Here is what i got going;

[Millerlite]

Well here's what i got going for now, it's an aquarium and I might add a musk tuetle in the future. It has few live plants, 11 fish. About 30 gallons of water.

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These ones, are from when I first got them

 

[wellington]

I am not sure about your mixture of fish. Tropicals and cichlids and you want to add a turtle. Well, good luck, I see a blood bath soon.

 

[tyguy35]

Cichlids will destroy tropics. trust me I worked in the fish industry a while. But great looking fish haha[/align]

 

[wellington]

Cichlids will destroy tropics. trust me I worked in the fish industry a while. But great looking fish haha[/align]

DITTO for about 8 years so far and am still working it. I work at an aquarium store and I have owned fish,tropical, cichlids, corals now marine and koi For too many years to count. Blood bath soon if you don't change your tank mates.

 

[Vishnu2]

Not to be harsh or anything but your arrangement won't work. I have been in the "animal" field for a long time and I have never seen that scenario work. Good luck.

 

[Millerlite]

Cichlids are gone, my friend gave them to me and I kept them for few days hen I first got my tank, this guy got all 3 of them, has a 80 gallon tank, old pictures I'll take newer ones. Not a fan of cichlids personally,

 

[wellington]

Cichlids are gone, my friend gave them to me and I kept them for few days hen I first got my tank, this guy got all 3 of them, has a 80 gallon tank, old pictures I'll take newer ones. Not a fan of cichlids personally,

I would have kept the cichlids, but thats me. They are easy to take care of, fun busy fish to watch, but very hard to add tank mates too and kinda limited. They also poop more then probably any other fish, well it seemed like it anyway. Glad you got them out though. Can't wait to see new pics

 

[CourtneyAndCarl]

Cichlids will destroy tropics.

I say it depends on the cichlids. I had a nice group of blue rams that did fine with my tropical setup, and if you keep tetras in a large enough school, they can still live with angelfish.

They also poop more then probably any other fish, well it seemed like it anyway.

I would beg to disagree I have a goldfish in a tank with 6 times the required filtration capacity, and it is STILL impossible to keep clean from all of her crap.

I would be a little leery about adding a turtle to a fish tank, unless you don't mind all of your fish being eaten.

 

[Millerlite]

The ones I had were pretty calm didn't attack anything, but the tank seemed small so I just got them a new home. Plus turtle will probably eat them. Turtles will probably try eating most I have now in there but it's ok, we will see if he can catch any

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I'll take pictures too. The tank has lots of hides for the fish, so we will see if any come out for the picture, I have barbs, and a red tailed shark, and a sucker fish.

 

[acrantophis]

You could have probably kept the julidochromis. The pseudotropheus would have killed every fish but your plecostomas though! Very Nice set up for a mud or a musk turtle. Personally I am an aquarium snob. I don't like light strips set diagonally on top of aquaria. Try LED clamp lamps across the back maybe? It will look cleaner. Also try a fish that will reproduce frequently to give your turtle some supplemental food. Mosquito fish or guppies do this very well. 1TBLS kosher salt per 5 gallons is a great prophylaxis against parasites and fungus.

 

[CourtneyAndCarl]

You could have probably kept the julidochromis. The pseudotropheus would have killed every fish but your plecostomas though! Very Nice set up for a mud or a musk turtle. Personally I am an aquarium snob. I don't like light strips set diagonally on top of aquaria. Try LED clamp lamps across the back maybe? It will look cleaner. Also try a fish that will reproduce frequently to give your turtle some supplemental food. Mosquito fish or guppies do this very well. 1TBLS kosher salt per 5 gallons is a great prophylaxis against parasites and fungus.

I don't know about anyone else, but with my luck the turtle would eat all the guppies right away

I agree about the strip light though, you are wasting so much lighting potential with the ends hanging off the sides.

 

[Millerlite]

My next step is building a good for the light. It's temporary crooked right now, I'm not a fan either. The tank has dark spots cuz if it being like that. Im just trying to think how I want to go about making a hood. Lol. Anyone ever build one before?

 

[acrantophis]

You could build a hood or maybe hang lights for ceiling? Sounds crazy but it looks cool. I have even encouraged plants to grow out of the aquarium and up the chains that hang the lights. Shop lights are great for this. You could even make a wooden shroud to hide the lights.

 

[Vishnu2]

You could build a hood or maybe hang lights for ceiling? Sounds crazy but it looks cool. I have even encouraged plants to grow out of the aquarium and up the chains that hang the lights. Shop lights are great for this. You could even make a wooden shroud to hide the lights.

Excellent idea.

 

[Millerlite]

Hmm, not a bad idea. Maybe I will just hang it from the ceiling. Hmm. Or maybe just a simple lid instead of a hood. Idk yet haha.

Here are a few pictures:

 

[wellington]

If I liked the look of it hanging from the ceiling, that is what I would have done. The l
Canopy is nice, however it is hard to fit some lights. If you do build one, make sure it is high enough to be able to attach the lighting you want to use. Remember, some lighting gets very hot. You may need to work in a fan or two also. Most lighting good for plants get hot and a basking spot for the turtle, don't forget that heat too.

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Cichlids will destroy tropics.

I say it depends on the cichlids. I had a nice group of blue rams that did fine with my tropical setup, and if you keep tetras in a large enough school, they can still live with angelfish.

They also poop more then probably any other fish, well it seemed like it anyway.

I would beg to disagree I have a goldfish in a tank with 6 times the required filtration capacity, and it is STILL impossible to keep clean from all of her crap.

I would be a little leery about adding a turtle to a fish tank, unless you don't mind all of your fish being eaten.

Yes, blue rams are a very peaceful cichlids. They probably would have been okay. As long as the barbs didn't tear them up. Some Barbs are very aggressive. Angels are also a cichlids and can be very mean, even though they look very peaceful. However, they are a good community cichlid as long as you know what your doing and the fish you are putting them in with. Again, angles and the wrong Barbs, well not so good. The best way to stock a tank. Write down all the fish you want. Go to an aquarium store, not Petco, Petsmart, or Pet supply plus. An aquarium only store. They will help you the best. They actually have the knowledge of who can go with who. That is, if they are a good store. The guy I work for, will not sell you a fish, if it will only get killed or kill the other tank mates. He really cares about the fish. Not the money. Find that guy and stick with him for life.

 

[CourtneyAndCarl]

My tactic is usually going to the fish shop, finding something I absolutely love at first sight, and asking them if it would work in my setup. Hahaha, needless to say the answer is usually "no" but a girl can dream, right? Right now the only real tank I have set up right now is a planted breeder tank for my Endler's.... Can't really add anything to it because the one betta that rules the tank does enough fry eating as is. Although assuming he eats let's say half of the fry, they are still pouring out of my ears so I guess I can't complain )