new cichlid tank

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Member introductions and random (non-aquarist) topics.


jenrob21
 
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 9:24 am

new cichlid tank

by jenrob21

I've just purchased a 56 gallon cube tank that I plan on housing cichlids in. I want to get some big lava rock or coral to put in it. Will the added wieght of some fairly large rocks crack the bottom of my tank ? I've heard online to put some styrofoam under the tank before i set it up. Is this necessary ? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


miami754
 
Posts: 373
Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:18 am

by miami754

Go to a hardware store (Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.) and buy some egg crate. It is the cross hatched stuff that is put under florescent lighting. Buy some and cut it to the dimensions of your tank. Then put the gravel or sand on top of that and then the rocks on that. It will help to spread out the weight of the rocks so you don't get cracks. That is what I do and if you looks at my profile you will see how much rock work I have (there is about 120 lbs. of rock in there). It is a little bit of a pain to have the egg crate in there because you can't vacuum all the way down to the glass so stuff gets caught down there. Therefore, you will need to make sure not to overfeed. Also, I would recommend actually cutting two separate peices of egg crate (so you have a peice for the right half and a peice for the left half instead of one big peice). This will make it easier to clean. Even with small feeding, you will need to take all the rock and egg crate out and do a deep cleaning every 2-3 months. Having two peices makes it easier because you can move all you substrate to the left, take out the right egg crate peice, and then vaccum. Then put the right side egg crate back in, move the substrate to the right, remove the left egg crate, and clean that side. It makes it so you can clean under the egg crate without having to take out your fish.

Anyway, I hope this makes sense. If you are only having a little bit of rock work then I would just build up a thick enough layer of substrate to disperse the weight, but if you are going all out, I would invest in the egg crate (it is like $8 for a 4'x6' peice). Good luck and welcome to the world of cichlids. They are the best fish in the world.


miami754
 
Posts: 373
Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:18 am

by miami754

This is what egg crate looks like except the one you buy will be made of white plastic, not aluminum. I found it in the fluorescent lighting section of Lowe's.

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/51256 ... _Core.html

new cichlid tank

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