the pros and cons of each.

How big is it? Some cichlids and brackish fish need large tanks.
 
i have set up a new tank and i am having trouble deciding if i want to go with a chiclid tank or a brackish water tank.
what would be the pros and cons of each.


size of tank is an issue as sic0198 says. also water parameters, maintaining the salinity correctly could be a problem for brackish & cichlids (malawi for example) would prefer hard, highish pH water, or softer water if you want S American species. Maybe the chemistry of your tap water would be a good way of deciding what fish to keep.
 
Welcome to the forum BJC. I am going to disagree with everyone else, typical for me, and tell you that the best choice is a fish that you really take a liking to. I would wander through my LFS looking at all of the fish and decide on a few species that really appeal to you. If you then come back with a list of fish, we can help you put together workable stocking for the size tank that you will of course have to let us in on. I am not going to be trapped into recommending a nice full sized cichlid for a 10 gallon tank for instance. At least I am usually more cautious than that.
Why do I insist on a fish that really appeals to you? It is simple, if the fish appeals to you, you will enjoy it longer and learn to care for it better than just getting something to fill up the tank.
 
i am in australia and work in a pet shop.
i have over the last 10 years kept cichlids, tropical, marine and even just goldfish.
i want to keep something that is unusal that people don't see every day, so im also not looking at the same fish at work and home.
the tank is 120lt, the tap water ph is 8.3 and hardish.
if i go brackish i am looking at archerfish, banded puffer fish, scats or mono argent which are all native
if i go cichlid i am looking for something unusal and stands out as the centre piece and some other fish that are bright and not common.
 
You have the knowledge from working in pet store, I'd go brackish.

A con of a brackish tank is that are (I think) no algae eaters for them so you'll have to do it manually. You can only get a limiter number of fish for it.

My link
 
I think brackish tanks are fascinating.

There are some problems with your stocking ideas however. The fish you have listed get too big for your tank, especially when you consider those that need to be kept in schools. In fact, i don't think an adult banded puffer would even be able to turn around. You're also looking at some compatibility problems in terms of salinity and temperament. For instance, monos need to be kept in fresh or slightly brackish water when young, and slowly acclimated to 1/2-full marine as adults.

If you really want to go brackish, i'd suggest you do a bit more research before taking the plunge.
 

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