Sayuri425

Hi thanks for looking about my post. I have been keeping freshwater fish for about 2 years. I have 9 tanks ranging from 10-55 gallons. I have not worked with semi-aggressive fish before besides a 12 female beta sorority, which I don't think that really counts. They are very chilled out ladies with some other community fish. MY husband had Green Terrors about 25 years ago. He wants me to set up a large tank with a few New World cichlids. I am in my research phase. I have a lot of time on my hands. I'm a stay at home mom with 3 kids that are all almost adults. I am looking at setting up a 125 gallon. For what I have found on the interwebs, most people use canister filters on tanks this size. I'm more of a sponge filter, HOB Lady. Would 2 say tidal 110s and a few sponge filters be enough filtration for these types of fish? From what I understand so far, and correct me if I am wrong, if you are going to keep multiple aggressive fish you should raise them all up together from a small size. Hubby really wants a green terror and a few other fish with it. I have looked at Jack dempseys, servrum, Fire Mouths, Blood Parrots, and few others. I know I do not want convicts. They seem too mean. Could someone give me some info on how many of these types of fish could be housed in a 125? what would be the best combo of fish types. I would like at least another fish I can enjoy as well in the tank. One that is personable. I grew up with 2 oscars that were my fathers. I loved them to pieces, but think they might be too big in this situation. I am here to learn before venturing into this. so any and all opinions are welcome. Thank you.

I am currently running a new tank. 1st day filled 40 gallon breeder tank, with my tap water used dechorinator. Added a brand new sponge filter with an air stone. I tested water parameters to see what baseline would be. Ph 8.0, KH 12 degrees, GH 13 Degrees. Rechecked at 48 hours to check parameters after gassing off. ph 8.2, KH 1 degree, GH 13 degree. I added some fish food until I have 2.0 ammonia, added fritz zyme 7 (16 oz) for the 40 gallon tank. I will be keeping Axolotls in this tank in the future. waiting for my hob tidal 55 to get here to help run the tank. i will be modifying the filter to meet the axolotls slower flow needs. I noticed over the week the ammonia hasn't increased or decreased. steady at 2.0. I added some plants java fern and java moss,and hornwort. I have concerns with my kh being so low as i have read that kh acts as your stability to ph as an on going system, I also need to bring my ph down some for the axolotls to be happy, down to at least 7.6. what are the best ways short and long term to help fix my water situation? I dont have a local knowledgable fish store to assist me. I guess I need to lower ph and then raise my kh without increasing my ph. Any and all suggestions are welcomed, then throughly research those ideas before implementing. Thank you all in advanced! Have a beautiful day!

HI Im new to fish/aquatic animal keeping. I have done research the past couple years. I am in the works of cycling a tank for a couple of young axolotls. I also plan on setting up a 15 or 20 gallon betta tank for my daughter, I would be handling the care but its her fish.