Now many pounds of rock should I put in my 55 gallon tank

[james1085]

I have a 55 gallon cichlids tank and want to put some sort of rock in the tank for them to hide is there any white rock I can use I saw ocean base rock and was not sure if I could use it in freshwater and of corse how many pounds ?


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[jmats]

It depends on which type of fish you have. If you are dealing with Africans, who require a higher pH, I would recommend African sand which you can find at any LFS. African sand naturally raises the pH to about 8.0.

If it is any other origin, I would say any gravel will do. Roughly, you want to use one pound of gravel per gallon of water. Example: If you had 75 gallons, 75 pounds of gravel will suffice.

Also, if it is not Africans, there are plenty of methods you can use to stabilize your pH. Example: driftwood will naturally lower your pH and calcium (such as sea shells) will raise your pH... Just a quick FYI for you when planning your hardscape.

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[mikem691]

Google Texas holey rock I think that is what you are looking for.

 

[jmats]

Google Texas holey rock I think that is what you are looking for.

Agreed. I read this completely wrong when I answered and thought he was just looking for substrate.


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[Daven]

For hiding spots, I bought 'Cichlid stones' off amazon and love them. They are pricey, but I think they look nice and each have a hole for the fish to hide in if wanted. And they're ceramic or something so they hardly weigh anything so I don't have to worry about the tank holding the weight. Here's a picture of my mbuna 75g tank with about 16 of those stones. I like stacking them to make caves and such for them to claim and go through. I'd get more, but like I said, they're expensive lol


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[Mebbid]

I really like the lace rock you can find. It's very easy to stack and you can make some very interesting scapes and caves with it. I was really never a fan of the holey rock... it's just too..... white.

My old 55g African Cichlid tank with approx. 60 lbs of lace rock

The stuff I got was a random assortment of rocks I bought online, but if you go and handpick them you can easily get some really nice pieces.

A lace rock I picked up at my LFS on the far right. It's currently being used in my reef tank.

 

[RedDevil83]

I really like the lace rock you can find. It's very easy to stack and you can make some very interesting scapes and caves with it. I was really never a fan of the holey rock... it's just too..... white.

My old 55g African Cichlid tank with approx. 60 lbs of lace rock

The stuff I got was a random assortment of rocks I bought online, but if you go and handpick them you can easily get some really nice pieces.

A lace rock I picked up at my LFS on the far right. It's currently being used in my reef tank.

That looks like alot more weight than your saying but I could be wrong,just removed one 45 pound rock and yours seem to look like a lot more weight or does it look bigger than it really is?

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[Mebbid]

That looks like alot more weight than your saying but I could be wrong,just removed one 45 pound rock and yours seem to look like a lot more weight or does it look bigger than it really is?

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Well, I ordered 50 lbs of rock and added 10 - 15 pounds of rock I picked up at the store. They might have given me a bit much, but I don't see that figure being off by more than 10 lbs or so.

I think it's that it really just looks bigger. I stacked it to make the caves as large as possible.

 

[RedDevil83]

Looks good though.

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[Mebbid]

Looks good though.

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Thanks! That's why I like the lace rock

It was a joint effort between my room mate and I. She took that tank with her when she moved out because I was more interested in the planted tank side of things. It's still going strong after close to 2 years