Concrete and fish!

[Joostrom]

Hey there I was thinking about making some caves out of concrete for my fish. I have been working with concrete for awhile I know that it has limestone in it which will make the water hardness go up. But I know cichlids like hard water as long as it doesn't go higher the .22 correct?
Currently I have about 160lbs in my tank and I know that's a lot of weight to be putting on the glass. I know I could put egg crate down but I really don't like the look of it. I also see a lot of people using styrofoam but it floats so why not just use wire mesh and concrete that way I don't have to weigh it down.

Anyways if you guys have any thoughts please let me know or if you have any designs please share.
Thanks

 

[Tetra1990]

Interesting concept. The water chemistry might change with the limestone but I think it could work. Many bodies of water have tons of concrete in them and are full of fish. Are you using store bought cement or are you making your own?

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Using concrete in an african tank should be just fine, I have it in mine. I used the Styrofoam method after doing much research and it seemed to be the best, (natural looking way) also the easiest. I would like to figure out a way to make it more of an insert and still look awesome. There is a way to make DIY live rock for saltwater tanks that would probably work with african Cichlids aswell, I almost made it. I just did a quick Google search and learning different ways. There are many articles and build threads on backgrounds