Lava rock and other forms of that type of rock (feather rock) look great and are very lightweight but also have cons. Sometimes when cichlids chase each other or have their tantrums they can be injured on the rock. I know people who have taken feather rock and sanded it down before adding it to a tank. I would recommend that if you are going for a lightweight rock.
best rock deco for tang tank
- Thread starter ukpoduk
- Start date
texas holey rock suits the fish and buffers. they love the natural caves and can't hurt themselves as there are no rough edges.
Some of the best tang tanks i've seen have been useing a 4 or 5 huge dark colored boulders. About 60 lbs rock. Looks nice with some light colored crushed coral or sand.
well most lava rock is 3 to 5 inches around so theres not a big chance a fish could or would damagae there mouth but the lava rock is equivilant to some rough sand paper so even if a fish were to lach on there would be no damage
I have read that lava is mostly a danger due to scraping against, not grazing on. Fish runs into it and loses scales, gets infected, you know the rest. But lava rock makes a great cheap biofilter material. 
I Like tufa rock, but it is pricey. If you truly wanna be inventive, make your own out of aragonite sandm and crushed coral. GARF.org has some interesting do ityourself for marine tanks, and one is making your own rock. And marine rock is fine for Rift lake tanks. Dead of course, live would pollute the tank. Lace is fairly cheap, at least around here, and compared to live rock it is a bargain. Limestone may be a good choice as well, keep in mind it will deteriorate, and need replacing. and don't just settle for what the petstore has. Go to garden centers, quarries, Home Depot, Lowes, and Walmart. I bought riverine pea gravel from Walmart for $7 @ 100 lbs, where as the exact same gravel from the pet store was .50 cents a lbs. I saved $43+.
I Like tufa rock, but it is pricey. If you truly wanna be inventive, make your own out of aragonite sandm and crushed coral. GARF.org has some interesting do ityourself for marine tanks, and one is making your own rock. And marine rock is fine for Rift lake tanks. Dead of course, live would pollute the tank. Lace is fairly cheap, at least around here, and compared to live rock it is a bargain. Limestone may be a good choice as well, keep in mind it will deteriorate, and need replacing. and don't just settle for what the petstore has. Go to garden centers, quarries, Home Depot, Lowes, and Walmart. I bought riverine pea gravel from Walmart for $7 @ 100 lbs, where as the exact same gravel from the pet store was .50 cents a lbs. I saved $43+.