Set up the rocks today (pic)

[PuddleDuck]

Is it just me, or is it incredibly frustrating to set up the rocks? I kept trying to balance them, and every now and then one would fall and CLUNK against my glass, potentially scratching it  . Some water poured out as I underestimated how much to take out and wasnt paying attention. Im not even sure that I'm that happy with it as is...

Anyway, here is what I ended up with! Next come the rest of the fish. 

[beowulf]

Be careful from the sound and look of it this setup might not be very stable.  Last thing you want is the whole thing coming down on your fish.  It should not more at all.

[PuddleDuck]

The bottom 2/3 is very stable- one of the reasons I got so frustrated was because I was having to rearrange the rocks to make sure they were stable. The flat pieces are almost as wide as the tank. I'm not worried, but I may redo the top few for security's sake.

[beowulf]

Your fish so you have to be comfortable with it.  My suggestion is if you bump the tank and it shakes more then you like then I would worry.

[PuddleDuck]

Took your advice and bumped the tank hard enough to spill more water onto the floor  The only one that wobbled was the very top one thats on an angle. Good test!

[damarech]

That's scary!!!
I would never go that high. Cleaning will be a problem .As you try to get around the rocks I can see one or a whole column of rocks topple over and  take out a panel of glass.

Oooch 
Ooopps

[PuddleDuck]

Maybe Ill take off the top layer...

[damarech]

I would even stack your flat rocks by themself and the same for the big rocks.I f your putting cichlids in there they will need to have lots of hidding places.

[PuddleDuck]

What do you mean stacking them by themselves? Im trying to picture it...

[Nerine]

ya should glue them all together and then put them in hehe makes for easier cleaning haha

looks nice though just becareful that they can't knock them over....I had a piece of slate go thru a side of a tank before

[PuddleDuck]

I just redid it- you guys were scaring me. I've kept Africans before, but I cheaped out and just used broken flower pots!


Is this a little less frightening? The bottom is heavily crowded with rocks, and I lay the flat ones on top. The top/second layer is well weighted, and less precarious than it looks 

[PuddleDuck]

Im still going to play with it...I'm not happy with this either...but its better, right?

[Nerine]

better

[darkdep]

That is good.  You have space for rock dwellers and open water fish.

[PuddleDuck]

thanks guys!

[zippity]

Hey Pud.....looks fine...........to give you an idea of stacking , i am passing on one of my pics of my tank. Cluster the rocks and have plenty of them, not always high being the choice for 2 reasons, most cichlids arent high level tank swimmers and yes the possibility of falling down, killing a fish or worse yet making a nice scratch or breaking the glass. Use my pic and see if anything you like or dislike and go with it.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Laura]

I do prefer your second round of photos.

Keeping in mind that I'm talking out my a**, how would it look if you kept the styles of rock together in some fashion rather than mixing them?

I looked through some of the aquascaping contests and here's a pic of slate stacked together that someone suggested earlier. http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2001.cgi?&op=showcase&category=1&vol=-1&id=44

[PuddleDuck]

thanks everyone!

That slate one is nice, but i dont have nearly enough...

[PoisonJello]

well you said some of your slate is almost as wide as you tank..you could always use a hammer and break some of them in half if you want them smaller, that might make it easier to stack them

[PrincessFish]

Wow Laura, that is a beautiful pic of the slate tank.  Did you notice that it is a 180g.?