# newbie natural rocky set up



## 06ram (May 26, 2008)

ok so I was looking at alot of the tanks on here and decided i really liked the natural look with rocks and sand etc.. so I took my first attempt at it on my 40 before I do it to my 75, comments, criticism,etc... are welcome I'd like to know what i could change do better for when I decide to do the 75...thanks


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## Laurel (Jun 17, 2007)

It's very flat. I'd do a search in the "tanks" link for sandstone and flagstone and see what people have done.


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## lestatak (Feb 3, 2007)

Maybe you can stack them and make a cave.


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## Voodoo Chilli (Jun 29, 2004)

Yeah, maybe break up some of those larger pieces and then use the smaller sections to stack up areas. You're on the right track, though.


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## Laurel (Jun 17, 2007)

I did something similar in the first incarnations of my tank. It created lots of caves but I wasn't happy with the way it looked. Come to think of it, I'm not happy with the way it looks now either.

Here are some shots of mine if it gives you any ideas. Either way, you're going to need A LOT more rock.

















































Everything's coming out in a few weeks and I'm going to do either river rocks or some black limestone.


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## HONDO (May 4, 2008)

i actually think that looks really nice. the plants tie the room together. before plants it looked a little too man made, if you will. the plants really make it look good. alot less man made.

to the original poster. good start. i like all the advice you are getting. keep going with it, i think you have the right idea!!


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## alicem (Jul 26, 2007)

Oh, Laurel, I have to tease you about the stuff under your tank in the last pic. 
 
We should start a post about all the _necessary_ aquarium "stuff" we accumulate. :lol:

By the way, your tank looks really nice in that pic. :thumb: 
It's a great example for the OP.
Alicem


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## quiksilver (Mar 2, 2007)

try using more round rocks


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## Laurel (Jun 17, 2007)

alicem said:


> Oh, Laurel, I have to tease you about the stuff under your tank in the last pic.
> 
> We should start a post about all the _necessary_ aquarium "stuff" we accumulate. :lol:
> 
> ...


Hahahaa, yeah, I know, right?! I wish I had places to store all of it out of sight. My canister lives under one side of the stand and I have a 5 gallon bucket with my coiled up python in the other. :lol: I probably have HUNDREDS of dollars worth of stuff under there, aragonite, extra filter cartridges, chemicals, test kits, several types of food, etc. :lol:

The Anubias are gone now though. It's taken me all week to get used to how bare the tank looks without them, but I just couldn't keep them from growing algae and the plecos didn't seem to be able to remove it, so I figured I'd try quicker growing plants that are too tough for the mbuna to eat. So far I've done a pretty good job of killing about 1/3 of them. :lol:

Tp the OP - If you're considering using more river rocks, I'd scrap the slate. IMO, using 2 different types of rock looks SO strange and very far from natural. I even hate the white/red color difference between the 2 of mine. :fish:


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## 06ram (May 26, 2008)

so I went back down to my creek today and found alot of cool new rocks and also I hit a gold mine... Ok not literally but I found A huge an I mean huge piece of slate rock its about 250lbs 4ft high and about 4 wide... I pulled it out and now I'm gonna break it into managable pieces, but back on track I added some caves and new rocks... let me know what you think... also I know the caves look like they're leaning and unstable but thats the look I wanted and trust me they are very stable..the tank is a little cloudy from stirring up the sand but here's the new pics let me know what you think.....


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## Laurel (Jun 17, 2007)

I think it looks very nice, and the added height looks much better. You may want to pull those extra pieces off of the sand. The fish like to dig in the sand and the rock might impede them. Of course they might make interesting caves too, just depends on whether you want to blow the poo out of there every time you do a water change.


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