African Cichlids and Black lava rock caves

[CichlidZ67]

experts and novices alike... thx for any input! I just ordered 60 lbs XXL black lava rocks from the orange big box. My only landscape yards have small red ones. Hopefully won't have buyers remorse. 110 with 55 sump peacock and plecostamus trying to set up. Pro's : light, stackable and silicone hold, won't change water parameters ( my local tap is already 8.5 ph). The only con I can find is rough edges that may scrape up the fish. Since this is a soft, porous material can't you simply sand rough edges with a drill and sanding bit before adding water?

 

[BIG-G]

experts and novices alike... thx for any input! I just ordered 60 lbs XXL black lava rocks from the orange big box. My only landscape yards have small red ones. Hopefully won't have buyers remorse. 110 with 55 sump peacock and plecostamus trying to set up. Pro's : light, stackable and silicone hold, won't change water parameters ( my local tap is already 8.5 ph). The only con I can find is rough edges that may scrape up the fish. Since this is a soft, porous material can't you simply sand rough edges with a drill and sanding bit before adding water?

I don’t think it will be a problem.
You can knock some of the sharpest points down if you’re concerned.
It sounds interesting I’ve only seen the red rock the black will probably look nicer I would think.

How do you know plan on building your structure?
I used to build some structures with live rock for saltwater by cutting a piece of cardboard to the dimensions of the tank and placing the rock on it this will help to keep the structure close to the size you will need.

 

[CichlidZ67]

I don’t think it will be a problem.
You can knock some of the sharpest points down if you’re concerned.
It sounds interesting I’ve only seen the red rock the black will probably look nicer I would think.

How do you know plan on building your structure?
I used to build some structures with live rock for saltwater by cutting a piece of cardboard to the dimensions of the tank and placing the rock on it this will help to keep the structure close to the size you will need.

BIG, that is a great idea about the cardboard. I happen to have a 55" tv box that will be perfect. I'll have to see what the actual sizes of rocks I receive are like ( crazy mixed reviews from Awesome to disappointed). Look up XXL black lava at orange store for a picture. I was going to use river rock or slate as my homemade stand will hold my car, but lava rock seems better. People may scoff at me for $1 a lb, but I can bring my gallon jug of muriatic acid for testing rocks back and not deal with hunting.

 

[A201]

I think black lava rock would look really nice in an African cichlid tank. Limestone mixed in with it might really make it pop and help buffer against a PH crash. Limestone won't affect your already high PH. Most rockyards & Landscape companies stock Limestone. You might even score some Texas Holey rock.

 

[BIG-G]

With Africans you shouldn’t have to worry to much about testing rocks.
Usually people put acid on rock to see if it contains calcium carbonate that will drive ph up and make the water hard.
Since the Africans are already found in those type conditions it’s not really necessary.

 

[The Morning]

I wouldn’t worry about sharp edges. I used the red lava rocks as substrate for years without any issues.
Be prepared for heavy filtration. Everything gets trapped below lava rocks.
Also if your fish are breeding expect a ton of fry to survive. When I had it I would routinely see dozens of fry darting in and out below the substrate levels. This may be desirable it may not. Your call.
I ultimately switched all mine out. Tough to keep clean and I didn’t want ally the fry to survive.

 

[Galantspeedz]

Picture speaks a thousand words... No issue....

Except this are red lava rocks and not black

 

[tiger15]

I have been using carved larva rock and rainbow rock to make caves for my cichlid tank. I like carved rock because they are lighter and piling them up to make caves is perfect. Lately, I rearranged the rock for my bold attempt to convert to a planted tank. The attached pics show the conversion in progress.

The larva rock rough surfaces is like sand paper, and will scratch fish even if you round the edges. But the rough surfaces make perfect substrate for Java fern attachment. If you want smooth surface rock, use rainbow rock, but my complaint is that they are too colorful and distractive. Don’t mix different rock type as I did as it looks unnatural. If you have enough light, the color of all rock will blend in over time due to growth of algae.

Expect ditritus to trap under rock. I actually prefer trapping some detritus under rock than to over load my filter. I vacuum the trapped districts in my weekly WC, so the rock shouldn’t be too heavy to move around for cleaning.

 

[tiger15]

Another consideration is that in nature, the color of rock and substrate should match as substrate is derived from parent rocks. It can look messy when cichlid blow white sand over black rock as I have to shake sand off from time to time. So white Holy Rock on white sand, or black larva rock on black sand will look better and cleaner.

 

[aae0130]

Another consideration is that in nature, the color of rock and substrate should match as substrate is derived from parent rocks. It can look messy when cichlid blow white sand over black rock as I have to shake sand off from time to time. So white Holy Rock on white sand, or black larva rock on black sand will look better and cleaner.

This is an interesting point. After watching some video footage from divers in Lake Malawi I noticed the same thing. In a lot of the footage the sand is the same color as the rubble rock.
However, if I have red lava rock I would need red gravel or sand.
In my opinion there needs to be contrast and it shouldn’t be to busy. (Too many colors)