Decorating 120g Tank

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Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


faile486
 
Posts: 65
Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2008 7:20 pm

Decorating 120g Tank

by faile486

I'm planning on building a lot of the decorations/equipment myself. As much of it as possible. I'm wondering how big the caves for cichlids would need to be? I'm not sure of the exact type of cichlid that I want to keep, but assuming the fish only grows 6", how high and wide would the entrances need to be? Depth isn't terribly hard to figure out ^.^

Do I need one cave per fish, or will males and females of the same species share caves? I'm only planning on putting one male for whatever species I choose in...if I added three females, could I get away with two caves per species?

Right now, I'm planning on having at least one or two groups of four cichlids, two plecos, and maybe a few other individual fish as well. I know I want to have some severum. They don't seem to need caves though, just some plants.

I've heard that cichlids will dig up plants...is there any way to prevent this? Could some type of plastic crating be used in between layers of substrate to keep the fish away from the roots?


Serial324556
 
Posts: 218
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2008 2:35 am

by Serial324556

I use 2 inch PVC pipe for my caves. Usually only 1 pair of Cichlids(Male and Female) will house 1 cave. Many caves and hiding spots are a must with Cichlids though as they can be very territorial and stressed if they do not feel safe.

What I did also is to hide the white pvc, take GE Silicon I(Safe for fishtanks and cheapest), coat the PVC with the Silicon I and cover it with the substrate you have in your tank. It will blend in nicely.


jweb1369
 
Posts: 547
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:55 am

by jweb1369

check out a hardware store or places like home depot or lowes. the slabs of travertine in my tank are from home depot. i broke some in half to stack for caves. chek out my new pics when they get approved the stacking is much better than current pics. as for plants i just have to bury them again every other day or so.


faile486
 
Posts: 65
Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2008 7:20 pm

by faile486

Actually, I've already got some slate (from Home Depot!) that I'm planning on using to make the caves...I just don't want to make them too small for the fish to fit in!

Right now the tank is against a wall (maybe 3" away from it) with the left hand side in a corner. The right hand side is fully visible. I'm planning on having caves stacked to within an inch or two of the top of the tank, starting about 4" or so from the far left hand side. There will be a bit of space behind the caves for equipment. I'm putting a tank divider or some sort of mesh behind the cave wall. All the caves will be open on the back, which will allow plenty of water flow - the mesh will be removable for cleaning, but should prevent the fish from getting in the equipment area. This way also keep the majority of the equipment hidden.

I'm planning on having caves in other locations too - along the bottom of the tank in the back, maybe stacked two high? Possibly on the right side of the tank as well, if I end up not having enough space elsewhere. I'm planning on having some small ones for fry to hide in if they need to, spaced out among the larger ones.


jweb1369
 
Posts: 547
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:55 am

by jweb1369

yea that sounds good. what kind of filtration are you using? is 3" enough space behind the tank? the slate idea is really cool and the best one i've ever seen was my aunts cichlid tank, and she used black marble or granite that someone gave to her as cuttings they didnt need for their home. it was a beautiful tank, but i cant imagine how expensive that would be to use granite or marble to do the entire back of a tank with, haha.


Zambize4899
 
Posts: 499
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:35 am

by Zambize4899

486 -

I did the same thing, bought slate from Home Depot. It turned out great. I made mine two-story! I'm not an expert at fish behavior (yet), but it seems like it would be better to have more personal spaces than you have individual fish needing them. Otherwise, two fish may be more likely to fight over one? I have also left swimming room all the way around my caves. I was concerned that one fish may feel cornered in there. Especially if a "visitor" was caught in there, the visitor could hustle out the back without a fight.

I had 5 Rams, but some preferred the plants or a spot behind some driftwood. Only one or two wanted one of the caves. I have a Red-Tail Black Shark that likes to visit his cave, but for security/sleep he prefers the tighter spaces between the driftwood. Maybe you should wait to see what your fish want? Just have lots of slate on hand! If you look at my profile, the top pic is a shot of one of my small caves.

Good luck!
Zambize


faile486
 
Posts: 65
Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2008 7:20 pm

by faile486

Hm, I hadn't thought about some fish possibly needing an escape route. Maybe having more than one exit would be a good idea then. I was thinking of using the slate to build up the sides of the caves in all the visible areas, but using foam elsewhere to help counteract the weight.

I think I'm going to put a wall of caves along the back, and a couple along the left hand side - maybe make some of them connecting, in order to have two cave openings.

Thanks for the help guys ^.^

What do you think about the two layers of substrate with mesh in between them to keep the cichlids away from the plant roots?


Zambize4899
 
Posts: 499
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:35 am

by Zambize4899

Why do you need to use the mesh? I don't understand why you'd do that to keep the fish away from equipment...don't most tanks have exposed equipment?

Four things to consider... 1) the slate scratches glass very easily, 2) how will you clean under this mass of caves, 3) will you permanently glue all of this together? If so, that'll be unwieldy. If not, it can fall easier that you might think. And 4) the edges of broken slate are extremely sharp. I spent a lot of time with a hammer dulling the edges of all the little slate pieces, and they were still sharp.

It does sound cool though. Huge project to tackle! It just occurred to me...why not start off with a few small caves to just experiment? Just my little cave turned out to have more issues than I ever imagined.

Zambize


Mike0372983
 
Posts: 267
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:59 pm

by Mike0372983

I would go with like staked rocks and you will need to put some slate under the gravel, because the fish dig the caves might colapse if they are not on even ground.


faile486
 
Posts: 65
Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2008 7:20 pm

by faile486

The mesh on the left hand side was to keep fry away from the filter intake. The mesh in between the substrate layers was to keep fish away from the plant roots - to hopefully prevent uprooting, and keep them in place better. I realize I could just replant them, but that would eventually get pretty annoying =p

I want to try and glue it together as much as possible, but I was thinking of having segments to keep it from being to heavy.

Hopefully I shouldn't need to clean under it often - I'm thinking once every three months maybe. A lot of backgrounds get siliconed in place, that can't be cleaned under/around.

There won't be much slate that would come into contact with the glass. I'm planning on using foam anywhere it's not easily visible, to help with the weight.

I've got a hammer and sand paper to help with the sharp edges ^.^

Decorating 120g Tank

15 posts • Page 1 of 2

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