Going over options...

[jschall]

Ok, I set up this tank intending it to be an mbuna tank. It's nearing the end of its fishless cycling, and I just want to look into other options as far as fish go.

I don't know the gH of my well water, but its pH is 7.9 and it's pretty hard. I don't want to have to buy any RODI water.

I kind of want to keep the rocky look, and I want to keep fish that sort of belong in a rocky environment. I don't want to deal with balancing a planted tank. So what else, apart from mbuna, would do well in these water conditions? I don't want something that would look totally out-of-place in a rocky environment.

 

[jschall]

Bump, I took some water in to get it tested for hardness, and the place didn't have gH. They did have kH, and that was 4 dkH.

So the question is, what, other than african cichlids, would "belong" in this tank.

 

[Finalfire9]

sweet rock farm is that emp 400 and a canister?

 

[jschall]

sweet rock farm is that emp 400 and a canister?

Yep, emp400 and a cascade 1000.

 

[Finalfire9]

Your first step is to Find your LFS and go nuts

 

[Finalfire9]

How many gallons is that tank?

 

[Finalfire9]

If its freshwater you can get started with a Pleco they are cheap sometimes a dollar a inch and clean the crap outta everything buy big bc they grow slow. They look like rocks Definatly not a fish that youll watch tho it will be watching you

 

[jschall]

75 gallon, fishless cycled, should be ready for a large bioload.
I don't want to just go into my LFS and impulse-buy. I don't trust LFS employees to recommend compatible fish and I don't want to get stuck with a fish that limits my options and/or grows too large for the tank.

 

[andyjs]

That looks like a CA cichlid tank to me with those nice big round boulders. How about some Thorichthys species (you can find firemouths I'm sure, but there are much cooler species out there) and maybe a Nicaraguan or two.

Then again there are also Tanganyikan cichlids-by far my favorite of the Africans

 

[jschall]

That looks like a CA cichlid tank to me with those nice big round boulders. How about some Thorichthys species (you can find firemouths I'm sure, but there are much cooler species out there) and maybe a Nicaraguan or two.

Then again there are also Tanganyikan cichlids-by far my favorite of the Africans

I want to use my tap water, but it's probably too soft for tanganyikan cichlids.

Have any links to some interesting CA cichlids that would do well in this aquarium?