Hi thanks for the comment, the background is polystyrene shaped and coated with a cement based floor prep combined with multibond and course sand then painted with waterbased concrete water proofer which was coloured to suit with oxide. then siliconed to the back of the tank, the background also hides the overflow box and inlet riser coming up thru the bottom of the tank. some of the rocks out in the middle of the tank are also poly and the rest are limestone/shellrock and pumice as well as a few I shaped out of omaru stone.
For your cichlid tank I would suggest deciding on what fish you want and setting your tank up for what suits their needs.
Try posting what you want to keep and asking for suggestions as to what would best suit and use the ideas.
Thanks