Inspiration, 375 gallon tank, ideas?

[Nanook]

Hi,

I'm going to convert my 375 gallon Reef to a freshwater tank. Looking for ideas on species, habitats, etc. I'm trying to get away from high electricity costs and lower maintenance. My other tanks are a 120 gallon acropora tank and a soon to be 470 gallon acropora tank.

Thanks for any pointers.

 

[sunnysjourney]

Welcome to MFK . And wow a 470 gallon acro tank will be a sight to see!! Please post up some pictures over here in the saltwater section.

And what are the dimensions of your 375? Also how do you plan on converting it into a freshwater tank? Just cleaning it thoroughly with water might not help much because there may be some salt residue left over. Have you thought about moving to a brackish setup first and slowly work your way towards freshwater over time? There are Some species of fish that can live in fresh and brackish waters with no problem, archer fish, for example.

Edit: I haven't kept archer fish but a lot of people here keep them. I did a quick google search and found this interesting article.
http://www.fishchannel.com/freshwater-aquariums/species-info/archerfish.aspx

 

[Fat Homer]

Welcome to MFK...

I guess it depends on what you mean by setting up a freshwater tank... do you mean just going with a hardscape + some fish, or a barebottom empty tank or even possibly a monster planted tank with some community fish???

 

[Nanook]

Thanks for the replies and the welcome. I've got a thread over on Reef Central with my current system titled Nook's Reef.

I'm thinking the glass tank will clean up pretty easily of salt residue, but not sure. I'm having a wet-dry filter built. I was leaning towards an African Cichlid tank, possibly Tangs, but thought I'd ask here in general for other suggestions. The tank will be hardscaped and 100% geared for the species/region I choose. My acropora tank will keep me somewhat busy, so this tank needs to be lower maintenance. I've done planted tanks and Discus, but I'm not wanting to mess with plants, high lighting, pruning, etc.

 

[Nanook]

I forgot the measurements. 96" long 30" wide 30" tall.

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

I just want to say that:
*Single solo species = low maintenance.
*Community tank setup = crowded fish tank = high maintenance.
**Lighting not really important in freshwater unless you want specific lighting to bring out the color of your fish then it will be pricey but nowhere compare to saltwater lighting, you can reuse your saltwater lighting setup just don't use much blue lights..

 

[Nanook]

I was thinking a Front tank several years ago before I went saltwater, but was concerned they might be a bit boring. I do prefer Tangs over Malawis, so was leaning towards Fronts, altolamps, and a few lelupi.

 

[Texas321]

With a tank that big I'd do driftwood with a lot of live plants. Then try and get 4-5 pickerel and sunfish. Would be awesome.

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

With your tank size I would keep a colony of Frontosa, they look nice in big tank rather than those altolamps and your tank look pretty much empty.

 

[Nanook]

Appreciate all the suggestions.