One more rock

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

V227

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Jul 2, 2017
Messages
2,351
Location
Oklahoma
Got these little guys a couple of weeks ago, Red Texas Cichlids. All is going well with them except no vacancies regarding hiding places. Every nook and cranny were taken by other tankmates, mostly other juvenile New World cichlids who were not willing to share. At night the Texas hybrids were relegated to upper corners of the tank, exposed to preditation from larger tankmates. Frantic to ensure their survival, I rearranged the driftwood in varying positions, to no avail. My last thought was to find another mid-sized piece of Honeycombed Limestone. I found a 23 lb. Rock hollowed out with several holes and chambers, at my local rock yard for little over 3 bucks. Pictured, last rock on the right.
After a few hours of rock rearrangement and balancing, it worked. The Reds took cover.
As for hardscaping a tank, I'm not the Michael Angelo of aquatic design, but it's hard to do a bad job when you use quality pieces of Holey Rock.
I've had this 120 gal. A 65 gal and 29 gal hardscaped with Texas Holey Rock for the past year.
All tanks are stocked with South and Central American cichlids, as well as a few Africans. All are healthy. Other than raising the PH a notch and hardening the water, no adverse effects. IMO the hard water stifles breeding behavior in the SA's. It hasn't slowed down the Convicts one bit. I've read that certain Central American cichlids to well in hard water. Thought I'd throw this out to those who might be apprehensive about decorating with Holey Rock.
 

Attachments

  • 20171010_170129.jpg
    20171010_170129.jpg
    163.7 KB · Views: 82
  • 20171021_183900.jpg
    20171021_183900.jpg
    142.6 KB · Views: 70
There are several different rock yards and landscape companies within an hour's drive. Their prices vary from 12 cents a pound to 25 cents for Texas Holey rock. My LFS occasionally sells it for $2.50 a lb.
For years. I was reluctant to hardscape with limestone until I read an article by a Texas Holey rock distributor, who claimed that with regular weekly WC's the limestone would have little effect on water chemistry and not negatively impact fish. I found that very true.
As luck would have it, I found myself at a rock yard researching Koi pond possibilities, when I happened upon a large new load of Holey Rock. After hours of rummaging through the pile I found a dozen pieces I couldn't pass up. Quite a workout. A few pieces weighed 50 lbs each.
My SA's and CA' s absolutely thrive with it. The holes and hollow chambers allow me to grow out juveniles even in the presence of aggressive adult cichlids. Thanks for the reply and I apologize for the lengthy post.
 
There are several different rock yards and landscape companies within an hour's drive. Their prices vary from 12 cents a pound to 25 cents for Texas Holey rock. My LFS occasionally sells it for $2.50 a lb.
For years. I was reluctant to hardscape with limestone until I read an article by a Texas Holey rock distributor, who claimed that with regular weekly WC's the limestone would have little effect on water chemistry and not negatively impact fish. I found that very true.
As luck would have it, I found myself at a rock yard researching Koi pond possibilities, when I happened upon a large new load of Holey Rock. After hours of rummaging through the pile I found a dozen pieces I couldn't pass up. Quite a workout. A few pieces weighed 50 lbs each.
My SA's and CA' s absolutely thrive with it. The holes and hollow chambers allow me to grow out juveniles even in the presence of aggressive adult cichlids. Thanks for the reply and I apologize for the lengthy post.
Awesome, no need to apologize for such a great thread. Always want more knowledge. :)
 
Back
Top Bottom