Styrofoam n quickcrete rocks help/ideas?

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Twosick4u

Registered Member
Jan 26, 2012
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Hello everyone I'm fairly new to this site and haven't posted anything yet just read posts and learned from them. I have to say, I have alot of books on aquariums and everything that goes along with them and I find much more useful info here in the forums.
So anyways I want to set up a cichlid tank using styrofoam and quickcrete to make a nice light and easily attachable and stackable rock structure with plenty of caves, holes, and many nooks and crannies for hiding and natural behavior with no stress to the fish. Would also like to breed them, ( some kind of mouth brooder would be interesting) just not sure which species yet though. I already have a 28 bow front that I might use but if money permits I'm going to buy a 46 gal bow. I searched throughout the net and can only find instructions on materials used for DIY backgrounds, which I know is very similar to what I want to do, but I was wondering if anyone that's done this bfore had any problems I can b warned about ahead of time, and also the best materials on a budget, is there anykind of non-toxic paint that I can use in an underwater environment like this, what's the best and cheapest silicone I can use, aquarium silicone is expensive and I know I'll need a couple of tubes probably to be able to properly secure everything. Also if anyone knows any kind of mouth brooder that around 3 inches where I can keep either 2 pairs of the same species or a pair each of separate species without any problems, or a harem of a male to 2-3 females in my 28 bow front. And if I can afford the 46 gal bow front stocking the same type of fish with either a little bigger fish or another pair. I plan on making this rock structure suitable for the Max stocking level where there will hopefully not be any problems because I want to disrupt the sight lines and break up the space into separate territories. I know I kinda just rambled on a little bit lol but if anyone can help me with any of my questions I would greatly appreciate it, or if anyone knows any links that would show me the materials and/ or any good ideas for an awesome fake DIY and fairly cheap rock structure. Thanks everybody in advance for any feedback and help. Dave
 
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