Very pretty tank! It's refreshing to see a bit of asymmetry and style in the setup of this type of tank. . . too often the standard 'rock wall' is done, which is fine for the fish, but it's refreshing to see a bit of a different takePretty fishies, too!
I was just wondering how you got your little structure to stay like that. I would be to afraid it would fall.Thanks, I'm a form and function type of person. I wanted it to be as close to the actual lake as I could get. Other than the Jave Fern, everything is pretty close to Lake Tang. I spent way too much time building and rebuilding that huge pile of rocks to ensure they would not tumble and would still look good, but I am really happy with the final result.
That was one of my worries as well. It's the main reason I put a small pile of rocks on the far left corner. Of the three julies in the tank, two stay in the large pile. The third has been bouncing back and forth between the two piles, but most recently has begun to stake out the small pile as his territory. If there are territorial issues in the future I may change things a little. I probably would not suggest this setup for more aggressive rock dwellers though.i too have some tangs, was going to setup my layout simular to this but feared that there woudl be a domminat that would claim the entire pile. have you had territorial issues with only having the one pile liek that?
I made sure the base was really stable, after that it was kinda like putting together a puzzle. Believe it of not, most of the rocks in that pile are not that heavy. I few fell while I was testing earlier iterations, without doing any damage. The large piece of wood also helps with the stability.I was just wondering how you got your little structure to stay like that. I would be to afraid it would fall.
The wood is Malaysian dritftwood, I think I paid $20 for it. I attached the java fern to it myself and let it grow into the wood.Now did you just find the wood and rocks or did you buy them?
The wood is Malaysian dritftwood, I think I paid $20 for it. I attached the java fern to it myself and let it grow into the wood.
The rocks I have had for about 10 years. I have used them in a number of tanks. I collected them with a friend in high school when his subdivision was being built. Every time I am about to get rid of them i end up doing another cichlid tank. If you are thinking about adding a lot of rock to a tank, look into a landscaping wholesaler. The fish store marks rock up big time.
Lake Tanganyika has a ph of 8.5-9.0 with very hard water, so its not going to hurt to have calcareous rocks in the tank that will buffer the ph a little. Most of my rock is sandstone and limestone. Personally I don't worry so much about getting the water exactly like lake tang, especially with tank raised fish, I just want slightly basic water with a stable ph. My water out of the tap is decently hard and about 7.8-8.0 ph, so I don't really mess with the water chemistry too much.What type of rock can you put into one of these tanks. Is it something you would want to not manipulate water chemistry or something you do?