decor for a cichlid tank

trying to figure out if doing lots of decor or keeping it to a minum or somewhere inbetween would be best for my cichlids from Lake Tanganyika.

it depends on what you are keeping, certain fish need certain things, as for ornaments, and fake plants, i would completely leave them out of a tang set-up for the most part, with the exception of some fake val if you want

some of the species really need a good bit of rocks though, shellies need shells, it's a must.

it's not just as simple as saying decor, you need to specify what kind of decor you're talking about, and what species of fish

If you do too much you will never see your fish, defeats the purpose of having them. I have a-lot of foot traffic in my house set up so i made sure to make a couple of hiding spots in case they get stressed, my little nephews like to knock on the glass.

I always go with the KISS method (Keep It Simple Stupid) When setting up tanks. Sure all those elaborate rock piles and stuff look great but you don't want to be the one to clean in under and around them. For caves get some PVC fittings and silicone gravel and sand on them, easy to move and looks ok when disguised like that. Don't put something in there that will take more than 1/2 hour to dismantle to clean.

i have compressiceps, calvus's, gobbies and Neolamprologus helianthus Sunflower's getting a bit tired of having the compressicps and calvus's staying in the decor, ie tree roots and large fake rocks. looking at getting things they can not stay in when removing from the tank for cleaning

I like to make sure there are plenty of spaces for my fish to hide and thats it. So plenty of caves and nothing else.

Rachael0805 wrote:

I like to make sure there are plenty of spaces for my fish to hide and thats it. So plenty of caves and nothing else.

Give us a picture of your tank now and then we should be able to analyze it and see if it needs decor or not

if you look at my pics i have a few of the 125 with different configurations.

I would take some of the decor out.