digging cichlids

[taylorj]

i have a 75 gallon tank with 10 african cichlids and lots of rockwork ,my problem is the cichlids constant digging under the rocks makes them unstable requiring constant rearranging. any suggestions?

 

[ewurm]

Let them learn their lesson.

 

[discusfreak2005]

do you have eggcrate or somethign similar under the rocks to protect the glass if something does happen to fall?

if you do not want to let them learn thier lesson, the only other way would be to epoxy the rocks in place(not recommended at all) or to rarrange them so that they cant fall

push the rocks deeper into the sand or gravel and put them closer together

i had the same problem with my africans, so i just took all the rocks out and replaced them with driftwood, its not as heavy so they wont get too crushed if the wood falls

 

[Jason_S]

make sure the rocks on the bottom are actually on the glass bottom of the tank with no gravel under them. that way the rock stacks won't be affected by their digging.

"letting them learn their lesson" is, imo a really bad idea. if they dig enough to expose the glass bottom, and then dig some more causing rocks to shift and one happens to fall down on the exposed glass bottom, well, you can imagine what kind of catastrophe that would cause.

 

[rottbo]

dont "let them learn their lesson" or else you'll come home and find a smashed fish the fish are just making caves supply them with hind spots and they wont dig as much

 

[rallysman]

silicone

 

[rottbo]

i dont recomend sillicone because then you cant redecorate like i like to do

 

[Jason_S]

i dont recomend sillicone because then you cant redecorate like i like to do

sure you could...silicone isn't exactly a super adhesive. it'll hold the rocks together but it shouldn't be too difficult to pull them apart if you wanted to redecorate.

 

[lgarruda]

Silicon is a great idea. you don't need to join all the stones, but only the blocks that could offer some danger. Only remember to use one brand that don't carry anti-fungus