I kept a barb tank for years.....and everyone that saw it asked me if it was a salt water tank because it was so colourful.

The tank was fully planted with live plants and had drift wood and lots of hiding spots. It contained rosy barbs, golden barbs, cherry barbs, black ruby barbs and tiger barbs. The barbs were all the regular coloured ones. It also had flying fox and short finned danios and coolie loaches.

Sierra

Africans, Labs are very brightly colored in oranges and yellows and blues, can get your hands on some big snails and some small bottomfeeders to keep the substrate clean. They are hard water fish tough.

Goodluck

Freshwater fish can be every bit as colorful as saltwater. :) I think the community you have in mind now would be lovely, and there are other fish out there you might add. I think dwarf gouramis are agreeable, but read about them to make sure. They're very pretty fish. Other nice fish I can think of off the top of my head are rainbow fish, white clouds, blue tetras, and black neon tetras. Be sure to keep any tetras in groups of seven or more per species, as they can become violent in small numbers. White clouds are about as aggressive as oak saplings, but they're healthier in groups of seven or more, too. There should be about a 1/3 male/female ratio with them, which also applies to lots of other fish. Cories should be kept as four or more; I'd go with six. With a nice big tank like that, I'd stock it only part of the way to leave room for spawning. =^_^=

If the pH of your wanted fish varies a little, don't let that alone stop you from keeping them together. Most pH values are based on the fish's natural habitat, but they've likely been raised in ordinary treated tap water. It's best to read about all the fish thoroughly, discuss them with experienced keepers, and ask at pet stores what water conditions they've been keeping the fish in. Stability is generally the most important factor in a fish's health, not magic numbers.

Do you have any experience with fish keeping? Do you know about the nitrogen cycle? I can't tell from your post how "old" you are, and I just want to make sure your fishies do well. :)

Hi
i would suggest choosing the inhabitants by what type of water you can easily provide. Even in a small tank it is a real hassle to juggle parameters. If you have hard alkaline go with rift lake if neutral or acid go with those type fish.
A tank that size needs larger fish. to make an impact.
Would be fantastic for angels,Discus or even fancy goldfish or even Koi. Would also make an ideal rift lake biotope. Think about fish that us ordinary people can only dream about lol.
let us know what you decide Would be fun to see this tank develop!!
gary

Thanks for the feedback.

As to age: I am in my mid 30s, more like upper, but mid sounds better. I have kept a variety of freshwater fish, but it has been a while. I was a pet crazy kid and had the whole range of pets out there, with the exception of snakes, because my mom had to draw the line somewhere. I have not had a fish tank for a few years since my time has been spent with 2 young sons and building our dream home.

As to the water conditions: We have a water softener. Or I can bypass the softener when I fill the tank and use the hard water that comes through the line. Or we do have a RO system for our drinking water, but it holds 9 gallons at a time and would take forever to fill a 240 gallon aquarium. It could be handy for topping off the tank. I do have a ph test kit and will test each option before proceeding.

I am an elementary teacher and have a nasty habit of researching every project to death before I begin it. I won't be setting this tank up over a weekend. As a teacher and a parent,I have periods of very busy living. During those times, a marine environment would be difficult to properly maintain.

I have wanted a BIG aquarium for a long time. As a kid I had 10, 20, and 40 gallon tanks. I bought this 240 gallon used and got what I hope was a good deal. It is 48"L x 42"W x 29"H. It is going to sit literally in the middle of the family room in our basement (finished walkout, but the back side will face the windows to prevent excess algea.) The back of the couch will be on one side, but you would be able to walk all the way around. I am building a hood and back that will go all the way up to the ceiling which is where the electricity will feed the tank.

I know that the tank could house a larger fish, but my goal is to have schools of bright smaller fish. I love the movement, and the relationships, and the fact that something is happening when you pause to study the aquarium. Something you could turn off the TV and watch for an hour.

As to fish:
I am toying with a few options:
1. Make saltwater tank anyway. It is what I really want. The costs and continued maintenance are major cons.
2. Make a tank of African cichlids. Bright, colorful and interesting. Probably my least expensive and easiest option. The range of fish are rather limited though the colors are amazing. My son really likes some eel like loaches he saw at the LFS and they could not go in with the Africans and hope to survive.
3. Make a planted community tank. Lots of options. Some live bearers and schooling fish. A few mild cichlids like angels (which I enjoy) or Apistogrammas to keep the population in check or rainbowfish for color. My son's loaches could live here. Stitch, our betta, could live the last days of his long life in uncramped luxury. The big trick here is to balance environment needs so that everyone is healthy. I could tinker with this setup for a lifetime. This is where I am looking for suggestions of interesting colorful fish.
4. Make a discus tank. The discus are lovely and colorful. A school of a dozen or so would be striking. There are a few tankmates that I enjoy that could provide some diverse viewing such as a couple varieties of tetra, hatchetfish, pencilfish, corys and perhaps a pair of ram Apistogrammas, my sons loaches could also fit into this picture. The discus enthusiasts out there change 25-50% of the water as frequently as daily. If that kind of work is needed to keep the discus happy, I am in the same boat as a marine aquarium. Sigh.
5. Any suggestions?

I am also making decisions about filtration and lighting. Of course, that isn't easy either. Cost, what kind of fish I keep, and what water I choose, and if I go with live plants (which I have done before and know the work involved) also make an impact. Your feedback is helpful and appreciated.

When I got into keeping fish, a good friend of mine who is a fish nut somehow convinced me to get some african cichlids. I love the colours, and yeah, they're personable fish, but quite honestly, they're way too aggressive for me.

Soooo... here I have a tank set up for the cichlids. And while I've tried to convince friends and family to take them from me (I won't trade them in or give them to any LFS - they really are gorgeous, healthy, huge) they're still with me - 5 years later!

I really love my community tank the best - that and the pond outside. I think there's plenty of colour in community tanks.

I don't think that habit is nasty at all. A very good one, in fact. :3

When I asked "age", I just meant your experience with fish keeping. I wouldn't want to start telling you things you already know, 'cause I think that's a little insulting. It's good to know that you already know what you're doing. :)

An LFS here has a huge community tank with discus, rainbow fish, neon and blue tetras, some other little fish, dwarf gouramis, and ottos. At least, that's all that I can remember. It sounds like that's about what you're wanting. I'll ask them about its gallonage and maintenance, and maybe they'll even let me take pictures. Hopefully I'll be going there tonight, but that depends on my mom.

Hi
Some other options for a tank that large would be river tank or paludarium. Views both below and above water.These are my favorite tanks as they allow you to keep both aquatic and terrestrial plants a s well as animals.
Small tetras make a big impact in this type of setup. A fun way to do one that large would be streams with waterfalls and connected pools. the upper canopy could contain orchids and other epiphytes
You might look at some of the "Dutch Vivaria" sites if you go that route. They moved container gardening to an art form
gary

I disagree Gary, Shallow squares do not make good river tanks as you have to move alot of water a short sidtance very quickly in order to have a directional water flow, and a paludarium in a tank so wide would eaither tanke up half the wall space or 9/10th of the water volume.

The thing about the South american and SE asian fish that have been recomended is that while most of them have colors they do not "Pop" in the way that saltwater and african rift lake cichlids do, The maintainance on a FOWLR sw aquarium is not too bad. Perhaps a pyramil shape mound of live rock slightly off center (with room to clean the acrylic all the way around) and a bit of a sandy spot with a maited pair of firefish, a pair of clowns (Hosted in a sarcophyton), a school of blue green reef chromis, a medium sized tang and some sort of flasher wrass for extra color would do you well, and don't skimp on the clean up crew. eventually everything will become covered with coraline algea and look drop dead gorgeous, even without corals. Oh, and for a prime display of symbiosis you could get a pistol shrimp goby pair.

I tested my water pH. My softened water out of the tap and aged for 3 days is 7.6 either way. My RO water is 7.4. I have not bypassed the water softener and tested the hard water.

If you want SW then FOWLR is a good way to go. The lighting doesn't have to be as intense and you could always upgrade if you want to add corals. Lighting is one of the most costly things if doing a reef. You can save $$$ on things like filters and live rock if you are handy and don't mind DIY projects (I think that DIY makes this hobby even more interesting). You can make a filter out of storage containers or even a smaller glass tank. You can make base roch out of crushed coral or aragonite sand and portland cement. A few good pieces of quality live rock placed strategicaly around the base rock with the assistance of some pumps will seed the base rock. If you want a "recipe" for this let me know, as well as other DIY sites.
The African Rift lake, Discus and Barb tanks are all colorful. With the addition of live plants it can be very breath taking. With a tank as deep as yours I would go with some HID type lighting to reach the bottom of your very deep tank. Metal Halide is good and can also be used with SW. For live plants in FW you can get away with using Mercury Vapor lighting. You can get bulbs for under $10 that are about 5500K. I bought an outside MV fixture and bulb 175W from walmart for about $23. You just have to retro-fit it to your setup.
As far as your water is concerned, pH for RO water should be slightly acidic and closer to neutral. The GH and KH should be both 0.0ppm . Your RO units membrane may need replacing. The best way to tell is to use a TDS meter. Your water softener will not alter your pH. Water softeners only remove magnesium and calcium (GH or general hardness). Your RO should remove the the TDS that make your waters pH higher. KH (carbonate hardness) will affect your pH, GH will not. KH is a test for calcium carbonates and high carbon minerals and rock disolved in your water. This could be Limestone, marble, dolomite, sea shells or any other source. The only concern here is for Discus, ther require soft acidic water. SW fish and African Rift like harder and higher pH +7.5 pH. The other fish (for the most part) will adjust fine to pH.
IMHO, go with the FOWLR since you really want SW. You don't have to do it all in a day. Besides being unsafe for fish it creates anticipation of new fish and additional equiptment. There is always Christmas, Fathers Day and Birthdays for gifts. It is a tease when you go to the LFS to check out supplies or stock and have a wicked ass mixed reef staring you in the face. Try the link below for great prices on pumps, filters and other stuff. The lighting is a little high priced but most everything else is a good deal.

Here is a link that might be useful: Drs. Foster Smith Aquarium Supplies

Give the salwater a try. I just set up a 110 gallon. I purchased a lot of stuff used to save money, joined a local saltwater club. Reefcentral.com has tons of info.