Where to buy and how to safely put rocks in a cichlid tank?

[FAT daddy]

I'm wanting to set up a new fish tank and was wondering where to find rocks like the ones in this picture.
I live in so cal btw
http://www.malawimayhem.com/gallery.php?id=112
I was wondering how to prevent excess pressure on the bottom/sides of the tank and preventing a rock structure from tumbling apart; preferably without the use of silicone. Thanks in advance!

 

[Inglorious]

Check out landscaping supply stores to try to find rocks like that, and putting eggcrate down on the bottom of the tank, then the rocks, then add the sand to secure them all.

 

[Staind260]

You could also silicone them together a few at a time, and then stack them to ensure they dont tumble down and break the glass. I usually only stack a few at a time and keep them together, and try to keep things like plants, decor' around it so in case it does fall, the decorations and such lessen the blow. good luck.

 

[cali~budfish]

Those look like river rocks so I would look around your closest river or stream. I'm in nor cal so river's run through all over my city. The eggcrate idea sounds good for insurance. A deep sand bed will disperse a lot of impact if a rock should tumble. Honestly ive never worried about my rock formations falling but I use base rock not round stones. And we all know africans love moving substrate.

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[fishnutham]

River rock look for limestone they tend to have small bubble size pockets.

 

[thatbb6]

FAT Daddy, I'm in Anaheim and I got my rocks from Thompson http://www.thompsonbldg.com/ in Orange. I picked up ~130 lbs of 'Baja Cresta' rock for 12 cent a pound. Very good price. It's more than enough for my 75G tank. I got some pictures of how it looks like and closeup. Call them and ask if they got river rocks. Personally I'm not a fan of it because it's hard to stack.

The eggcrate idea sounds good for insurance. A deep sand bed will disperse a lot of impact if a rock should tumble. Honestly ive never worried about my rock formations falling but I use base rock not round stones.

+1 for the eggcrate.

 

[Ash]

You should be able to get that rock at any landscaping place. As for stacking, silicone is a good idea but if you want to avoid it then do the best you can to fit the rocks together so that they hold in place, there isn't really much else you can do. They can be hard to stack though.

When you get the rocks wash them off let them dry then take some vinegar and put it on the rock (just a little in a concentrated area), if it does not fizz its safe to use, if it does fizz = don't use the rock. I always test mine before I put them in my tanks.

As for something to help take the weight and to help avoid the rocks falling or moving and cracking or breaking through the glass use egg crate. My local hardware store sold as something different but here is a pic:

 

[Inglorious]

Go for the rocks and the look that you like, but I used lava rock for my Mbuna and was able to pick out plenty of odd shapes and sizes so they stack extremely easily without silicone and it gives me many options of how I can arrange the stack.

 

[FAT daddy]

What does a fizzing rock indicate? Thanks for all the responses!

 

[haynchinook334]

Check out landscaping supply stores to try to find rocks like that, and putting eggcrate down on the bottom of the tank, then the rocks, then add the sand to secure them all.

This 100%. If you want to distribute the weight of the rocks in your tank, then this is key. I would also look in to Texas holy rock.


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