from marine to freshwater

havent posted in a while.
a fair few months ago i started a marine tank but things didnt go too well.
so now i have decided to start up a freshwater tank instead.

i have kept freshwater fish before and just decided to go back to what im better at.
so far i have a 180 litre tank with
a fluval 305 external filter
gravel substrate
2 pieces of bogwood
some fake plants

if possible im after a few stocking ideas including how many of each fish aswell.

thanks

 

What kind of fish do you like?

 

well i really like pearl gouramis and keyhole cichlids and would love to base the fish i get around them if i can and if its possible.

 

cichlid tank? pick a specific lake... like malawi or something and stock it / build a ecosystem similar to theirs?

i have a 55gal with a fluval 305 and ~20 cichlids for many years now with no issue. i used a aragonite 'cichlid' based sand for my bottom floor though. they really like to move it around and change the way the substrate is so make sure any rock structures are secure (moves more sand than with any salt fish ive seen)

otherwise you could do all sorts of various freshwater tanks... how about discus? perhaps you like catfish and want a catfish tank. perhaps you like messy fish that like to kill stuff like pirana

 

no i dont really want a cichlid tank.i want a freshwater/tropical tank.
thanks for the suggestion tho

 

ok ... you mentioned keyhole cichlids. so i figured you were ok with them... just so you know, keyhole cichlids are from south america and can and will kill other freshwater fish. ive had them, and other south american cichlids for that matter. i accidentally got a keyhole when i was new to the hobby and it killed a bunch of smaller freshwater fish. if they didnt get fed on their normal schedule they'd aggressively attack anything. perhaps i had a mean pair? later they spawned babies after they killed the other tetras and community fish

edit: i just re-read this, and i guess i made them sound like killers... they're not that mean, they're actually quite peaceful, but dont question it they will kill another freshwater fish if it strikes their fancy.

 

yeah maybe you had mean ones lol.

well i had 2 keyhole cichlids before and they shared a tank with neon tetras,mollies,and guppys and they were the most placid fish in there.the mollies were the problem lol.

 

good luck to ya are you going to do any plants in there? might make it look more natural too.

 

what about fancy guppies?, neons? some cory cats?, i just got a sun catfish and i love it he hides almost 99% of the time tho lol but he's fun, umm maybe a few barbs in the mix, some loaches, rasboras, swordtails, maybe some rainbows?, their all pretty small fish that i personaly think would make a pretty tank set-up, my personal favorites are the chiclids tho, i wanted a saltwater tank because of all the beautiful fish for them but i dont have the time or money so i settled with the chichlids and fell in love! lol