Ideas for fish in a 5x2x2 and a safe expanding foam for background ??

[JohnnyGeelong]

Hi

I am new here and just setting up a a new 5x2x2 afican cichlid tank . Im wanting to build a 5 foot background with caves using pvc pipe , some holy rock and expanding foam . Then give it a few coats of cement with colour tint . Cant seem to find any expanding foam ie gap filler that is safe to use except the black pond foam . Any ideas would be appreciated , also what fish colony people would suggest and how many of each would go well in a tank this size . Would be good to breed some but not a necessity . I am relativly new to cichlids , just got over a total tank crash a year ago with my salt water tank [emoji20] . So giving the cichlids a go now . Thanks in advance

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[Link2Hell]

Hi Johnny     welcome to ACE mate

have never tried the expanding foam, usual is just to cut down a styro block to shape and

coat with a bitumen sealer (Pabco) that is labelled OK for potable water then coat with sand

while it's still wet

best thing would be to email the foam manufacturer to see if it's safe with potable water

 

have you got a plan as to what Africans you are considering, I'm guessing rift lake so

either Malawi or Tanganyika is were most look at

Is there a particular fish you really like? and then just build around that

 

[JohnnyGeelong]

Thanks will check out the bitumen sealer and where to get it , might ditch the expanding foam idea as got a heap of styro foam from a shop yesterday for free was happy to pay but owner gave me a heap of off cuts that will do the job. Not sure what lake will check what my local store in grovedale but might be worth checking some out in melbourne . There is alot to consider , obviously want to limit aggression and also dont want to get fish that will outgrow the tank

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