setting up a new tank :)

I'm waiting on my neighbor to finish building a aquarium stand for my 37 gallon acrylic tank, what kinda of tank do you guys think I should get, I want my tank to have a natural look, and i'm trying to stay away from mollies and guppies, something like friendly cichilids with large group of neon tetras, I don't know much about plants keeping because i'd never had a plant tank before, maybe a tank with lots of stacked rocks and a few plants...I don't know i'm not so sure..do you guys have any ideas?

 

Even friendly cichlids might gulp down a neon or two now and then. If you don't really care then it will make for an interesting 'ecology'. The thing is many cichlids get rather big so you'll have to plan what kind you want. Are you thinking of angelfish for instance?

Loaches are fun fish, you might be able to get some of them with your neons.

 

Not once have I seen a clown loach attack anything,except for live plants. Angelfish that I have I seen them attack above average Neons,in there mating ritual. The calmest Cichlid that I have had so far are Discus, but they are quite expensive and need a lot of care and attention to there water parameters.

I love your rock theory it makes a great hiding place for your fish. Also you may want to get silk plants for your aquarium,there almost lifelike and nobody will eat them. I also have rock formations in mine and there great looking. I got all my rocks from my basement, tested them with vinegar and boiled them 3 times,it looks much nicer.

John

 

Ram Cichlids, for example, cannot gulp a small fish like Neon Tetra because they're small themselves (well, small as for Cichlids). Ram Cichlids are very beautiful too But other Cichlids ... yes, they may eat smaller fish. Although I have raised 2 Angelfish from babies with Neon Tetras, and my Angels have never bothered the Neons. They just ignore them as if they didn't exist. BUT ... if you put adult Angelfish (that have been raised up with other Angelfish or otherwise other fish as large as themselves), they certainly CAN eat smaller fish like Neons.

 

well i'm not exactly sure what kind of fish i'm getting but definally not mollies or guppies, some sorta fish that have more characteristic than mollies, more intellegent perhaps...I don't know how smart they are, oscars are smart but they get really big I don't have enough space to provide them, umm...i'll think about it lol..have this emputy tank in my garage ready to run. lol...
ps: is it a bad idea to set up a tank in my garage?