Cichlid Aquarium Decoration Queries ?

[aatif]

hi,
i was very curious about the lavish decoration tht i've often seen in Cichlid Aquariums,like huge lotsa stones i was wondering how would you put them one on other or its a whole one piece,isnt it dangerous if it falls on either the side vertical glass or the bottom glass,the Aquarium would burst off like something.
Actually i Havent yet got a chance to examine this type of aquarium personally and i keep my african mbuna's without tht much of dense rock setting,im scared...

 

[Orion]

Carefull planing and placement are key.

A lot of people, myself included, use eggcrate under the rocks. Eggcrate is made to be used as a light diffuser for commercial lighting. You place this in the tank first, then the rocks, then the sand. This allows the weight of the rocks to be distributed more evenly, and keeps any one point of the glass getting a lot of stress and potentialy breaking.

Cichlids love to dig, and thats another reason for puting the deco in the tank in this order. If there is no sand under the rocks, then when they dig, they will not undermine the rock formations, and make any of the rocks sift, or worse, fall.

In short, yes it is a risk we take. But if done properly, a very small risk.

 

[aatif]

hi Orion,
i didnt know this,egg crate should make it safe !

 

[Orion]

Don't misunderstand, eggcrate isn't a cure all for making the tank safe. However theoreticly it can help. I've seen many tanks with hundereds of pounds of rock that don't use it and has been safe, but for me, its worth the $10 for peace of mind.

 

[Rokl33t]

well my technique is to just set up the decor while ur cycling, or day one of ur tank with water and some kind of bottom...i jus get all my rocks rinse em off well and just put rocks one by one and i move the rocks around to make sure tis sturdy in its place