Lake Malawi tank

[baobeiiiiiiii]

hi,

i need some advice about aqua-scaping a tank for lake Malawi cichlids. I'm big into biotopes, but here is what I have so far in the photo attatched. I don't know what kind of stone it is, anyone know? Can't really find granite here, i live in Shanghai China.

Also i'm not sure about the white sand, what kind of sand would be good? I'd like it to be as much of a biotope as i can make it. Some say white sand washes out the color of the fish.

Although I like the look of this:

http://fish-etc.com/wp-content/uploa...k-and-sand.jpg

but no idea if it is really biotope accurate.

As for rock placement, i'm thinking just using lots of smallish rocks to build up a natural kind of wall. The tank isn't that big, around 85cm long and 45cm high. But I don't want to waste the vertical space of the tank, and need lots of caves etc. I will overstock the tank to reduce aggression between fish.

Thanks for your advice, and if you can identify the type of rock that is in the tank in the photo of 'my tank' i'd really happy. It's the only type of rock they seem to sell around here...

This is my tank atm, i think the rocks are also too big, need smaller ones.
http://imagebin.org/315421

[posenergy]

I know you already have rocks.. But I have a cichlid tank with the same kind of rocks and I added drift wood and twigs. Then you can add some aquarium mud or even natural gravel. Those are the best alternatives to sand. It's also going to help prevent digging which cichlids like to do.


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[baobeiiiiiiii]

Hi, went out to a local place and got some more Chinese 'dragon stone', this time many much much smaller pieces.

Unfortunately I don't have the tank in this apartment, so i just made a quick arrangement on my balcony. Any suggestions about rock placement? I know there are rule of thirds etc etc, i just want it to look natural and not like a guy on his balcony places stones in a non-natural way. I do have much bigger stones, but they just weigh a ton and i think by using smaller stones i can create more caves etc, better for the fish.

After the rock arrangement is set up, i'm going for ADA La Plata sand. I'll have to wash each stone very carefully as they are so dirty, any suggestions? Don't want hair algae or that white stuff growing on them.

5 minute rock placement, thoughts?.