# Pic of my new 125g mbuna tank



## MbunaLover611 (Nov 22, 2012)

Here is a picture of my new 125 gallon mbuna tank. My stock: 12 yellow labs, 6 acei's, 10 rusties. The setup: black background, black Petco sand, giant piece of replica texas holey rock, 45 cichlid stones. I was orignally not going to buy the cichlid stones because I wasn't sure if it would look good with the holes. But my mbunas love them. They go in them all the time and with 45 stones they each can go in their own. Plus they're light weight so I love that too.


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## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

Very nice! And you are right, the cichlid stones look pretty good with the holey rock. I bet your mbuna love them!


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## cichlid-gal (Apr 27, 2012)

Great look with the jumbled cichlid stones. I like that much better than outright "placement" of them. They look more natural the way you set them up.

Although the big replica holey rock looks nice I tend to steer clear of those types of items, the ones that have large water cavities or hollow areas in them where air can get trapped. In one of my 1st setups I had a replica cave type decor thing that got some trapped air in it...oh...it was so bad when I found it. I instantly removed and got rid of all those types of decorations I'd bought. So just be careful about making sure you have no trapped air in there and that fish have a way of getting out of the thing if they get into the hollow part.


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## NJmomie (Jan 17, 2013)

Nice setup....once the stones and holey rock get some algae on them, they will even look more natural. Do the cichlid stones have holes on both sides or just one side?


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## MbunaLover611 (Nov 22, 2012)

cichlid-gal said:


> Great look with the jumbled cichlid stones. I like that much better than outright "placement" of them. They look more natural the way you set them up.
> 
> Although the big replica holey rock looks nice I tend to steer clear of those types of items, the ones that have large water cavities or hollow areas in them where air can get trapped. In one of my 1st setups I had a replica cave type decor thing that got some trapped air in it...oh...it was so bad when I found it. I instantly removed and got rid of all those types of decorations I'd bought. So just be careful about making sure you have no trapped air in there and that fish have a way of getting out of the thing if they get into the hollow part.


So cichlid-gal, so air was getting trapped and your fish couldn't get out and I take it they didn't make it?



NJmomie said:


> Nice setup....once the stones and holey rock get some algae on them, they will even look more natural. Do the cichlid stones have holes on both sides or just one side?


Thanks, the cichlid stones have hold on one side only. They are essentially like little caves. I have 28 fish and 45 cichlid stones so every can have their own. The ones at the very bottom on the sand seem to be the most popular.


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## ozman (Sep 7, 2012)

sweet looking tank you have there. love what you have done with all those cichlid stones to give them plenty of places of their own 

i love it, great job inmo :thumb: good luck with it for the future.


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## cichlid-gal (Apr 27, 2012)

MbunaLover611 said:


> cichlid-gal said:
> 
> 
> > Great look with the jumbled cichlid stones. I like that much better than outright "placement" of them. They look more natural the way you set them up.
> ...


No...only air was trapped in my case. But I have read about fish getting trapped in those also. Just something to be aware of.


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## Austinite (Jul 27, 2013)

What was bad about air getting trapped in there? Curious because my tank has a lot of texas holey rock too.....

I love the tank, it looks great!


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## NJmomie (Jan 17, 2013)

Austinite said:


> What was bad about air getting trapped in there? Curious because my tank has a lot of texas holey rock too.....
> 
> I love the tank, it looks great!


I am more concerned about the cichlid stones trapping air/fish. I am also thinking that if there were a sick fish, it may die in one of the stones? They should make them with two holes (front/back or front/top).


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## cichlid-gal (Apr 27, 2012)

Austinite...MbunaLover said its a "replica" texas holey rock...if its made of plastic like material I believe it may be hollow...at least the ones I have seen that are replicas are hollow. It's the big hollow area in the replica rock that can trap air...natural texas holey rock is solid with only the holes running through it although I always tipped my natural piece in different directions to make sure the air bubbles got out. Maybe that rock in the tank is not hollow...I was just sharing a heads up if it was.


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## ozman (Sep 7, 2012)

cichlid-gal said:


> Austinite...MbunaLover said its a "replica" texas holey rock...if its made of plastic like material I believe it may be hollow...at least the ones I have seen that are replicas are hollow. It's the big hollow area in the replica rock that can trap air...natural texas holey rock is solid with only the holes running through it although I always tipped my natural piece in different directions to make sure the air bubbles got out. Maybe that rock in the tank is not hollow...I was just sharing a heads up if it was.


good point cichlid-gal, and i'm sure will be taken onboard by the op. i have seen some really cool looking fake texas holy rock by universal rocks that is flexible/ bendable pieces that you can choose to cut extra holes if you want and comes in many sizes. so you can twist, curve etc with the larger ones to create a look of it being the real thing. :thumb:


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