# Rock/Stone Choices



## illmatic40 (Jul 26, 2017)

I am looking for recommendations as to what kind of Rock/Stone to use for my mbuna. I will pool sand as substrate. I know river rock is recommended but I would like to use something like slate to build up. If you had your choice of stone to build up what would it be?


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

What are the tank dimensions?


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## Drake1588 (Jul 19, 2017)

Assuming the tank is large enough to make it work:

Texas holey rock (limestone)
Slate
Limestone

I'm a big fan of having additional buffers in the water - with limestone, it is going to cap your pH in the perfect range for Malawi. Slate is aesthetically more pleasing and easier to work with, but you need to be on top of your water parameters a little more vigorously and supplement chemicals more often typically.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I have not found buffering rocks or substrate to help...or even crushed coral in the filters. But I do use crushed coral in my filters just as insurance...that is where the material can be most effective because the water is continuously forced through the material.

I don't like slate unless you can get it in chunks instead of sheets. You also have to be careful of sharp edges.

Any kind of granite or basalt. I do like river rock best.


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## illmatic40 (Jul 26, 2017)

caldwelldaniel26 said:


> What are the tank dimensions?


Sorry, I should have posted that. 55 gal standard size.


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## Drake1588 (Jul 19, 2017)

DJRansome said:


> I have not found buffering rocks or substrate to help...or even crushed coral in the filters. But I do use crushed coral in my filters just as insurance...that is where the material can be most effective because the water is continuously forced through the material.
> 
> I don't like slate unless you can get it in chunks instead of sheets. You also have to be careful of sharp edges.
> 
> Any kind of granite or basalt. I do like river rock best.


That's pretty much my experience as well. It's really just for a tiny bit of extra stability and peace of mind. The reality is, unless there's a ton of carbonic acid in the tank (in which case your african cichlids are long dead already) the leeching rate is incredibly slow, certainly not fast enough to prevent swings related to poor water going in on water changes. Crushed in the filter is much better since it's forcing the water to come into contact with a high surface area, and therefore much more dissolvable. In the end, baking soda and Epsom salts are going to account for most of the dissolved solids because of the scalar problems inherent in aquariums.


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## illmatic40 (Jul 26, 2017)

Drake1588 said:


> Assuming the tank is large enough to make it work:
> 
> Texas holey rock (limestone)
> Slate
> ...


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## illmatic40 (Jul 26, 2017)

illmatic40 said:


> Drake1588 said:
> 
> 
> > Assuming the tank is large enough to make it work:
> ...


Who has the best prices online for Texas holey rock?


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## Drake1588 (Jul 19, 2017)

illmatic40 said:


> illmatic40 said:
> 
> 
> > Drake1588 said:
> ...


Not sure on that one. It's extremely expensive to ship generally. Unless you love the aesthetic of it, it's not enough of an improvement to use over anything else. It's a limestone formation exclusive to Central Texas so most of the vendors are in the suburbs of areas around San Antonio to Austin . Honestly, when it comes to rocks, go with what you find most visually appealing that is either inert (non reactive to water) or a type of limestone. No matter what you use, crushed aragonite in the filter will outperform rocks in the tank by several orders of magnitude, and you're going to have to primarily add minerals by way of baking soda anyway.


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## tanker3 (May 18, 2015)

Texas Holey rock is beautiful, but (to me) very expensive. I just go to the local quarry or a building supplies store and buy from there. Lots of choices at my local quarry.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Agree with tanker 3's suggestion and you may also want to check local landscaping supplier or any company that sells bulk decorative type stone, rocks or boulders.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

It's okay, that's plenty big enough to do some awesome rock work. I like to go to rock yards and kinda hand pick stones that fit together well to make caves and niches. Lay them out on the cart they give you or the ground and get an idea of how well they stack. Stay away from sandstones and really chalky type rocks though, they can leach out a lot of stuff, not always necessarily bad but sometimes yes and I'd rather be safe than sorry. DJ is right though, limestone and crushed coral won't leach out much except for in slightly acidic water which dissolves it. It only dissolves by mechanical means in our aquariums (i.e. constant water flow) but is still a good way to buffer the water if you have an add on filter practically dedicated to aragonite media or a sump. I use a fluidized aragonite bed in my sump.


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## illmatic40 (Jul 26, 2017)

I want to thank all of you for helping me out. I really appreciate it. I now have a much better understanding of the things it's going to take to be successful in this hobby. I did want to add that I will be using a HOB filter. I'm not sure of the brand but its not a cheap Wal-Mart type filter. You can tell it came from a true hobbyist. I noticed that most of the tanks I'm seeing are very minimal in decorative rock and mostly look as though there is much more by the decorative laminated paper on the back of the tank which gives amazing depth. Am I correct in this assumption? Just keep it simple?


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

The background on my tank isn't the printed film that clings to the outside of the tank. It's a custom 3D background from Universal Rocks. It has that depth because it is molded to look like real rocks. My rock work is minimal because I have all haps and peacocks but mbuna could use more territories and rocks.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The name mbuna means rock fish. The suggestion is commonly fill the tank to the waterline.


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## master chi (Jan 3, 2010)

DJRansome said:


> The name mbuna means rock fish. The suggestion is commonly fill the tank to the waterline.


Which is what I did here


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

master chi said:


> DJRansome said:
> 
> 
> > The name mbuna means rock fish. The suggestion is commonly fill the tank to the waterline.
> ...


This is a sweet setup


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## master chi (Jan 3, 2010)

Thanks Iggy. There is some heavy rocks in there. Not easy to set up,but the fish definitely love this tank. I have a literal ton of these rocks in my moms yard. They also work great for my Radio Control trail/rock crawling course in my backyard. I still like cichlid stones as an option. Though they are not as nice as to look at as real stones,my fish spawned in the large ones constantly,and rescaping was a walk in the park because they are so lightweight. overall they are a good option,just not the BEST looking one.To put it another way. I do not see myself changing my current setup. It looks nice,fish love it,and the rocks are very heavy (50+) for the largest. I changed my scape constantly with cichlid stones. It was fun. Fish had to adjust,I got to see many of them pace for a day or two after the rescapes,and I could alter the look so many ways, I think the stones are designed to give a decent river stones look,but the river stones can be so dang nice. I once scaped with all natural river stones. That's a nice way to go too,for sure. I had the greenest carpet of algae on those stones too. I wish I could get that back. After seeing many dive videos of Malawi,it was more apparent to me that the rocks that mbuna used as territory were sooo. much bigger than I imagined,or visualised. So now I tend to scape with the biggest rocks I can lift into a tank in an attempt to emulate that look. My 125 sits just a foot off the floor. That tank has an enormous boulder in there. Likely 100 lbs. I hate lifting it. I scape on my lonesome.Though I'm a strong guy,it isn't something for everybody. It feels risky at times,even scary to move the big ones. Especially since the 125 is glass. I freak out less about my 55 since it's acrylic.I guess the only unrealistic option for mbuna is a nice planted tank. I've never tried,but have heard it's difficult. Too bad,because a well planted tank is quite nice to look at


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

100 lb rock?!?! I get nervous with the 50s, on a ladder, bending into a tank...


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## master chi (Jan 3, 2010)

Yeah. No kidding around. But like I said that tank is basically on the floor. I built a stand that only sits maybe 6 inches off. It's the a 3/4 inch plywood top,mounted to 2x6. if you can imagine the top section of your basic DIY tank stank. That's what's holding my 125. I need the top of the tank to sit at least level with a shelving unit that the tank sits directly in front of. I don't move the rock now that it's in,well I have,but not anymore. Lifting it in was easy enough,the 125 is only so tall + the shorty stand height. It was lowering it in that made me nervous. But it's worth it. It's a huge boulder that by itself goes about 3/4 the tanks' height. A nice center piece for sure. My male Estherea likes to spawn under it. There is a cave chunked out of the bottom. But I don't wanna hijack here. I just thought to share my rockscape,and some ideas on what to do.In the end,the Fish should be the highlight of any tank,imo. So as long as you get some nice specimens,you could stack cinderblocks in there. I'd still think it looked nice


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