Coldwater / native build

[KATALEKEEPER]

Decided against getting a short body flowerhorn as looks like we may move in the near future to either Texas or Portugal, and don't want to pay 180 for a fish to have to sell it for like 60. So I've decided to build a coldwater tank. What draws me to coldwater fish are hardiness, pretty breeding colors, and the fact I can bring them to our summer home and they can live outside.

The tank is a 40 breeder, and I've decided to go with African cichlid sand, and a HOB with a sponge in it, and bio-balls.

Stocking:

Originally I wanted a crucian, but they just get to big, so now I'm thinking that I'll do 1-2 fancy goldfish, 3 dojo loaches, and either some bluehead chub or stone rollers.

I really love blueheads because of the tubercles, but I don't feel 100% comfortable with them going into the tank because my friend in NC would be catching them, and I just don't really want to deal with parasites right now.

Another option would be bull chub which are my other favorite, But I think they get too big.

So I think I'll get a group of 4-5 stonerollers from a guy who exports natives - Then I can know they are parasite free and weaned onto frozen etc. They are also very cheap.

For the actual tank build I want to do something like knot4e's tanks with the driftwood hanging down, and then some smooth rocks and pebbles incase the stonerolllers want to spawn.

Looking forward to some tubercales and spawning head bumps!

 

[Magnus_Bane]

Decided against getting a short body flowerhorn as looks like we may move in the near future to either Texas or Portugal, and don't want to pay 180 for a fish to have to sell it for like 60. So I've decided to build a coldwater tank. What draws me to coldwater fish are hardiness, pretty breeding colors, and the fact I can bring them to our summer home and they can live outside.

The tank is a 40 breeder, and I've decided to go with African cichlid sand, and a HOB with a sponge in it, and bio-balls.

Stocking:

Originally I wanted a crucian, but they just get to big, so now I'm thinking that I'll do 1-2 fancy goldfish, 3 dojo loaches, and either some bluehead chub or stone rollers.

I really love blueheads because of the tubercles, but I don't feel 100% comfortable with them going into the tank because my friend in NC would be catching them, and I just don't really want to deal with parasites right now.

Another option would be bull chub which are my other favorite, But I think they get too big.

So I think I'll get a group of 4-5 stonerollers from a guy who exports natives - Then I can know they are parasite free and weaned onto frozen etc. They are also very cheap.

For the actual tank build I want to do something like knot4e's tanks with the driftwood hanging down, and then some smooth rocks and pebbles incase the stonerolllers want to spawn.

Looking forward to some tubercales and spawning head bumps!

Personally I would recommend getting some native sunfish instead of goldfish. It would hold the more natural astetic unlike the goldfish where then it would look more like a goldfish tank with some extras. Maybe some Lepomis Humilis if ya can find any. They would go perfectly in a 40g since the males only reach into 5in and the females only get to 4in. They even have enough beauty to rival most African cichlids imo. Here's a pic of a male if you're curious to see how they look.