# Rock Dilemna (Pics)



## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

I collected some rocks a few weeks ago for my 55g, and I'm not sure I like them as much in the tank as I did when I collected them. The look is ok, but they turned out to be kinda small, which made them hard to stack, and I had to use A LOT of rocks, which will make cleaning difficult especially if I have to remove and replace rocks.

Here's a crappy pic of my tank currently (no fish, cycling with ammonia) taken with my cell:










So you can see what I'm talking about... Looking through tank pictures, it just seems that fewer larger rocks both look better and seem like they would be easier to remove/replace, so I want to make a change.

There is an outdoor landscaping supply nearby that had a good selection of rock that I think I could find something nice, but I'm having trouble selecting a type of rock to go with. There are many flat rock type options, and a couple boulder type options.

The flat options include sandstone, bluestone, granite, and limestone.
The boulder options include granite boulders and sandstone "barnstone" (old bridge abutments)

Here is a list of pics of the types of rocks I think would work well in an aquarium:

Barnstone 
Description: Old Bridge Abutments 
Stone Type: Sandstone 
Color: Buff 
Dimensions: Available Upon Request 









Brownstone 
Description: Ledgerock 
Stone Type: Sandstone 
Color: Brown 
Thickness: 1" to 3" 









Colonial Blue 
Description: Ledgerock 
Stone Type: Bluestone 
Color: Blue 
Thickness: 1" to 3" 









Colonial Lilac 
Description: Ledgerock 
Stone Type: Bluestone 
Color: Lilac 
Thickness: 1" to 3" 









Granite 
Description: Flagstone 
Stone Type: Granite 
Color: Pink and Black 
Thickness: 2" 









Irregular Flats 
Description: Ledgerock 
Stone Type: Sandstone 
Color: Full Range of Colors 
Thickness: Random Thickness 









Landscape Boulders 
Description: Rough Sided Boulders 
Stone Type: Granite 
Color: Full range of colors 
Sizes: Baseball, Softball and Basketball 









Tumble Limestone 
Description: Weathered edge limestone 
Stone Type: Limestone 
Color: Dark Gray 
Dimensions: Irregular 









I kinda like the granite boulders and the barnstone (depending on the size), but I'm wondering how much space they'd take up in my tank and how easy/hard they'd be to stack on a smallish footprint. For flat rocks, I'd probably just pick whatever looks best (or a mix), but I'm considering the limestone for the buffering properties. I now turn to the community to see giving these option, what would you pick?

(and please don't just tell me to pick what I like; I'll do that anyways, but now I'm asking what the community likes and thinks would be most practical)

Thanks!


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## natalie559 (Dec 6, 2007)

I think the rocks you have look okay, you just need to create more depth.

But if you want to switch them I like the irregular flats best or the landscape boulders. I like the natural look they have and the interesting shapes. Once a bit of algae grows you won't notice any color differences as much.

The others just look to man made and square.


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## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

natalie559 said:


> I think the rocks you have look okay, you just need to create more depth.
> 
> But if you want to switch them I like the irregular flats best or the landscape boulders. I like the natural look they have and the interesting shapes. Once a bit of algae grows you won't notice any color differences as much.
> 
> The others just look to man made and square.


Thanks for the advice. Those were actually the two kinds of rock I was considering most. Actually, the irregular flats is kind of whats in my tank now that I collected. I'm actually thinking about trying to mix them and see what I can come up with.

How do I create depth in the tank? I don't really have an artistic eye... I can look at all the examples in the world, but when I try to stack the rocks, it never looks as good.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I also am limited in my artsey side. That may not hurt us too much here, though. My thinking is that you are being too human. Nature does things in very messy ways. Rocks will be much less orderly more often than in a row. More variety in sizes may help. Try for more variety in height width, etc. Think more of a fallen bunch rather than stacked neatly. One note of caution might be to think of where the rocks might go if the fish begin digging under. A number of cichlids will move a lot of gravel or sand to dig out a cave under the rocks. That can lead to tipping the pile over. Like in rocks crashing through the side.  
I would not be too quick to change your rocks out but try stacking them more random. Some forward, some back. Some against the back wall, some leaning against each other rather than stacked. :thumb:


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Another quick improvement might be to put a background of any type so that you don't see through to the plumbing. A quick paint job might be good for this.


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## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

> Rocks will be much less orderly more often than in a row. More variety in sizes may help. Try for more variety in height width, etc. Think more of a fallen bunch rather than stacked neatly.


I agree that would look more natural. When I was prepping my rocks, I sort of started stacking them in a pile on the driveway that looked really nice actually, only that the pile was only about half as tall as the rocks in my tank now, and there were hardly any caves that I could picture ~4" fish hiding in or swimming through... Probably because my rocks are too small.



> One note of caution might be to think of where the rocks might go if the fish begin digging under.


Right now, nothing should happen. I stacked all the rocks in the tank before adding sand or even water, so technically they should have been least stable then. I shook the tank a little and jumped up and down on the floor and the rocks didn't budge, so I'm confortable how they're stacked right now. Couldn't get much higher though.



> I would not be too quick to change your rocks out but try stacking them more random. Some forward, some back. Some against the back wall, some leaning against each other rather than stacked.


I might try this. I was trying to avoid leaning any rocks up against the glass though. And if I pile rocks this way, I don't know if I'll have enough rocks to pile very high. Either way, it looks like I'm going to need simply MORE and BIGGER rocks I guess.



> Another quick improvement might be to put a background of any type so that you don't see through to the plumbing. A quick paint job might be good for this.


 I know... I had a corny plastic pet store background from when the tank was set up before. Fortunately, the back side of it is plain black, so thats what I'm planning on using, I just haven't taped it on yet. It was being temorarily roughly held in place by my filters, but I had to take it down to swap out impellers on my filters. It'll be going up as soon as I find some scotch tape.

Thanks for all the advice! I'll probably try rearranging my rocks tonight and I'll post some new pics once I get something better going on. I'm still probably going to go buy some new rock though, as long as its not expensive. Shouldn't be, its just rock, right


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## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

I bought new rocks. I bought 25 of the granite boulders. They were trying to sell them for $3-5 per rock, depending on size. I got them for $50. I estimate I have somewhere between 250-500lbs of them, so that means I payed about $0.10-0.20 per lb... meh... I feel bad about paying for rocks (especially when I know I could have eventually went out and just found something sufficient), but with it getting cold, I know I was running out of time until I'd be stuck with what I had until next spring. Funny thing was, they gave me an extra $10 off if I paid cash, but I didn't bring cash with me. I had already had the rocks loaded in the back of the car when they told me, but they let me drive off to an ATM anyways to get cash. I coulda just kept on driving and not looked back, and since I lived in a different enough part of town they'd probably never see me again. But then I thought I'd be screwin myself incase I needed rocks for a bigger tank in the future, so... I paid. :shrug:

anyways, I've already got my new rocks soaking in a pool of bleach. I'll change that to freshwater+dechlor tomorrow, and then I'll be ready to start messing around with my tank again this weekend. I think between my old rocks and new rocks, I'll have plenty of variety now to properly scape my tank


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

One thing I did when doing rocks for my tank is built the stacks on a workbench that was taped out to the size of the tank interior.

BIG help. Much easier than doing it in the water. And I could arrange and leave it for a day. The next day inspiration might strike. Keep rearranging on the bench until you like it without change for more than one day, LOL.


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

Great Advice DJRansome! Keep us posted Rhinox this is motivating me to get my rockwork going! Please post new pics when you get everything set up on the workbench and then in your tank. Go with what you feel and you can't go wrong!


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## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

Thanks for the idea! I saw a picture of someone doing it before, but thought I'd be able to just wing it in the tank. I don't have a workbench, but I do have my concrete garage floor and some masking tape  I think I'll give this a try.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

It was probably my picture, I've posted it a bunch of times.


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## nfrost (Mar 10, 2009)

I got rocks more like the landscape boulders, I just picked a bunch of small football to football sized ones that were the same type and color of rock, that also semi-blended in with my sand. within a month they were covered in algae and I think they look sort of realistic... the fish are happy. The only thing I dislike about the rocks I have is I think they are too red, just wish they were a little more beige. Here is a not so good photo I just took; some of the redder spots are bc I move them around occasionally and algae hasn't had time to grow yet.


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## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

Nice tank nfrost. I like it.

Well, I rescaped my tank today. I don't want to overhype it, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Its a 100% improvement over how it was before. The only thing that maybe isn't ideal is that all the rocks are different types and colors of granite, but idk I kinda like the variety look. I figured since I was rescaping, I'd also put some grid down under the rocks, and I added pantyhose pre-filters to my HOB intakes. I've got 24 rocks in my 55g, and I'm estimating its close to 350lbs of rock.

Pics will be coming later - I wanna tape the background up and wait a little longer for the water to clear back up first.


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## non_compliance (Dec 4, 2008)

Don't worry about the different color of rocks... they will get algae and be closer to the same color after some time anyways.

You made a good choice about putting the grid down... also, make sure that the rocks aren't really sitting ontop of a lot of substrate. That is when the fish can undermine them and make your piles fall. You want the bottom rocks touching the bottom glass or grid if you can.

I can't wait to see your pictures. Sounds like you are pretty happy with the way it turned out, and that's all that matters.


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## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

non_compliance said:


> Don't worry about the different color of rocks... they will get algae and be closer to the same color after some time anyways.
> 
> You made a good choice about putting the grid down... also, make sure that the rocks aren't really sitting ontop of a lot of substrate. That is when the fish can undermine them and make your piles fall. You want the bottom rocks touching the bottom glass or grid if you can.
> 
> I can't wait to see your pictures. Sounds like you are pretty happy with the way it turned out, and that's all that matters.


The rocks were all stacked directly on the grid before any sand was in the tank, and after I was satisfied with the looks and stability of the piles, I spread the sand around the rocks.

I did have a near catastrophe though... One of the rocks on the top of my stack decided to roll off and smack into the front glass  I was sure it was stable. I wiggled the rocks, and jumped up and down, and rocked the tank a bit and it didn't budge. Then I walked out to get a couple more rocks, and when I walked back in, i heard the smack... anyways, no harm, no foul... all is well.

I estimated that the new setup displaces an extra 5g than the old setup, but it looks so much better. The tank water cleared up nicely overnight, so I'll snap a couple pics shortly and post them today.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The fish swishing around in there can topple rocks. I have one fist-sized cobble that is always on the substrate next day. It's near the foam background however, so no glass to bounce off.


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## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

Before:









After:









I think its a huge improvement. I'll probably stick with this arrangement.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Agree huge improvement. A couple of those rocks on top do look precarious however. :thumb:


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## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

DJRansome said:


> Agree huge improvement. A couple of those rocks on top do look precarious however. :thumb:


Thanks 

I agree they do make me a little nervous but I've tripple checked them reaching in and bumping the stacks and I'm confident that none are going to go toppling. The one that fell while I was setting up was the grayish one on the top center of the left stack. I made sure its secured now though.


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## iCichlid (Sep 21, 2009)

Is it safe to rockscape with the fish still in he tank? Or should they be moved to a holding tank? I got some new lace rock (21lb boulder) and Texas Holey rock that I want to replace some of my tufa with.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

It's safe as long as you don't accidentally pin any fish. I've had that happen.


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## non_compliance (Dec 4, 2008)

you should beable to put rocks in without a problem, just like DJ ransome said... watch out your don't squish anyone.... they usually stay well out of the way, but some fish aren't as smart as others.


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## eddy (Jan 16, 2009)

Rhinox said:


> DJRansome said:
> 
> 
> > Agree huge improvement. A couple of those rocks on top do look precarious however. :thumb:
> ...


 I think you will be fine as long as you are still going with the smaller Mbuna stock. If you ever decide to go too new world you might want too do something different.

Personally I don't think it would cause any damage if one of those rocks did fall as long as there was water in the tank but you never know.


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## milkmaid (Sep 16, 2009)

Huge improvement but in the second pic the rockpiles look a little man made too. I think it is because they are piled a wee bit too high particularly on the right side, but it is just my opinion and we are all different in our tastes. Beautiful tank though.


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

i love louisiana, but we don't have the option of just finding rocks, unless we steal them from someone's landscaping


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## wheatbackdigger (May 11, 2008)

Rhinox said:


> Before:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Have to say, I like the "before" arrangement better, though the "after" will be much easier to maintain. I don't completely dislike the "after", but a huge improvement would be to use the same kind and color stone throughout the tank. Different color rocks give it a "rock garden" look to it. Anlother improvement would be varying the size of rocks. They are too similar in size


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## apex82 (Jul 16, 2010)

Any update pics?


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## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

apex82 said:


> Any update pics?


Wow this is an old thread. I can probably take a pic of my 55 next waterchange. This tank though will be coming down as soon as I get off my butt and set up my 125, and some of the rocks in it will become the new hardscape in my 33XL.

The rocks have moved around from time to time, had to catch a holding fish to strip a while back. I think I may have to remove a lab, so the rocks might change again. I've been noticing a lab hiding up around the filter intake. Recently, its stopped eating. It looks a little sickly and skinny. I should have been paying closer attention.


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## apex82 (Jul 16, 2010)

Please take one asap as I am setting up my rockwork this weekend and have the same type of rocks. Would be appreciated.
Thanks


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## apex82 (Jul 16, 2010)

still waiting...


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