Beginner here, Building a 60 gallon aquarium.

gwljr1314

I'm not really sure. It gets extremely cold in the winter and extremely hot in the summer.

Tazman

I think the 2 x 200w will be sufficient provided there is not very large 15°F temperature differences in cold room temperature to summer temperature.

Having two though is recommended so at least as I mentioned you have a backup should one fail.

I have 2 x 300w inline heaters on my 75g tank and it stays constant at 78°F and my house gets freezing in winter, it is an old house with virtually no insulation.

You might consider getting an inline heater something like this and hooking it up to your canister filter and then having another 200w in the tank.

gwljr1314

Thanks, That's much better than having 2 heaters taking up space in the tank.

gwljr1314

I was just wondering what everyone's opinion was on the following rocks. They all seem to have their advantages and disadvantages.

Texas Holey Rock
CaribSea South Seas Base Rock
Cichlid Stones

Tazman

Cichlid stones in my opinion are overrated and nearly useless when the fish grow above 3".

Texas holey rock, Marco rocks and the carib sea ones you posted would be fine. You can even use regular rocks from your garden provided they are cleaned with bleach and left to dry completely for about a week prior to going in the tank.

Hanky

I would just spend some time collecting rocks around the house or take a hike along a river near by, I think it would look more natural than any of the other rocks you mentioned, I agree with everything Tazman has said so far, just one thing with rocks is pour a little vinegar on them and if it bubbles up of fizzes then dont use those rocks in the tank, good luck

Tazman

I completely forgot about that part! That is EXTREMELY important.

gwljr1314

Thank you very much Tazman and Hanky.

DrivingMissFishy

I have some cichlid stones in my tank, the fish hardly ever go inside the stones, they usually go between the gaps as they would with any other pile of stones so I agree with the other guys! Plus they can look pretty unnatural which is a turn off for me.
Posted via Mobile Device

Hanky

Your entirely welcome, actually if you collect some rocks, slate is also a good stone to use in tanks just try to make sure edges arent to sharp, you could get some 100% silicone and use it to glue some rocks together to create your own formations, or just arange them in the tank and try to create small hiding spots