Rocks and cleaning

[f1oored]

Everyone keeps telling me I need more rocks in my tank so I have a question. Right now I have about 200lbs of rocks that cover just under half of the substrate. They are in two piles, one on each side of the tank. So when I want to clean the tank and vac the gravel do I have to remove all the rocks? Or do I just clean the gravel I can get too? I find it hard to believe that people are moving hundreds of pounds of rocks every week to clean (except for RG who is clearly insane lol). So here are my questions.

1) How many pounds of rocks do you have for your tank (and how big is your tank)?
2) How do you clean under and around the rocks (or how often do you clean under and around them)?

[Lady Hobbs]

Not move them all every week but you can vac around them and over them. I would personally have smaller holes for the cichlids to hide in tho. Maybe put the rocks in more piles scattered around the tank in some form.

[f1oored]

I don't have a picture of my current setup but there are a lot of little spaces as it is now. I got rid of the sandstone and the driftwood. The fish seem to like the new setup much more.

As far as cleaning goes, that was kind of what I figured people were doing. Maybe remove the rocks and clean once every few months???

[Lady Hobbs]

Oh ya. (Or once a year) LOL

[Fishguy2727]

My decor never moves. I spent too much time finding that zen arrangement to screw it up. I actually felt...offended when the guy at one shop told me to rearrange my stuff when I got some peacocks. It is one of the tings I recommend when people are adding to african (mbuna) tanks. He did not realize that peacocks are not as bad as mbunas, but I couldn't fathom rearranging that setup. It really does take me forever to get that perfect arrangement. It is a good idea to clean under decor.

I have no idea how much rockwork I have in the 150. I just piled in everthing I had in the house, plus a case of lace rock. What size tank do you have again? (Get some pics.) How high up in the tank does your rockwork go?

[f1oored]

I have a 72 gallon bow front and I would say the piles go well past the halfway point on the tank. I'll post a picture when I get home (at work now).

[Fishguy2727]

That's right. Too many people with too many tanks between here and work. My rock piles go up about about 2/3 to the top at most. I also do not have that much area covered, but the peacocks are used to open sand with some hiding spots so mine is about right. It is good to keep separate rock piles to allow for distinguishable territories between the males. But it is good to keep the rock piles themselves as large as possible. I wouldnn't be as concerned with exact weights of rock in there as how it looks and how well it functions to provide the proper environment for them. Not to mention the same weight can be very different sized rocks depending on porosity and shape.

[f1oored]

Here are some before and after pictures with the old and new setup.
Old Setup
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c45/f1oored/tank033.jpg
New setup
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c45/f1oored/pics011.jpg

All of the rocks are placed so there is the maximum number of caves. It was a bit of a chore to get them like that and I don't think I will move them very often. The fish seem to like this new setup much better than the old. They started doing breeding stuff right after we put the new rocks in.

[jeffs99dime]

your tank looks really good floored!

[jman]

Not move them all every week but you can vac around them and over them. I would personally have smaller holes for the cichlids to hide in tho. Maybe put the rocks in more piles scattered around the tank in some form.
just wanted to say i agree w/ this

[nraposa]

I Read Some where that if you just use a turkey baster you can blow the debris out from in between your rocks and any tight crevices the the vac might not fit into. I don't have a big enough tank for rocks so I don't know if it's that easy. hopefully it helps

[blue fin]

I'll third that.. you shouldn't need to vacuum under them terribly often but a good vacuuming of the surrounding substrate is in order for regular maintenance.

nice setup... looks great!