Geophagus or Frontosa?

[JK47]

yeah thats a good point, i did think of that earlier. my water is around 7.2 pH and slightly hard

I'm 7.6 and no longer keep geos, most people don't realize how well their fish aren't doing in harder water, I know I didn't. When I switched to RO, I saw better color and growth in 3-4 months than I did in over a year prior. I would add some crushed coral or coral based substrate and go the front route if I were you. Just a suggestion though.

 

[JC09]

yeah i would definitely need to raise my pH and i do not have an RO unit so that doesnt help

 

[andyjs]

yeah i would definitely need to raise my pH and i do not have an RO unit so that doesnt help

Raising pH is a lot easier than lowering it. I used some sort of Seachem cichlid sand the first time I kept Tanganyikans and if buffered my pH to almost 9 which is great for Tanganyikans. Go with one of the African cichlid substrates or aragonite sand or something and go the Tanganyikan route. As far as bichirs, I know ornates are native to Lake Tanganyika and should be fine with fronts.

 

[JC09]

Raising pH is a lot easier than lowering it. I used some sort of Seachem cichlid sand the first time I kept Tanganyikans and if buffered my pH to almost 9 which is great for Tanganyikans. Go with one of the African cichlid substrates or aragonite sand or something and go the Tanganyikan route. As far as bichirs, I know ornates are native to Lake Tanganyika and should be fine with fronts.

thanks for the advice. i do agree raising pH is alot easier and im probably going to go the frontosa route. any advice for lighting, sand, tankmates, or even pictures of nice setups would be wonderful! thanks again guys