My Wall Tank- Opinions On My Rocks

[jamesmacc]

hey guys, as some of you may know i have spent the last few months designing and building a 50" 385l tank into my wall. im going to be keeping mbunas. i spent hours laying out rocks in the tank and then changing them around again until i was finaly happy with it, hope you all think it looks ok because its realy difficult to arrange them with the tank in the wall, here are some photos

 

[moochy13]

looks good. have to admit im not a fan of the whole mbuna and tank full or rock thing, but you seem to have a nice balance between looking natural, but also creating some nice areas. some tanks i see just look too fake in the way the rocks are built up. one thing i would suggest - go get a black tube for the filter !!

 

[jamesmacc]

cheers mate, do you know were i can get a black intake tube. i could measure it and do an ebay search to see what i can find. i tried to make it look natural but still trying to make some hiding places for the fish, i would love bogwood and lots of plants but i prefer the look of malawis over ordinary tropicals, maybe i will have to get a 2nd tank

 

[Dieses Madchen]

It looks very nice. How did you get the rocks to stay piled so well? I am having trouble with mine being wobbly and with the activity levels of my mbunas, I am worry they are going to knock one onto their heads!

 

[jamesmacc]

i just took my time and i had about 2000 rocks to pick from so i just chose which ones were most stable looking. im still tempted to silicone them together but then its not so easy to re arrange the rocks when i add more fish

 

[Dieses Madchen]

I am thinking about adding more when I get more. Right now, I have 4 (which is not ideal for mbunas) but I didn't want to add to many at once and overload my filter. In a few weeks, I am going to get 4 more to add. Eventually I will have 11 or 12, assuming I do not have anymore casualties.

 

[jamesmacc]

have you had many casulties? im unsure what to do when i order mine, i live in the highlands so i have to mail order my cichlids, alot of people have told me im ok to fill the tank straight away will all the fish as im running 2 quite big filters. but if i didnt have to pay so much for delivery i would probably add 5-6 at a time. also if mine end up breeding im screwed because i dont have any shops to take them to to give them away

 

[This Old Spouse]

looks good. have to admit im not a fan of the whole mbuna and tank full or rock thing, but you seem to have a nice balance between looking natural, but also creating some nice areas. some tanks i see just look too fake in the way the rocks are built up. one thing i would suggest - go get a black tube for the filter !!

Honestly, I didn't even see that you had a second filter, so maybe you should get a second one like the one on the right!

And another tiny hint ... pull the drapes when you take photos. It cuts the glare. But it's a really pretty tank. It'll be striking when you get your fish in it.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

I have only had one, but I believe it was because he was weaker than the others. There may have been something wrong with him that caused the others to swarm him the way they did. I am told they they will tend to bully the weakest link. Everything else is harmony. The remaining ones are doing well and living in peace.

 

[Squidward]

I wouldn't silicone the rocks. If you ever want to try and catch a fish, you may want to take some rocks out. Also for maintenance

The problem with this though is that when the fish start digging, and they will. The rocks may become unstable.

Bit of a "Catch 22"

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Yeah, I have to rearrange my sand when I do water changes. Little guys love to landscape.

 

[jamesmacc]

hopefully digging wont affect it, i put the rocks in first on top ogg plastic egg crate and then put the rocks in afterwards

 

[trippytrance]

cheers mate, do you know were i can get a black intake tube. i could measure it and do an ebay search to see what i can find. i tried to make it look natural but still trying to make some hiding places for the fish, i would love bogwood and lots of plants but i prefer the look of malawis over ordinary tropicals, maybe i will have to get a 2nd tank

If you running a eheim external try searching for eheim Installation set 1

http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EHEIM-INSTALLATION-SET-1-SUCTION-SIDE-16-22-4005300-/190310108967?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item2c4f5dcf27&x=39&y=4

Also I would not silicone the rocks as you may want to rescape at some point.

 

[bullit]

i like the rocks but id have some at the front and re-arange the back so it wasnt flat at the top

 

[mishmash]

Having spent days in the past myself arranging and rearranging rockwork in both rift lake setups and marine setups of mine, I know how hard it is to achieve a good result. You seem to have found a great layout though. I really like it Look forward to the pics once its teaming with mbuna