The following types of rocks are safe to use for your aquarium.
Can you use slate or marble in african cichlid aquarium.
Calcareous rocks limestone marble and dolomite have a high calcium content and are usually not safe for use in a freshwater aquarium.
This rock ages suitably in tanks but they come with sharp edges.
For smaller cichlids and shell dwellers they can be kept in an aquarium of no less than a 33 gallons.
One of the ways you can add personality and a natural look to your aquarium is by the addition of rocks.
Adding rockery to the aquarium is a must for african cichlids in order to provide hiding places.
I collect my rocks from local rivers and beaches just give them a good wash and drop em.
A similar case is present for coral and shells which are made mainly of calcium carbonate.
I wanted to put slate rock in my tank.
Perhaps the most common concern is the effect that carbonate rocks limestone coral calcareous sandstone texas holey rock etc may have by raising the ph and hardness of the tank water.
African cichlid fish room tour duration.
These guys thrive in the same water conditions making them good tankmates for that reason.
Most sandstone slate volcanic basalts and quartz type rocks are fine.
As you can see you can make use of all these rocks in order to create a more impressive island to long aquascapes on longer aquariums.
I was thinking this would be perfect for building a stone wall full of caves in the new cichlid tank.
They just excavated for the septic bed and pulled out a ton of slate.
African cichlids needs lots of room so a large aquarium is highly recommended.
If it fizzes and bubbles it is lime.
These are often best used in saltwater aquariums where they look more natural.
However when you use rocks in your aquarium to forms caves or piles you are mixing two things that traditionally do not mesh well.
This is another one of my do it yourself slate aquarium structures check out my other videos to see how i put it together thanks for watching.
So today i went and bought some natural slate from an outdoor pond shop.
I am going to use aquarium safe silicone to join the majority of the rocks to prevent collapses and leave some to move around when introducing new tank mates.
The african red eyed tetra can get fairly large so you want to make sure it has enough room to swim around the tank especially if it is with the african cichlids.
I bought some terra cotta pots to make caves with and while they work i don t love the look or how much room they take up in my tank.
I have ram cichlids.
Easy way to test is to pour a bit of vinegar on the rock.
Great if you want your water hard and alkaline for your african cichlids bad otherwise.
If you have an african rift lake cichlid tank this is clearly a benefit rather than a concern.
I have read they like caves and flat rocks to lay their eggs on.
