Dreaming of salt water...

[Anakaleki]

Hi everyone,

I really like the look of saltwater aquariums but I can't afford to keep one. So I had an idea to create the illusion of one by buying some of those real looking resin corals and keeping fish that look "oceany".

I went to a nearby Petsmart and saw some little blue and yellow cichlids. Their beautiful colors were so clear and bright. I was wondering if they would be a good candidate for a setup like this or if they would be too stressed by having bright fake corals and white gravel with bright lights. I'm experienced in keeping tropical fish but haven't tried cichlids yet.

I'll have to go back and write down the names of the fish to look up specific care info, but can anyone recomend a good website about cichlid care. Thanks.

Andrew

[dom]

the cichlids you saw is mbuna. which is African cichlids. The fake coral and bright gravel is not the correct biotop for them. They do required higher PH like 7.5-9... so you might need to get some coral chips inside yr filter box to bring up the PH.

their biotope is river sand...or any gravel. but not the colorfull type. with rocks. prividing them some space to hide. especially the smaller fella. coz cichlids are aggressive.

try on www.petfrd.com which is SG forum and provided very good information and knowledge in the cichlids tank setup. Or www.cichlidforum.com... some i forgotten. gonna check back on my laptop.

btw, if u like colorfull fishes. you can try on Victoria cichlids which is much more nicer and smaller size.

[Anakaleki]

So you're saying the fake coral couldn't subsitute for the rock crevices and the white aquarium gravel ins't sutible?

I was planning only have a couple of those small fish and no other fish in the aquarium. Do you know of any other similarly colorful fish that might be better suitable for a "fake reef" that aren't necessarily cichlids? Thank you.

AJB