How should i set up my new 30 gallon growout tank for central american cichilds ?

doze7

i have a brand new 30 gallon tank that i plan on for using as a grow out tank for my blood parrot and other central americans. how should i set up this tank ? i am wondering what sort of substrate, plants, and rocks to use, as well as how to decorate it good. thanks.

Angel079

I'd use dark sand. For cichlid tank I'd use Hygrophilia plants and then fairly large rocks (big enough so they can't move them or fall on them) and stack them up in one corner, filling the corner with rocks and lil caves for them guys.

doze7

what about making some large pvc caves ? i saw some pics of them that looked really nice and the fish loved them

doze7

also, i dont understand how i could safely make the caves by stacking the rocks. thanks for your help lol

Angel079

I hadn't seen PVC caves yet; my first thought would be plastic-not natrual looking, I love natural looks in my tanks, but that's all personal pref and like I said I hadn't seen any such pictures yet so I can't really comment.
Use large rounded rocks that you can safely stock on top one another, not some mini 2" pebbles

doze7

ok thanks. i was planning on covering the pvc in silicon and rolling it in the sand to make it look natural, but im thinking stacking rocks would be alot less work.

Angel079

Whatever you find appealing, its YOUR tank. Another idea if you wanna go pvc could be to rough it up a little prior to installing with some sand paper and then tie Java Moss around it (rough it up to give the java the 'grip' to attach itself) that could look neat too after its all overgrown....just an idea

doze7

yeah that would look neat. thanks for the ideas :)