Assuming I have RO unit and my brother in law's goodwill to construct manifold, I will have long but not v tall river tank with all sorts of balitorid loaches

Cathie,
Wow that's a very awesome idea!! When I grow up, i'll definitely try that out! LOL

I think I'm itching towards a Cichlid tank but I know way less about these fish than the regular tropical setups.

I have my planted tank, I think I'll go towards sand and rocks with some plants as needed.

I like the look of the Jewel Cichlid and it would fit my water but no idea on good tank mates.

If I went for a different type that needed a higher PH etc....how hard would it be to raise the levels needed in the water?

Some of the above ideas sound great though :)

Not a problem to raise pH and hardness although you must monitor it carefully, Seachem sell products with the correct minerals that will help you replicate lake Malawi or Tanganyika, for example

Ahh, I might look in to that a bit more then and come back with a barrage of questions :P

I would go for a SE asian tank. There are some beautiful ones on youtube. I'd love the massive mix of barbs, rasboras and loaches that could be possible.

G O L D F I S H!!!!! I have no idea why you lot bother with anything else

JON

Haha I was thinking goldfish :) But the SE asian tank would just pip it for me!

I'd set it up facing the telly and use it as a jacuzzi. Then I'd smoke a pack of more menthol and drink those cans of gin and tonic from M&S while I watched the football in it.

Too hard to pick one idea :(

1. Clown loach species tank with a really amazing huuuge branch of bog wood. Lots of java fern/similar, rounded river stones, general river theme.

2. Not a big Amano fan usually but recently he did some enormous tanks with shoals of teeny tiny fish. Would love to have something like that with a massive shoal of endlers, or wcmm, something otherwise horribly under-rated and preferably colourful. Lots of plants because its awesome to watch them watching you from the safety of their little jungle. Maybe some big rocks with an interesting texture at interesting angles to create focal points.