# How Do I Aquascape A Mbuna Cichlid Tank



## RedRaider15

I am upgrading my small African Cichlid aquarium to a larger 55 gallon. My question is how do I properly aquascape it to look like their natural environment? Pictures would help! I'm not new to Cichlids but I just want to know how to aquascape.


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## Mschn99

rocks, rocks, and more rocks. They are naturally in an environment of a sand and rock bottom. They hang close to the bottom and need a lot of rock to hide and dart through. The biggest thing is to make sure the rocks are stacked as such to break the "line of sight" of the chasing fish. Basically if they lose sight of the chased fish, they will lose interest or chase the next thing they see.


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## RedRaider15

Yes but how do I stack the rocks/boulders in the tank? Do I use glue? I really like the look of black boulders as it makes the colors of the fish stand out!


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## Mschn99

i just stack them. i can try to get you some pictures later. i use a mixture of lace rock and river rock for the most part. I also use some driftwood (can drop your PH if your not using a ph buffer) You also need to look at the species you have. Some like demasoni need a TON of rock were a lab or a rusty in general dont need as much but still need some.


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## DJRansome

I don't use silicone either. The male will want a patch of substrate surrounded by rocks on 2 sides. The females will want to hide in tight spaces in the rock walls. No need for a roof or back on the caves.

I do rock piles like a tree trunk and the male territories are all around the base between the extending "roots" made of rock extensions.

Some say fill the tank to the water line.


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## k7gixxerguy

I have been experimenting with rock across the whole tank as well as 3 good sized piles and one smaller pile with my mbuna. I have read in a few places that the piles need to be seperate or the dominant fish will consider it all his territory. Anyone else have any experience in this? With the amount of rock that is in my tank (footprint of a 75) its difficult to seperate the piles by more than a five or six inches. I'm wondering if they would even consider that seperate piles. Too bad I dont speak fish.


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## cichlid-gal

k7gixxerguy said:


> I have been experimenting with rock across the whole tank as well as 3 good sized piles and one smaller pile with my mbuna. I have read in a few places that the piles need to be seperate or the dominant fish will consider it all his territory. Anyone else have any experience in this? With the amount of rock that is in my tank (footprint of a 75) its difficult to seperate the piles by more than a five or six inches. I'm wondering if they would even consider that seperate piles. Too bad I dont speak fish.


If your rocks run all together and you have a very dominant male he WILL consider the entire pile his territory. If you break the pile up into two groups, leaving some space...five or six inches is fine (take one pile and start it at the back left corner and curve it towards the front of the tank, take the other pile and start it at the right front corner and curve it towards the back of the tank...it will give you a little more space to work with in the center) the dominant male will claim one pile and the 2nd will either be for the females if there is only one male or will be the more active area of the tank as the remaining males vie for space in the pile.

As for aquascaping...this article has some good points and ideas
http://fish-etc.com/aquascaping-main/set-up-and-aquascape-a-cichlid-habitat
http://fish-etc.com/aquascaping-main/how-to-hardscape-your-aquarium#top

Make sure to share with us what you end up with...pics, pics, pics please


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## DJRansome

My rocks are all connected and the males do not consider the whole tank their property. Make each pile like a tree trunk with roots overlapping to the side and extending in all directions from the pile.

Each male claims a patch of substrate with rocks surrounding it like the roots of the tree trunk.


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## cichlid-gal

DJRansome said:


> My rocks are all connected and the males do not consider the whole tank their property. Make each pile like a tree trunk with roots overlapping to the side and extending in all directions from the pile.
> 
> Each male claims a patch of substrate with rocks surrounding it like the roots of the tree trunk.


  ... haha...it was my maingano dominant male...when I had the long rock pile he was vicious...now he just holds onto the 1 pile and lets the other males and females use the 2nd pile. I might try your suggestion of the tree roots and see how that goes the next time I do a rescape of that tank. I always hate to bother it as I have so many babies in it. My mainganos are gonna get a 125G too (none too soon for me or them but hubby is on his own schedule)...and I think I'll give the roots a try then DJ. Thanks for the input


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## navytom

do any of you let the rocks rest on the glass? im trying to figure out a way to stack them high but it always results in unstable or on the glass.


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## Yael

My labs mated on top of a piece of slate that formed the floor of a cave (as well as the top of a lower cave). They had substrate available to them and ignored it. It was cool because it was very easy to see her lay the egg against the slate. I have some of the rocks spot glued with silicon to help stabalize them but they still have to be able to balance on their own to set up. I did it this way because I wanted a lot of caves despite it only being a 30 gal tank.


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## DJRansome

I do not let the rocks rest on the glass...too much of a pain to clean. I do not glue. If you can get 1/3 of the height of your tank, you should be fine.

My mbuna mate vertically on the background, LOL.


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## Yael

Did you mean the side glass (no resting per DJ's comment) or the glass bottom? I have undergravel filters so the rock start out right on the UG plate. If they aren't too big I think people like to sit them on the tank bottom to keep the fish from sifting out the gravel/sand and unbalancing them. Safest is to put a piece of plastic egg crate material cut to fit the bottom to spread out the weight and protect the glass.


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## cantrell00

Yael said:


> Did you mean the side glass (no resting per DJ's comment) or the glass bottom? I have undergravel filters so the rock start out right on the UG plate. If they aren't too big I think people like to sit them on the tank bottom to keep the fish from sifting out the gravel/sand and unbalancing them. Safest is to put a piece of plastic egg crate material cut to fit the bottom to spread out the weight and protect the glass.


You are using undergravel filters with mbuna? And it works with them?

Sorry.. Not to hijack..


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## navytom

i was saying on the side of tank, the vertical glass. is it ok to lean rocks agenst the glass side?


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## cantrell00

navytom said:


> i was saying on the side of tank, the vertical glass. is it ok to lean rocks agenst the glass side?


Yes


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## navytom

So you can lean rocks on your glass???? That doesn't seam safe that's why I'm asking.


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## metricliman

Haha "seam". I know, bad pun.


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## cantrell00

It can be unsafe if they are not stacked securely. If they were allowed to tumble down, they could crack/break the floor or the front.

The weight of the rock alone is not placing anymore force on the glass than the weight if the water in the tank.


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## Yael

cantrell00 said:


> Yael said:
> 
> 
> 
> Did you mean the side glass (no resting per DJ's comment) or the glass bottom? I have undergravel filters so the rock start out right on the UG plate. If they aren't too big I think people like to sit them on the tank bottom to keep the fish from sifting out the gravel/sand and unbalancing them. Safest is to put a piece of plastic egg crate material cut to fit the bottom to spread out the weight and protect the glass.
> 
> 
> 
> You are using undergravel filters with mbuna? And it works with them?
> 
> Sorry.. Not to hijack..
Click to expand...

Sure does - I have spots of digging sand for them but everything is layered over crushed shell. I do water changes through tubing that I siliconed to various areas under the plates so all the gunk under the plates gets taken out with water changes. I have a power head pulling the water through the uplift tube to create good circulation.


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## cantrell00

Interesting. I had always assumed it would not be practical with the way they dig.

Cool.


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## DJRansome

I don't like to lean the rocks because algae collects at the point of contact making a maintenance headache.


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## Yael

cantrell00 said:


> Interesting. I had always assumed it would not be practical with the way they dig.
> 
> Cool.


They'll dig but not through the crushed shell layer. I have a lot of hills and valleys in the substrate anyway due to the way the caves and decorations and plants are positioned.


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## navytom

cantrell00 said:


> It can be unsafe if they are not stacked securely. If they were allowed to tumble down, they could crack/break the floor or the front.
> 
> The weight of the rock alone is not placing anymore force on the glass than the weight if the water in the tank.


Thank you, that's what I was looking for. Would it be helpful if I put one I my filter intakes behind the pile to help with water movement and waist build up thorough the pile?


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## DJRansome

Maybe, but weigh against that the rocks will block the free flow of the intake to the rest of the tank.


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## navytom

I'm running 3 different filters with more than enough filtering for my tank. So I would put my aqueon 55 behind and have my cascade 700 and 1000 out in the tank.


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