Rocks

[Jts_Fish]

I have a 55gl African Cichlid tank. From various posts and websites that I have read, I understand it's best to have rocks in the tank. So, today I got a couple of rocks that I use around the base of my outside pond. (You know, the flat ones, people around here call them Mountain rocks, but I am sure it has a real name, lol) Anyway, I did the white vinager thing to see if it fizzed and it did not. (I washed them in very hot water first) So I broke several pieces up into odd shapes and arranged them in my tank. I am very pleased with the outcome of the look. Here I thought I needed to go out and buy expensive rocks and this time I didn't have to.

My question is, will to tank glass be okay? I have normal gravel on the botton of the tank so the rocks are not sitting on the glass, but on top of the gravel. Is this okay? I have this fear of my tank just cracking and I lose everyone of my fish.

Do you think it will be okay?

Thanks for any advice!
Jonathan

 

[keane]

Hi ,

with such a small amount of rocks you have no problems .

If in the future you wish to increase the number, and hence weight, of rocks you might want to consider using filter grids, known in the hobby as eggcrate (see the link i started below)

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=77972

You put this stuff at the bottom of your tank, underneath your substrate, and it diffuses the weight of your rocks rather than having single pressure points directly on the glass.

Like you I have a 55 gallon african tank, with over 45lbs of rock in. I cut down 2 filter grids to fit the bottom of my tank and I have had no problems

I got my stuff from them here (called filter grids, exactly what you need)

http/www.aqualifeuk.com/shop/2/8/199/index.htm

hope this helps

steve 8)

 

[vantgE]

Also watch your rocks because african cichlids like to dig so it's suggested to place them on the glass or eggcrate directly and not on or supported by the gravel so the cichlids do not dig under and topple them watch your fish if you don't plan on changeing them. And on a side not the vinegar test is not usefull when keeping rift lake cichlid but most to rocks are safe for the rift lake aquarium

 

[Lateral Line]

As VantgE has pointed out, the vinegar test is used for detecting the presence of carbonates in rocks. In most freshwater setups, carbonates are a bad idea because they tend to make your water harder and raise it's pH.

In a rift tank, that is of course, exactly what you want! Many rift keepers deliberately add carbonate rocks or gravel to keep their water chemistry stable.