so tell me what you think,

at the moment its still cycling so im slowly adding fish,

none of my cichlids are in there yet, but there are at my LFS waiting for me

That looks cool! I love the schist look in an african tank.. looks really nice against the white substrate.

Keep us posted on your fish adding

Mekhaela

Hawkes Bay

the substrate is 10kg of coral sand.

and at the moment there is 4 platys (cycle fish)

and 1 up side down catfish (2more usd cats on order)

I gather you added the sand first? Cichlids will dig and undermine the rocks. Make sure they are firmly stacked. Without the sand at one end, a bottom rock will drop and the rest will slide off sideways or topple forwards. Some people silicone rocks to hold them together.

When I set mine up, I put the rocks in first then scattered the sand around.

You did ask us what we think so...why the bubbles bang in the middle at the front? To me it will distract the eye from the fish. I would move it behind the rocks. Just MHO though I am not a fan of bubble walls as you don't see them in nature like that so I might be biased

If you like it, then that is all that matters.

It will look good once the cichlids are in there.

The base rocks went in then the sand folowed by the stacks of rocks,

i was thinking of silconing them but didnt no if it would make any difference,

the photo is a lil bit despetive as the bubbles are to one side and are towards the back, but i know what you mean that it woulndt happen in the wild, (but these fish aren't in the wild so meh)

i have got some silcon but dont no if it can be used under water (will it work if the rocks are submerged?)

it is the JBL AquaSil Silicon (colour white)

I thought about siliconing my rock arrangment together in one of our African tanks.. BUT my husband did the "roll eye thing", because this particular tank I always seem to pick holes at with each way I set it up, so husband refuses to silicone the arrangment till I am content, the fish in this particular tank must get driven mad by me :lol:

So in short, make sure you like it before you silicone it

I also have the bubble wall thing in one of my tanks, BUT I am wondering whether I actually need it, it does look nice but it never runs even, always seem to get a burst of really large bubbles now and then and it makes this plopping noise (which isnt so bad, unless you are watching a good movie) :lol: The bubble bars are pretty good at keeping away build up tho to a certain extent, but a good power head is always good.

Keep those pics coming

Mekhaela

Hawkes Bay

and what happens when it comes time to move house??

break the tank to get the stones out to move the tank because it so heavy??

beause i have very large rocks at the bottem i cant see them causing a rock slide lol

i have 2 airstones going the big one it front which is very even and the felxi wall at the back which isnt under the sand (but still out of site so i dont get the big ploop

Yes well there are those things to think about huh! :lol: If that was the case, we wouldn't be moving house, tank comes first! :lol:

Another reason I am not too keen to silicone in some cases is if I have a female peacock holding a crop of young, I like to get her out to put her in a tank of her own for some peace and quiet to spit the bubs and I can only imagine the frustration in not being able to catch her with siliconed rock work, have had to move the odd rock or two :lol:

Oh those flexi bars are great, neat how you can suction them to anywhere in the tank huh.

Mekhaela

Hawkes Bay

yea, i will just leave them as is,

i have a 120cm felxi in a 100cm tank so it is just curved around th tank flat it goes over and under some of my base rocks so i have dif size bubbles but nuffing tht goes ploop lol,

hmm i thnk i am just going to go get some fish (i need a study break) how long do you think it will take my 5 kingsize cichlids to kill the cycle fish? (4platys)

Yikes me wouldn't want to give a time period on that one!

Are you sure you don't know someone who could give the testers a happy home :lol:

Mekhaela

Hawkes Bay

if any one wants them they can have them but the nearest person i know with a tank is 50mins away and they dont keep comunity fish just cichlids

Perhaps the LFS will take the platies back when you get your cichlids? How long have the fish been in the tank to cycle it?

MCT

i work at the lfs, and anther person tht works there will pic them up 2 night, its been going for a few weeks now,

it has all worked out yay

Just coming into this thread and the tank looks spectacular! Schist on white gravel with colourful cichlids is a feast for the eyes.

One downfall will be the cleaning and maintenance. You'll end up with algaes growing on the rocks which will eventually need to be removed and scrubbed, or you'll have to dismantle the setup to remove babies in due time.

Other than that, excellent!

im not worrd about babise lol, and most of the cichlids im gettn are alge eaters and i kind lik a bit of alge on my rocks

That was my thought, blue, about not siliconing. I know when I have to try and catch any of my cichlids I have to start by taking out most of the rocks then I'm able to get the ones I want.

i got a uv sterliser to keep algi down 2

Looks good, I am sure the cichlids will love to play around in that tank.

One question; has the UV steriliser been on during the cycle period?

Frenchy

where did you get the rocks from? I just got a 700litre tank and 40kg calcite but i still need rocks. Was thinking of limestone as well :roll:

i got them from my lfs, there is still heaps there

Are they rediculiously expensive like the rocks in most LFS's?

Are they rediculiously expensive like the rocks in most LFS's?

nope, i only paid like $2ech and for the big ones about $20, i think its all about weight

Gannet...any updated pics of your tank??? Also, what kind of fishies did you get?

well um yes i do, i was going to upload it tomorrow but i gess i can do it now for ya lol.

i ended up getting 5 kingsizei, 3 yellow stripes, 1 usd cat. and 1 gae i no its not from africa but i had an algae problem.

as you can see the rock work has changed a bit but i think it looks beter now

what do you think?

Beautiful, absolutely beautiful Personally, I like the bubble maker

Did you have your tank made? It always amazes me when I see stunning rock formations while at the same time thinking, how the heck does the bottom hold all that weight