# Rocks for malawi mbuna fish



## ovdylan1 (Oct 15, 2009)

id like to know what some good rocks for malawi mbuna fish that are good lookin.. give me some variety!


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## TKC747 (Dec 5, 2008)

Just make sure the rock doesn't have have metallic qualitites, Heavy Metals will poison your fish. If you haven't already, look at this article in the library:http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/rock_metals.php you can also look at the tanks section and search for photos of aquariums in various posts to get some idea what looks good to you

oh, and becareful if the whole back of the tank is rocky, it's prbably a fake background. If you are planning to use one of these, obviously, that will dictate your choice a bit more


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## ovdylan1 (Oct 15, 2009)

yeah im going to be using an all black background, the only rock iv heard of is texas holey rock


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## TKC747 (Dec 5, 2008)

Another idea mentioned in one of the articles in the library is to go to Lowe's or Home Depot or any other gardening store/ home store, buy cheap front lawn type stones and use silicone (see the DIY forum) to make designs.

As for types of rocks, its expensive at the fish store but they sell slate, fake rocks made out colored glass but I wouldn't use the fake stuff, it looks better in a community tropical fish tank to some people go figure...slate you have to check for oily stuff

hope this helps some, bleach and boil your rocks if getting them from outdoors


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## ovdylan1 (Oct 15, 2009)

most likely ill check out home depot, see what they have. slate would be good to have in the tank? pretty new to malawi fish


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## TKC747 (Dec 5, 2008)

if you like slate, just becareful of the oily stuff, some sources of slate have lots of oily stuff from dead animals, fossil fuels often found with slate from what i understand. The thing about slate is that its flat and you can build caves with them if you make sure that is not too oily.


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## ovdylan1 (Oct 15, 2009)

ill be sure to check it out, i do in fact like slate


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## gus211 (Sep 21, 2009)

You may also want to try limestone it helps with the ph In the water there's also base rock river rock and black lava rock I use these types in my tanks and have always worked out pretty well


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## ManiacalMbunas (Oct 13, 2009)

Let's not forget granite. Nice and sparkly (until the algae gets it) with many color choices.


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## GoofBoy (Jul 3, 2007)

ovdylan1 said:


> id like to know what some good rocks for malawi mbuna fish that are good lookin.. give me some variety!


I would suggest investigating the landscape supply places near you - they should have some kind of round river rock mix. They will usually let you fill up a couple of 5 gallon buckets for a few bucks.

And to clean the rocks - Pots and Pans cycle on your dishwasher works better than anything else I have ever tried. It will sanitize the rocks too.

Good Luck.


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## TKC747 (Dec 5, 2008)

*Goofboy* wrote:


> And to clean the rocks - Pots and Pans cycle on your dishwasher works better than anything else I have ever tried. It will sanitize the rocks too.


 do you use chemicals, like detergent or bleach in the dishwasher? or jsut hot water to sanitize? hadn't thought of that method thanks by the way

*ovdylan1*, Take a look at this photo: (cool setup by Neogenesis:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii308/Cichlid-Wolke/DSC_1925.jpg

from these posts: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=202575&start=15


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## GoofBoy (Jul 3, 2007)

> do you use chemicals, like detergent or bleach in the dishwasher? or jsut hot water to sanitize? hadn't thought of that method thanks by the way


NO detergent! Sorry for not making that clear. Just water.


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## Neogenesis (Jan 4, 2008)

Here is a idea for what you can do with flagstone "limestone". This is in my 125G that I just setup. I need to get more as I like to stack it top to bottom. Please excuse the poor lighting, that a 4 foot fixture on a 6 foot tank. It will be upgraded soon.

Scott


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## ovdylan1 (Oct 15, 2009)

yep, very nice i thinking about doin a variety of rocks but still having the tank look as natural as possible, thanks for the replies guys


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## frozennorth (Dec 16, 2008)

Here are 2 threads with lots of inspiration. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=187394 and http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=177546

I prefer a more natural look, so no straight lines for me.


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## ovdylan1 (Oct 15, 2009)

yep me to. thanks, the links are very helpful :dancing:


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## steelers fan (Jun 26, 2009)

slate from local creeks...free and unlimited supply


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## nickinsmokerise (Jun 22, 2008)

Hello fellow southerner!
I use only local river rock which is round-ish and can be found in some rivers and stream beds. I soak mine in chlorinated water for a couple days, then dechlorinated water for a couple more just to be safe.
look at my pic on my profile tank, you can kindof see it there, i got some in north carolina, some in TN, all throughout the south really!
I do not use an algae eater so they kindof have a soft green fuzz that some of fish chew on from time to time.


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## cvillanueva21 (Mar 10, 2008)

I use lace rock. It's pricey at the stores but I got them in a deal from craigslist. [/img]


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## Sprintz (Sep 22, 2009)

I prefer the "reef" look and use tufa, lava, and old "live" rock from my old reef tank. The tufa and lava are relatively lightweight. I would suggest not to placing them in the tank as a "rock wall". In my opinion, it does not look very natural.


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## gtphale (Oct 12, 2008)

Just an idea, I've had good luck with less rock in my tanks. Had a setup like Neo's but got board of the man made look. Plus aggression became an issue as everyone was chasing everyone from every cave. I had pretty passive cichlids for mbuna anyway. Rusties, Yellow Labs, and Afra Cobue.(male was by far dominant). This was in a 55 gal. maybe a bigger tank will yield better results with more caves. I'm about ready to see if less rock works with Demasoni though. :-?


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## Ca-Delta (Jun 22, 2009)

I stole my limestone rocks from our levee. It was cool with the Reclamation District. Anyway, I had the GREAT IDEA of washing them in the dishwasher with no soap. Yep, worked bitchin until I spent an hour or so cleaning the grit out of the rack sliders and then pondering how much grit also went into the pump! Now we just throw 'em on the sidewalk and blast 'em with the power washer and let them sit in the sun. So far it's been ok.


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## padlock 08 (Jul 31, 2008)

i use limestone rocks from a quarry that shut down and was filled up with clay a couple month ago, the rocks still half poke out of the surface, i used to soak it in dechlorinated water but found there's no need, all i do is scrub the dirt off in running water with a scrubbie and the do a 70% WC when they're in the tank, none of my fish (tropheops chilumba, met. greshakei, yellow labs, syno. occelifer) ever look any worse, they always have fun nin the new 'scape


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## Tundra_Wolf (May 16, 2010)

If you want to go the LPS way you could get Cichlid rocks which have holes in them and come in different sizes. I havent started my cichlid tank yet but i am buying all the stuff i need and want first then will cycle then add fish. I found these cichlid rocks through Big Al's online. there great looking i love them. My hubby has 2 in his tropical 20 gallon tank.


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## lil_flame33 (Mar 20, 2010)

cvillanueva21 said:


> I use lace rock. It's pricey at the stores but I got them in a deal from craigslist. [/img]


+1
I really like the lace rock...


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## TheCrazyCunuck (May 31, 2010)

I have rose quarts and it looks pretty cool. Adds color to the tank. I would go with something like that if you want a vibrant look. I would go with slate for a natural look.


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

Bad picture, but I have featherrock in mine. It is a little difficult to deal with at first (it has to be heated to submerge or it floats), and very sharp (but the fish don't get hut, just me :? ), but I love the look...


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## Raschael (May 8, 2009)

We use a blend of river rock, slate, and holey rock with our mbuna. We get all of our rock from a local landscape supply place. You will find that they have the cheapest rocks. Here's what our's looks like.

Left side:









Middle:









Right side:









Hope that helps a bit!


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