planning mynear future tank

[vantgE]

OK finally found a couple tanks for sale gonna go look deadline for buying is monday, anyways think I might have a few cleaning problems with my original plans

So it's a mbuna tank african cichlids so lot's of rocks hoping to find some round rocks and pile it up to the surface except for say a quater of the tank for space for my one none mbuna cichlid, the rocks I think would have to be siliconed toghether and placed on egg crate and then sand added

1. If the rocks covered most of the ground how do I clean the sand?

2. Also cause there all up to the top and against the glass pretty much do i have to leave room to get a scraper in or will the glass not get dirty maybe?

I've seen similar setups and can't figure out how they get cleaned

3. how much help is a bottom feeder? it would be a syno probally eupterus, maybe the catfish area is better for this but i'll add it here

I'll have more questions later but these are just my initial thoughts that make me uneasy about my plans so i'll be back and thankyou for any help

 

[thecichlidaddict]

First, do yourself a favor and don't start siliconing your rocks together, you never know when you will need to re-arrange the structure or remove them. It is not very hard to stack the rocks without it, I've done it for years. Remember to put the rocks directly on the bottom glass, or eggcrate if you wish to do that, so that the fish can't dig under them and cause a collapse.

1. If the rocks covered most of the ground how do I clean the sand?

You don't. At least not very often. Waste will build up under the rocks, but it's not a big deal. A couple of times per year I remove all of the rocks and do a thorough cleaning (or sometimes I'm forced to remove rocks to catch a fish, in which case I do a cleaning too).

2. Also cause there all up to the top and against the glass pretty much do i have to leave room to get a scraper in or will the glass not get dirty maybe?

The glass will get dirty, algae will build up. Who cares, you can't see it behind the rocks!

3. how much help is a bottom feeder? it would be a syno probally eupterus, maybe the catfish area is better for this but i'll add it here

Bottom feeders aren't much help at all. Mbuna are pigs, they won't let any of the food go uneaten. This doesn't mean you shouldn't have bottom feeders, but get them because you like them.

 

[vantgE]

Thanks cichlid addict
guess my gravel gets so dirty cause it has a UG filter under it

I do like the synos so i'll keep looking for them