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i know nothing about converting salt water to fresh water tanks.

the cichlids should get along pretty good, just make sure you get them the same size, so some wont get bullied.

oscar and devil might be a little too big for the mid size cichlids, this guy from lfs told me he uses small cichlids to feed his oscars, pacus, eels, devils...ect

make sure to get some algea eaters

i duuno what ones im gonna get becasue some of these fish cost like mass $$$$$$ like electric yellows at this one shop are like $14 for a reall small one

This tank definitely should have stingrays and Merodontotus tigrinus at the least. Cichlids are nowhere near as cool.

On a tank that big IMO any salt residue might not actually effect the water quality so much. I'd just hook everything up and let it run in freshwater for a while. If you're worried about salinity, just do a good water change.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

yeah its glass with a wooden stand

bRaD you said you were getting limestone rocks, so you could use those to raise the pH of your water for the Malawis if you're going to get them

as said before:88)

glass or acrylic? (acrylic is considerably lighter than glass)

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does anyone that lives in australia know how much it would cost to transport in a truck or by courior from perth to brisbane a 250 gallon tank and stand (dont know the weight)

What cichlids you can add to your tank depends on whats available to you. In a sweeping generalization, most Malawi mbuna wil be possibilities for a tank of that size, but will they all be available? probably not.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/photogallery/ has a pretty comprehensive list of cichlids, just look under the Malawi sections. The Electric blue is a hap, and the electric yellow is a mbuna. IF you like the electric blue, than continue with other haps, and forget the mbuna, other than the electric yellow, as its the only one I know of offhand thats an omnivore.

The two websites I gave you both have a decent variety of fish, and if you are planning on looking beyond the LFS, those might be some good places to consider to help expand your selection. If you would prefer to go through an LFS, an idea of whats avaiable to you locally might help to determine a good selection for your tank. Scoping out the
local fish club for upcoming auctions would probably also provide a good alternative. At the same time, you might be able to find some local breeders that can hook you up.

Mike

I've done some experimenting mixing different types of cichlids (meaning mixing south american, central american, lake malawi, and kribs)..

Piece of advice..

Don't mix oscars and mbunas, the oscar will get stressed and nipped even though the mbunas are so much smaller, the oscar will die soon. Mbunas are alot faster and more 'clever'. All it takes is one bully mbuna and oscar is done. I have one malawi cichlid in with oscar but it's not a mbuna and not aggressive.

Clown loaches are friendly little guys and I think mbunas would kill them too.

Congrats on the tank !

The Amazon Nut...

yeah i was thinking about elctric yellows and blues but wat are some other good fish that will go with these

i heard clown loaches can but wat other cichlids can and wat thing should i put in the tank like caves and things???

and wat does a sump do is it just like a filter that sucks water into a sumptank then cleans it a pushes back out another pipe?

You really have two choices based on the fish you've selected. Converting the fishtank shouldn't be that hard, you just need to clean thoroughly. Cichlids are secondary freshwater fish, so they do have a salt tolerance if it itsn't 100% perfect. Sumps are fine, and I would even go as far as to say neccesary, for freshwater tanks of that size.

The first coice is a lake Malawi tank with mbuna, like electric blues and electric yellows. They need hard water with a pH of around 8. With them, you could keep an amazingly diverse amount of fish, like acei, crabs, solofi, pretty much any of the mbuna you want with a tank that large. The sky's the limit, you would just want to make sure you keep colonies of 1-2 males and the rest females.

The second choice is a central american tank. This would include the convicts and red devil that you mention. Oscars, although south american, might also work, depending on how you stock it. Now this tank will be alittle trickier to set up, as your fish will vary in size and aggressiveness. Possiblities again, for a tank this size are phenominal. You can look at any of the Thorichthys (aureus, meeki, etc) - firemouth and family, Cryptoheros (nigrofasciatus, sajica, spilurus, sp. "Hondorian Rep Points"- convict and family, Herotilapia multispinosus (Rainbow cichlid), Neetroplus nematopus (Neet!), Herichthys (carpintis, cyanoguttatus, labridens)- texas and family; they'd all be compatiable in a community for sure. If you want to go with something alittle more aggressive, such as your red devil, check out some of the Parachromis (friedrichsthali, loisellei motaguense) along with your Amphilophus citrinellum (Midas) or Red Devil (Labiatum). The genus Vieja would also fit this group. Mixing between the larger and smaller would be possible, but if this is your first CA tank, I would avoid it as it comes with experience.

For a tank that size, I'd consider going mail order from a real quality breeder to make sure you get good stock and because you're buying in large numbers of fish. Thus, I would suggest fishless cycling the tank, so that its completely ready when the fish arrive. Id go with Jeff Rapps at tangledupincichlids.com for your CAs and maybe TNT cichlids (http://www.tntcichlids.com/MALAWI.htm) or armke's (http://www.ohiexchange.com/armke/list.htm) for Africans, if you have the money.

Good luck.

Mike

i say flowerhorn.

I'm jealous :88)

yes it should be fine! i wouldnt use those limestone rocks as they will mess with water phiremeters!

i might be getting a 250 gallon tank
of my uncle who is moving house
he told me he used it as a salt water tank but i wanna use it as afreshwater
he told me it has a sump and lots of air pumps and things and 2 4ft light
its 8ftx2ftx2ft

so can u use a sump in a freshwater tank and he also said he has lots of limestone cave rocks that he will give 2 me

so does anyone have any stocking ideas i was thinking about some small-meduim sized cichlids like maybe some electric yellows and blue...does anyone know what fish are good tank mates with these ...and will convicts go with them??

if anyone has any ideas about which fish i should get just say it

also i was thinking about some fish like a red devil or an oscar but i would kinda like a community

duh, didn't notice your Aussie flag. Skip the advice on which websites to visit for purchasing, it wouldn't make sense.

I still recommend the suggestion of checking out fish clubs and breeders if possible, as the price will probably be significantly lower than your LFS and the quality better.

If I remember correctly that Aussies have a far limited import of aquarium fish, I would change my suggestion to Frontosas if they are legal. Granted, they'll probably be expensive, but I think that tank was made for them.

Shini, maybe the stingrays got the "odd factor" down, but no stingray I've ever seen has any personality that could match a New World cichlid. =D

Mike

go with a something that will get huge and have it be the only fish in the tank!!

yeah i can get fronsosa but they r like 40$ each

like what type nick?

[span class="edited"][Edited by 2004-07-12 01:23][/span]

ok lemme suggest a stock list for yah:

6 firemouths
4 blue acara
2 oscars
2 severums
2 BN's

or

2 red terrors
4 covicts

6x2x2 - Firemouth and Oscar Tank
30+ royal pythons.

Back in the game after 4 years out ..

oi brad im so sry for u soz