What rock is best for a Cichlid aquarium?

[kalliehey]

I am planning to set up a Cichlid aquarium and want to put all caves across the back but don't want to put to much weight in my tank by using normal rock. What type of rock would be light and flat enough to make caves with. I don't want fake caves because they are to expensive and I don't like lava rock. Any Idea's :)

[chc]

If you don't mind the unnatural look, clay flowerpots are one of the cheapest, easiest, and lightest way to make caves for your fish.

As far as "real" rocks are concerned, you'd be surprised just how many you can safely put in a tank......Basically, you can fill the tank right to the top. There is another link about "egg crate" here on this site with a cool video demonstrating how many rocks you can place in a tank.

That said, normal rocks aren't the best way to mazimize space. "Lace rock" is a good alternative. It tends to have hollows that serve as caves rather than needing several rocks to create a cave. Lace rock is inert, and readily available at many fish stores.

All the rocks in this tank are lace rocks, and even though they look like boulders most of them are hollow inside. The tank is 300 gallons in capacity, so some of the rocks are quite big.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c115/colemanch/zinrvx0-1.png

[glaive]

For lighter stuff look into tufa rock or texas holey rock (limestone with holes in it)

[Pam Chin]

If you are trying to stay natural, consider slate, you can find it already in sheets, or recycle an old chalk board. Its easy to stack and the fish like the caves that it makes, when you stack it. Because it is so thin even long pieces are light. you can use all sorts of items for spacers between the rock.

What's fun is it will usually never comes out the same, when you re stack it!

Cichlid Power!
Pam

[bobrfish]

Pumice rocks are extremely light, they float for a few days until water replaces all the air. Once submerged the rock can be moved with a gentle push. However, pumice rock surface general requires sanding and is not fit to form a breeding cave or surface to be used as a site to lay eggs.
Holes placed in this rocks allow fish to swim through. This and light weight are biggest attractions to pumice rock.

Clay pot caves can be used and then hidden with pumice rock. The only color pumice rock I have seen is gray. With time algae can colonize the surface and it begins to take on dirty brown appearance. This rocks are often available as pond borders etc and can vary from 12 - 18 inches in diameter.

With time give many different materials a try. Slate, flower pots, low cost clay breeding caves all have their advantages.

[Michael723]

Just be aware that certain rock can alter water chemistry.. For example limestone ( by means of gradually leaching hardening salts) will increase the level of hardness.. This can either work for you or against you. A higher KH (carbonate hardness) reading will result in a greater buffering capacity and in turn your PH will be more stable, and harder to alter, but PH will increase as well. With that being said it can also work in the negative for cichlids that prefer soft water, so just be sure to do a little research on the preferred parameters for the fish you're planning to keep... =)