30 gallon diy background

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
W

wckdkl0wn

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 16, 2008
381
0
0
All cats love fish but fear to wet their paws
Ok I have decided to start on my background project for my cichlid tank. I will post pictures once I have completed the project. (taking pics along the way though)

Going with this idea this person came up with. http://www.duboisi.com/diy/BNdiygrotto/bndiygrotto.htm

But a few things will be different, but not by much. Quick question though. Will lava rock do anything to the water parameters? Should I use the same gravel on the gutter that I have in the bottom of the tank or just go with lava rock for a darker color?
 
lava rock will raise your ph....not by much and it'll help filter your water to. sand would look nicer (i think)....lava rocks on the back looks nice.
 
wckdkl0wn;2306871; said:
Is there anything I should look for in particular when buying lava rock?

I dont know if that would be a smart idea for me though since my tap water ph is already insanely high.
Click to expand...
add some drift wood to lower you PH....what are you going to stock the tank with?
 
i used the lava rocks you buy from walmart to grill with. washed it, boiled it, and baked it...worked good for me.
 
add a piece of drift wood to your tank...it'll lower your PH.
 
me and a friend made this background before and it worked well and it was very easy to build. the lava made a good bio filter too
 
I think I have decided that I will go with the lava rock. But I am going to move my fish to my other tank for the time being. Reason for that is because I want to take out the gravel I currently have and replace it with white marble chips. Or I could go with the white sand I picked up today. Thinking that way I can have the lite colors on bottom with dark background and later on if I add other rocks or anything they will be mid tones and everything will blend with plants well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom