Tank Population Help

[SirJeepALot]

Ok, this is gonna be a definite newbie question. Basically, I'm buying a tank this weekend. Although I know I need to cycle it for several weeks, I'm a research fanatic. I want to start researching now the types of fish I want to populate my tank with. My preference is to get as close to a saltwater looking fish as possible without having a saltwater setup. Other than that, I'd like alot of diversity in the tank. I've tried researching, but there is so much information, I don't really know where to start. Can y'all provide me with some pointers in the right direction so I can plan my tank accordingly?

TIA :D

[Slappy*McFish]

You may want to look into the African cichlids...with a little research I'm sure you can find a wealth of info...one fish that I particularly like is Pseudotropheus Demasoni..
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/Fishpics/demason1.jpg

[aiserock]

I agree with slappy; cichlids are great freshwater fish for vibrant color! Most cichlids are very aggressive though, so don't plan on having a community setting with these guys.
Oh.. make sure to have plenty of hiding places for cichlids
Goodluck:D

[superstein61]

Yes, cichlids probably provide your best choice in terms of the color that you like in a Saltwater environment.

however, I urge you if you go this route to do a lot of reseacrh on these. There are some challenges in terms of keeping cichlids. Certain varieties require a high PH which depending on the properties of your water, may require some tricky manipulation, many are pretty agressive and you can't mix and match all cichlids. So you need to be well versed going in.

Do you know what the PH and KH of your water out of the tap measures. If not, take a small sample to your LFS and have them test it and tell you - then we can go from there