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.
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.