# New 125 rock work help please ?



## olzkool (Jul 30, 2013)

Hello,
I am trying to set up my new 125 gallon aquarium for an all male African tank. I am seriuosly struggling on which way to go. I was up until 1am last night playing with rocks. I am sure most have you have been through this. I can't decide wether to go with holey rocks like my existing setups, or go granite. I have acess to all the granite I want for free, and have about 50 lbs of holey rock at home, I would need about 50 more. The only reason I though about switching, and this is probably stupid, is because it will match my living room. My carpet is black and grey, furniture is grey, tables are black, aquarium stand is black, etc. I googled some tanks and thought they looked really nice. So I spent yesterday at lunch gathering rocks, then all night playing with different setups. My biggest concern is I am just not sure the granite provides enough little hiding spots for the mbuna. My fish definitely like anything they can swim under and hang out. For background info I will be using white quartzite sand, 2 fx5s, 2 850 powerheads, black background. I will have around 35 smaller fish, mostly young, with the largest at the being 3-3.5". They are Mbuna with a handful of peacocks that are larger. I will also have 7-8 homemade pvc tunnels that go under the sand. I am going to post a couple of pics of one of my holey rock setups, then some pics of the granite layouts I played with last night. Some of the rocks are still a little dirty so they look brown. You will have to use your imagination as they are laid out on a foam board and not the aquarium. The left side of the tank has the granite on end and angled. That will stay that way. The right side I am not sure about. I have 2 separate layouts I was playing with. ANY help or opinions would be greatly appreciated, especially on wether or not there is enough hiding spaces. Hopefully with your help I won't be in my basement staring at rocks again for 4 hours lol.
Thanks
Chris

Holey rock examples:




Left side granite (I like this side)




Right side ( I am not sure here, there are a couple options, help me out)
This way?


or this way?


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## Ebi Omer (Dec 13, 2013)

Wow picture 2 and 4 look really cool. However if you opt for mainly mbuna id go with the texas rock fir the extra hiding spots they can provide


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Do you want the tank to look natural? Go with the granite rock. If not, do the holey rock. Your left side granite layout looks badass. But that's more for mbuna. I have never tried to form a cave. I like to create territories with outcroppings surrounded by smaller rocks. Provide line of sight breaks. But this works well for mbuna. Ties into my next paragraph.

How much rock you need is based on your stocking. You said 30-35 fish and all male. Why so many fish? What species? This will help with rock layouts.


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## olzkool (Jul 30, 2013)

To above: 
I am not really concerned about looking natural. I'm trying to find a happy combination of looking good and serving purpose for the fish. I have a bunch of tanks now, some things are growing out, plus I have ordered some new ones. In all right now I probably have about 15 males to put in immediately and another 15 on the way, some will be too small and will go in to a grow out tank temporarily. I have an all male mixed 55 now and love it. I have had it for a while and have not had any problems knock on wood. Most of the fish for the 125 would be mbuna, all different species, probably 20 different ones. None of the super aggressive ones. Most are small around 2.5 inches. I also plan on transplanting a half dozen peacocks that are around 3-3.5" and have grown up with mbuna. Lastly I have a zrock that's getting to be about 3.5" that I plan on putting in there. Do you think 30-35 is too much for a 125? Do I not have enough rock? I also have some home made caves/ tubes that will be buried in the substrate. I have 10 but will probably only use 6-7. 
Thanks again


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## spotmonster (Nov 23, 2006)

From your description of the colors of your living room, i'd say the white holey rock will really set it off since it is not the same shade of colors as your room. It will also make the colors pop with the fish you have listed. With 2 FX5's and routine water changes, 30-35 fish consisting of peacocks, mbuna's, and smalller haps should be fine.


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## spotmonster (Nov 23, 2006)

If you can get more rock, go for it!

if you really want to get wild, try mixing the rock together. You might like it!


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## JP_92 (Aug 2, 2013)

I personally think the holey rock looks ugly. The first granite picture looks awesome in my opinion, I'd go with that!


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## ChuckinMA (Aug 24, 2013)

For what it's worth, I used granite in my planted 75 gallon tank that houses several South American cichlids. I was able to prop/lean several up against one another to create caves that have been very popular. (the purchased ceramic "cichlid cave" goes unused!!!) My SA cichlids are smaller though than your African's so it may be a bit more challenging. The granite looks good; especially under LED.


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

granite all the way - looks so much more natural


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## Kalost (Feb 27, 2013)

JP_92 said:


> I personally think the holey rock looks ugly. The first granite picture looks awesome in my opinion, I'd go with that!


Ditto


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## olzkool (Jul 30, 2013)

So is 30-35 fish too many for the size tank and amount of rocks I have? Do i need more rocks? I explained what I have in one of the posts above. I have read alot of posts on the net and I am getting mixed answers.


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## spotmonster (Nov 23, 2006)

olzkool said:


> So is 30-35 fish too many for the size tank I have?


You will continue to get mixed answers on that question, even from seasoned Aquarist. My answer is already above in my other post, so i won't repeat it. But i will add, if you are new to the hobby, maybe you should stock a little less and see how it goes.

Check the link in my signature to see my 90 gallon set up. I maintain 20-25 fish (of similar size to what you are contemplating) in that tank with 1- FX5 and lots of rockwork. I would not hesitate personally to put 35 in a 125. BUT, again, if you end up with larger growing fish down the road, then that number 30-35 # would be totally invalid


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## otterich (Aug 15, 2012)

Famous answer
It depends

Your setup is gonna look great. Keep in mind that it will always be a work in progress.

Sometimes you don't have enough fish and adding two more seems to calm them all down. Or you have one obnoxious one that makes the whole tank stressed. 
Or to many caves causes too much territory to fight over. Or not enough caves leaves the less dominant ones more vulnerable. It's a horrible answer, but keeps us on our toes and makes the hobby more enjoyable. 
With this said you have to start somewhere. 30-35 mbuna might be a great start. And I'd stick with the granite for looks.


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## olzkool (Jul 30, 2013)

Pretty much done. Still got the tiny bubbles of a new tank, need to work out placement of powerheads and intakes, need a 72" or (2) 36" lights. Here are some pics so far. I included some pics of my tunnels. Please excuse the crappy pics. Its late, didn't feel like getting thecamera and just used my phone.








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## JP_92 (Aug 2, 2013)

It look's really good. I don't know about all the tunnels though.


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## ChuckinMA (Aug 24, 2013)

The granite came out well. Good choice pairing it with the sand.

It looks like they are all vertically aligned which is attractive, but I'd be inclined to fashion a cave with a few of them by either leaning two thin ones as an inverted V, or placing one horizontally across two that you have.

Looking forward to a status update on the pvc tunnels. Maybe a video of the fish using one.


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## atreis (Jan 15, 2013)

x2 - looks good, don't know about the tunnels.

Also, how are you going to keep the sand in place? In my experience hills flatten out pretty quickly.


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## Ronzo (Sep 8, 2013)

Chris;

I have to agree with other posters: Granite and sand looks natural and great, but the PVC tubes dont do anything for me either...the granite formation is arranged in a direction of grain structure which is often seen in nature...I'd personally loose the PVC tubes and make some A shaped cave hiding spots by leaning a few granites the other way...

Cheers from Connecticut!


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## Woundedyak (Oct 19, 2007)

JP_92 said:


> It look's really good. I don't know about all the tunnels though.


I agree. Opinion wise, Ditch the tunnels. If you are really into caves and tunnels, build your rock work up to make them. I really like the granite thou.


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## NJmomie (Jan 17, 2013)

Pretty cool looking rockscape. How did you get them to all slant in one direction like that? They remind me of Lord of the Rings for some reason....
If you can get your hands on some rounder version with the same color, I think they would look good in the middle.


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## olzkool (Jul 30, 2013)

Thanks for all the compliments guys. I really appreciate it. I hope it pays off and the fish like it. I had to make it look good in order for my wife to let me put it in the livingroom. I will get some good pics with the camera when I am all done.
Most people are giving a negative on the tunnels so I am just going to see how it works and go from there. I'll take a video if the fish actually use them. The object was to create more hides because of my stocking, yet keep a relatively open landscape. I have a few fish that love to go in holes in my other tank. They are very easy to pull out and rebury so if they work I will just pull em out once every couple weeks during tank maintenance to clean. Now to answer some of the questions:



> Also, how are you going to keep the sand in place? In my experience hills flatten out pretty quickly


I use the same sand in all the tanks. I have had the filters running with the powerheads and it has shifted some but not much. The only place where there is a hill is in the far left corner and its actually the shape of the rock. it naturally has a step in the bottom that allowed me to place it over the big pvc tunnel.



> How did you get them to all slant in one direction like that?


Not much. Most of them are naturally that way and when sitting flat on the eggcrate angle that way. some had to be tweaked a little and the little ones are sitting on top of the sand. Most of them are actually a lot taller than than they look but extend to the bottom. It looked better when it was mocked up as in the earlier pictures because they looked longer on the foam. I took a long time selecting rocks that had a flat base and angled like that. Then I had to find the ones that had the grain and viens running the proper direction. After that I just threw in some ones I really liked regardless of angle and propped them up (like the one on the far left with all the quartz in it) I had an unlimited supply so I could pick and choose.


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