# Rockscape dry run (critique, please)



## tjasko (Jan 15, 2016)

I have a 70 gallon bow front aquarium that I'm planning to turn into a Mbuna tank. I've kept aquariums all my life, but never African cichlids, so this is pretty exciting for me.

Here's the basic structure I'm planning. The photo doesn't make the depth clear, but there is a gap between that large rock in the front and the bunch behind it.










From the left:










From the right:









One more wrinkle: I picked these rocks off the floor of my very old cellar (built in 1899). A lot of them still have a bit of plaster (cement?) on them. I was hoping that this basically amounts to free limestone, but I want to make sure I'm not introducing dangerous chemicals into the tank, since I don't really know what they used back then. It's pretty crumbly at this point, so I could probably scrape it all off, but it will be a lot of work.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Try soaking the rocks in water to see if any of the plaster/cement dissolves or comes loose. Cement should not be a problem, especially if it's a few years old.

It's difficult to tell from the pics if there are gaps or spaces large enough for a fish to hide in. Stacking rocks so they look natural is sort of an art form. A combination of small (softball), medium (cantaloupe) and larger size irregular shape rocks offer the best stacking options and caves or crevices.


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## tjasko (Jan 15, 2016)

How large should the gaps and caves be?


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## fltekdiver (Sep 27, 2015)

Try shooting for a hole or cave per fish. Try not to make one large cave, where one fish can dominate that whole cave , or of the structure


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

You can do a combination of sizes. You will want the gaps or caves large enough so if the fish goes in head first, there is enough room to turn around and get out if there is no rear opening. Obviously juveniles will need smaller hiding places than adults.


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## JimA (Nov 7, 2009)

Once the rock is in I like stand back and look at it for awhile even a day or so and move a rock here and there. Usually no matter how hard you try and lay it out on the floor it will come out different in the tank. Over time with cleanings and tinkering with it the look will change. I think it's a good start though, but I would lose the little rocks you have at the tops of the big ones. I always try and get it to look as natural as I can. And sometimes less is more.


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## smitty (May 7, 2004)

The way you have them set up it appears they are taking up space more than providing sanctuary spots.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Looks nice to me.

Remember the males want a patch of the substrate with rock boundaries. So if you planted a pyramid in the tank with 3 points coming close to the glass (front, side and back) and the 4th point pointing to the next pyramid...you have formed 4 territories for males. Then within the pyramid think of creating a maze with swim-throughs and lurking spots for the females trying to flee. If the male loses sight of her after a brief chase she is safe.

Caves with sides and a roof are rarely defended by a harassed mbuna IMO. The harassed ones give up the rocks entirely and lurk under the surface. Makes no sense, but it's mbuna reality.


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## tjasko (Jan 15, 2016)

I made it to the local fish club auction yesterday, and after taking good look at some full grown yellow labs, I agree that I need larger caves. I'm a little conflicted, though. I much prefer the scapes that look more natural with larger rocks (for example viewtopic.php?f=7&t=359290 ) to the ones with a lot of small rocks piled up into many caves and crevices. How do you pull off the former while still giving your fish lots of homes to choose from?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I do the big sculptural rocks in hap, peacock and Tang tanks. I use smaller rocks for mbuna. Remember they light a tight fit. I had some 3" PVC that they totally did not use, preferring the smaller cracks between rocks.


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