... just to confuse the issue.

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[I]trolololol[/I]

I just went to Exotic tropical fish in wangara, They have heaps of rock there.
ranging from Texas to base, I just find it hard to bring my self to pay so much for a piece of bloody rock. so don't know what im going to do yet.

At this stage Might just stick my ship in there and see what happens.

Everyone keeps saying real plants wont last so only way to have some green would be to put fake plants in, if going the silk ones they would look good i guess.

Fake plants will only get pulled out as opposed to ripped apart, and become full of algae as well. You want a natural looking habitat for your cichlids, especially when you're going to have such a classy centrepiece sitting in your house. Fake plants and pirate ships just make it look cheap. Think of your Audi or a nice dakdak sitting on a set of these:



Stop being a tigharse
In all seriousness though, not only will rocks provide adequate cover for the large numbers of fish that you want to keep, but a nice formation of rocks will MAKE your tank

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[I]trolololol[/I]

Yeah your right I should just go buy a few rocks and be done with it. I like the ship I think the ship looks good and add's some depth to the tank, also gives them a dark enclosure to hide in.

You can add depth by layering and stacking your rocks in a careful arrangement. Play with a few formations before filling your tank. Use the ship, but just add some fuckin rocks!

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[I]trolololol[/I]

Yep ok decided, As much as it kills me I will go buy some rock on weekend
and will end up using ship and rock either side of it.

At the shop they had the pure white Texas rock, and also the base rock which was a more yellowish color.

The Texas rock was quite big i didn't really want it to massive.

what would you recommend in regards to the picking the style of rock ?

Texas rock looks better in my opinion, with all the holes, nooks and crannies, etc. however base rock would be (arguably) easier to arrange how you want it to look. I guess it comes down to the type of formation you have in your head, and which rock will suit that.

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[I]trolololol[/I]

Yeah formation is hard to set in your mind before having the rock.
It's either get 1 large white piece on each side or go a few smaller pieces of the base rock and at least i can change the look each time it's cleaned and arrange them differently

You could also message Fozzy, he worked in a pet shop for awhile and might have a good contact, I think "Byford" aquatics supply the rocks/plants to many fish shops.

Thought about sponges, I picked up a heap off the beach in Lancelin, gave them a good wash & they are still in the tank 4yrs later though they could do with replacing now, some were huge too.

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Beaten up old 98 Gen 2 Liberty, 13.0, stock V3 STI running gear.
07 Transit motor home
69 VF & 70 VG Valiants needing full restoration
Yamaha Zooma 50cc rocket hopefully going with the Transit.