Rocks and the ever changing tanks

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I

ikevi

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Nov 19, 2006
1,228
17
68
Oregon
So I got to thinking how much have my tanks changed just over the last few years.

And I realized I am a little crazy on getting things just right...

Anyways I know some of you other guys are so here is my story and I ask you share any of yours.

So I started off my big swing into african cichlids by getting a 135. I was origanly going to do an all mbuna tank and hence bought over 150 lbs of lace rock. It was a sight I can say but I then bought my fryeri, which quickly changed all plans.

So the rocks were tried but then the mbuna started being mean. So I bought a 75 put the mbuna in that tank, moved over just a little bit of the rocks.

Then low and behold haps and peacocks don't always get along with rocks. And my first peacock killed himself on the rocks. So I moved more into the 75. It looked nice the 135 lookcd nice. (I added a few fake plants to the 75 too.)

Then I got my hands on a 120. At first I was just going to go sand and planted. But then I picked up more fish at auctions quickly had to move my 75 to the 120, well it didn't go well. Ended up pulling some of the rocks, changing fish again (still trying to find a good combination for that tank, the Oscars have suddenly started hating mbuna...)

Anyway when all is said and done my tanks have become what you see at the end. Sorry I didn't clean them, and I know I need some live plants in the 135. It just gets too hot to really use lights with the canopy, but if the plants in my other tanks finally start growing like crazy some will be put in the 135.

Ok that is my cut down story. Anyways the slide show. With a few stages missing. (If you want to see the 120 and how it changed I can try to find pictures, but I really do like how it looks now, well except for the back drop but the price was right for the tank.)


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Well the next big thing I really want to do is switch the 135 to sand. But that wont happen till I move and buy a new tank (A very large tank I may add, not that 135 is small)
 
ugh, people I want you to share your tank changes. Anyways I know the tank doesn't look as good as it did initially. The problem is that if I put any more rock in there I have fish that start to injure themselves. Already at night I have in essence a moonlight going to keep them from freaking out and hitting themselves on stuff. But I have already had 2 fish damage there eyes on rocks and 2 kill themselves by getting wedged into rocks. When I went down to these lower level of rocks I have had no problems, hence me staying with it.

In the future I would actually jump to having say 4 to 5 really tall rocks but right now all of mine basically max at ~1 foot tall.
 
I have a 180 gallon Hap/Mbuna set up myself. This is the first I have ever heard of Hap's or Peacocks killing themselves on the rocks. I can see if they get wedged, but killing themselves on the rocks is a first, not that I do not believe you. I believe you need at least some rocks for any African cichlid. Hap's need open swimming space. I have about 150 lbs. of the larger sized river rock's which are more oval and smooth. I have not any problems at all with these kind. My substrate is Southdown sand from Home Depot. I know some people do it but I do not see how live plants cam make it in a African tank. I gave up long ago trying to keep the substrate level in any cichlid tank. I had Central/South Americans that did the same thing. They are constantly moving the sand around. I would think that live plants would just get uprooted. I would lean more towards tank pic 3.
 
Getting wedged in between rocks is exactly how they get killed. Just look on this board a little ways down, red devil had some shots of a fish that just did it to him.

And rocks for peacocks/haps is only for us not really the fish, assuming you don't need to break up territories, but in any normal sized tank a hap will likely claim the whole tank as his.
 
my first cichlids were africans and i had a 30g tank, i started by buying 50lb of ocean rock and making a huge wall of rock at the back of my tank, then i removed one big peice and left a seperated wall, then i made 3 piles of rock and changed my back ground to an all blue one. i then had another change bought some new fish which were, 1 white tip acei, 1 red top zebra, 1 red zebra, 1 p demasoni, 1 rusty, 1 bumble bee, 1 p socolofi. then i made two piles of rock and added a few fake plants heres one pic that i have some where along the way.

i then went into american cichlids and im still doing them now with my breeding pair of jags currently.

DSC00123.JPG
 
okay here we go...

I started with a little 55... I bought a few peacocks, mbuna, and haps... I then found a 120 for a great price and bought it... I moved all over into120... I took out gravel and put in agaronite. I then learned that my mix would not work... I took the mbuna and put them in a 29... I started buying tangs and peacocks for the 120. I then upgrade the mbuna to the 55 and various other small tanks.

I found a 135 for a great price bought it and stored it...

I bought my new house. I moved the 135 in the first day, andnothing else. Set it up to cycle. I moved the fish for the 55 here. I put sand and lots and lots of lace rock. I then took the 55 set it up at the new house in the kitchen for the angels and community fish.

I then moved all tangs and peacocks into the smaller tanks... I moved the 120 and speed cycled. Then moved them over to the 120...

I setup a small tank in the same room (fish show room) for the baby fronts. I moved them over and now have somez-rocks. I came across some buffalo heads and setup a 29 for them, withfake plants andblue rock... grew tired of the and switched for sand and fake plants... post in other thread.

I will be adding two more 120s in the next few weeks for the 3 120 wall. I will then convert the garage into a fishroom as it is storing all the empty tanks for it... the two 29s will come down and I will upgrade the 55.

I will post pics as I grow...
 
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