New Rocks

[bmarine]

I currently have a 55 gallon african cichlid tank with slate. I like the look, but i found that its hard to keep it stacked sturdily and I couldn't build anything tall enough to look good. I'm looking for some new rocks. Any ideas that are cheap? This will be for peacocks and mbuna. I would love to see your tanks too to get ideas!

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

I love red lava rock. The most natural for Africans would be piles of river rock type stone

 

[Big Tex]

Picked all this up (about 185lbs) for $15 at a landscaping company I got to hand pick them, and just an FYI take a spray bottle full of just freshwater to spray them, they will be chalky and they will look completely different when submerged versus dry. They looks good after a good scrubbing and stacked up biggest to smallest for max cave-age lol

 

[bmarine]

Picked all this up (about 185lbs) for $15 at a landscaping company I got to hand pick them, and just an FYI take a spray bottle full of just freshwater to spray them, they will be chalky and they will look completely different when submerged versus dry. They looks good after a good scrubbing and stacked up biggest to smallest for max cave-age lol

Thats sweet! What kind of rock is that?

 

[Big Tex]

Thats sweet! What kind of rock is that?

It was labeled as medium assorted boulders on a huge pallet just take a small water bottle with vinegar as well, find a nice looking rock wet it with the water if you still like the way it looks either dry it off with your shirt or grab another from the pile and pour some vinegar on it and if it doesn't fizz or bubble it's aquarium safe and won't spike your pH, GL on your search bud. Oh and it doesn't hurt to ask, most likely your not the first one to go tank scape shopping there or ask the yard manager or workers they should know, if all else fails you have your mini field test kit lol.

 

[bmarine]

It was labeled as medium assorted boulders on a huge pallet just take a small water bottle with vinegar as well, find a nice looking rock wet it with the water if you still like the way it looks either dry it off with your shirt or grab another from the pile and pour some vinegar on it and if it doesn't fizz or bubble it's aquarium safe and won't spike your pH, GL on your search bud. Oh and it doesn't hurt to ask, most likely your not the first one to go tank scape shopping there or ask the yard manager or workers they should know, if all else fails you have your mini field test kit lol.

Gotcha. Sounds good! Thats a good plan! I really want some new rocks cuz i can't stack these tall enough! I would like some nice rocks that i can stack tall without it all crashing down, and that can make good caves for my africans. I'd like to see your guys' tanks too to get some ideas!

 

[Big Tex]

Gotcha. Sounds good! Thats a good plan! I really want some new rocks cuz i can't stack these tall enough! I would like some nice rocks that i can stack tall without it all crashing down, and that can make good caves for my africans. I'd like to see your guys' tanks too to get some ideas!

i think im going to rescape mine soon, i wanna go up the sides in the rear corners and leave the middle as swimming space idk yet, what rock did you decide on? or you havent shopped around yet?

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

Gotcha. Sounds good! Thats a good plan! I really want some new rocks cuz i can't stack these tall enough! I would like some nice rocks that i can stack tall without it all crashing down, and that can make good caves for my africans. I'd like to see your guys' tanks too to get some ideas!

Lava rock is going to be the easiest to stack IMO. The pieces kind of stick together. I feel more confident in the lava than the stacked slate I have in another tank

 

[bmarine]

i think im going to rescape mine soon, i wanna go up the sides in the rear corners and leave the middle as swimming space idk yet, what rock did you decide on? or you havent shopped around yet?

Haven't had the time to shop around yet. And lava rock is nice, i just worry that it might be too sharp for them, plus i'm just not real sure if it looks that natural lol plus idk if i want it with black sand. no offense, just my opinion for my tank!!!

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

Do whatever you want, your opinions the only one that matters. Don't worry about it being sharp you likely will have no problems. IMO it will look great with black sand the contest will make it stick out.

 

[reefdiver]

You can use small dabs of silicone to help you keep them in place. I like the boulder look more natural.

 

[bmarine]

Do whatever you want, your opinions the only one that matters. Don't worry about it being sharp you likely will have no problems. IMO it will look great with black sand the contest will make it stick out.

Gotcha, haha thanks and that may be true. Do you have any problems? It might be nice cuz its light! The problem is that i can't find anywhere that sells bigger lava rocks. And i do kind of like the boulders. We'll see i think! I would really like to see pics of your guys' tanks though so I can see what looks good!

 

[Ayi]

I'd like to see your guys' tanks too to get some ideas!

Just base rock and some lifting.

 

[bmarine]

Just bad rock and some lifting.

What kind of rock is that?

 

[Ayi]

What kind of rock is that?

Base rock, sorry. It's usually used for SW but raises the ph in FW.

 

[bmarine]

Base rock, sorry. It's usually used for SW but raises the ph in FW.

Ahhh gotcha. Looks pretty good!

 

[erikmoseley]

I used a mix of slate and river rocks and other random rocks

 

[Ayi]

Thanks! I'm thinking about making it shorter in length so there's more swimming room or only stacking on each side so it looks like its between two boulders. Not sure on which one though...

 

[bmarine]

I used a mix of slate and river rocks and other random rocks

Thats a nice tank too! I really can't decide what rocks i want, and also the color of the sand. I have black right now, but the tan looks pretty nice!

 

[Ayi]

I used a mix of slate and river rocks and other random rocks

I like how yours is a lot more open for swimming.