I got a 150g last month, stocked with young cichlids that grow to a medium size. I've mostly followed the same basic blueprint to aquascpaing in my 31 years of keeping aquariums; gravel, a mix of rocks (round and flat), decorative caves, driftwood, and plants (mostly fake, sometimes real). I usually have a lot of the gravel exposed, which makes it easy to clean waste when doing water changes.
For the 150, I want to try something different. I still have a good base of gravel. I want to end up with the bottom being mostly covered with rocks I've collected out of the river. So far, I've only collected enough for 3 rock piles. Here's what it looks like:
My question is, if I add too many rocks, can this lead to a buildup of waste in crevices that the gravel vac can't reach, creating potentialy harmful pockets of ammonia some day? I would like the look of lots of rocks, but I don't want to make tank maintenance much more more tricky and potentially hazardous. I could live with 3 rock piles if that would be safer.
For the 150, I want to try something different. I still have a good base of gravel. I want to end up with the bottom being mostly covered with rocks I've collected out of the river. So far, I've only collected enough for 3 rock piles. Here's what it looks like:
My question is, if I add too many rocks, can this lead to a buildup of waste in crevices that the gravel vac can't reach, creating potentialy harmful pockets of ammonia some day? I would like the look of lots of rocks, but I don't want to make tank maintenance much more more tricky and potentially hazardous. I could live with 3 rock piles if that would be safer.
