# Help me Design a Aquarium Landscape! PLZ



## Cali_screw (Dec 31, 2011)

OK, so i am at a lost, i cant seem to get creative on this tank and need some help. I have a standard 75Gallon Tank with Assorted Mbuna's. Substrate is Crushed coral with a 3D background. Can i get some help with what to put inside it? Links, pictures, examples etc are appreciated lol..

Here the plat form.....










current setup until i figure out what i want...


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## dsouthworth (Sep 7, 2011)

Those africans? if so, how much a large rock work with random "natural" looking caves?


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## Cali_screw (Dec 31, 2011)

dsouthworth said:


> Those africans? if so, how much a large rock work with random "natural" looking caves?


yes they are cichlids and im not sure i understand your question....


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## dsouthworth (Sep 7, 2011)

oops. Typo. 
how ABOUT large rock work

Checkout a local landscaping yard and find some slate or river rock. Adding rock with make caves and hiding places for the fish. They'd appreciate it.


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## Cali_screw (Dec 31, 2011)

dsouthworth said:


> oops. Typo.
> how ABOUT large rock work
> 
> Checkout a local landscaping yard and find some slate or river rock. Adding rock with make caves and hiding places for the fish. They'd appreciate it.


yea ill have to give that a try.. im just worried about rocks falling over


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## dsouthworth (Sep 7, 2011)

A good way to do this is to take out most of your sand, lay the rocks down then add sand back in. Keeping the rocks placed on the glass with eliminate the chance of the fish digging out the sand under the rocks.

If you place them firmly and pay lots off attention to detail they won't fall over.


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## ridley25 (Jan 5, 2008)

Lots of rocks, the bigger the better. And the closer they are in colour and texture to your back ground, the better things will look.

Don't worry about the weight of the rocks, you simply can't put enough in there to stress your glass. Feel free to lean them on your BG for stability. But place them far enough away from your front and side glass so that you can still fit a python an/or algar scraper between them and the glass.

kevin


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## Tony La Morte (Nov 30, 2011)

Perhaps slide the current piece, (looks like drift wood) to one side or another and build up some rock work on the opposite side.
Tony


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## Cali_screw (Dec 31, 2011)

Tony La Morte said:


> Perhaps slide the current piece, (looks like drift wood) to one side or another and build up some rock work on the opposite side.
> Tony


the piece in there is pretty fake looking, and i was told a Mbunas' natural habitat is basically all rocks and no drift wood?


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## Cali_screw (Dec 31, 2011)

ok so i got some rocks to match my background, there not really stack-able, Should i add some slate or a piece of drift wood to add height to the tank?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Why do you say they are not stackable? What happens when you put them all in one big pile?

The color is good, try to get some bigger ones. From fist to head size.

And remember, symmetry is your enemy. :thumb:


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## Shahlvah (Dec 28, 2011)

I think if you get more rocks (that by the way they look pretty nice) and stack them all together, this will form some caves for the fish to swim in and out, mbunas love the caves, and spend most of the day going in and out of them at least mine do.
The color looks nice and plants looks nice too. I like the color of the sand and the background, on this is a trial and error and the best aquascape is the one you like the most, because remember that you are the one looking at the tank every single day.
Driftwood will naturally lower your PH which cichlids like high PH, so I wouldn't go for the drift wood, just rock, try to make it the most natural possible. I think that if you put slate with river rocks it is going to look kind of fabricated or not so natural, but it's just my opinion.


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## nudge (Aug 1, 2011)

i am yet to find a rock that is unstackable  , you don't need to stack them just put a few in a circular shape on the bottom and chuck some more on top, the more jumbled the better.


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## Steveboos (Dec 23, 2011)

You need to get about another 100 lbs of that rock!! I would just stack it all in piles and push down on it into the substrate to ensure that it stays put.

I like the background, but you need A LOT more rocks for the aqua scape to look complete.


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## Cali_screw (Dec 31, 2011)

thanks for the input guys, im going to do a few more changes then post what *** done!


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## Azballa7 (Jul 12, 2007)

Looking good Cali!!

Keep us posted. I am in the process of landscaping my 75 gallon hehe


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## AulonoKarl (Mar 9, 2012)

DJRansome said:


> And remember, symmetry is your enemy. :thumb:


I agree with this. When putting rocks in, I try not to think of where I'm putting them, or else they will turn out too organized looking every time. Just a random large pile, then whatever else I have to decorate the tank with goes... well, pretty much wherever it can fit.

When I do plants, I try to plant them either behind things or in things. I like for them to be peaking out from behind rocks, growing in the middle of a cluster of rocks, or my personal favorite is growing out of crevices in driftwood (I use java fern for this mostly). I just don't like for them to be isolated. That, however, is my personal preference. For some reason a lone plant is just an eyesore to me.

I would say add between 5 and 10 times the amount of rocks you have.


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