Underwater Galleries Cichlid Stones

Rocks arrived in perfect condition, individually wrapped in bubble paper, although my wife yelled at me for buying rocks, I believe her exact words were "There's plenty of rocks in the backyard for free you moron." In conclusion I love the rocks & hate my wife.

First off, I want to give Underwater Galleries a huge thumbs up on the niche it has covered so well. I would have to say these rocks are one of the best additives to my cichlid tanks. I've been breeding cichlids fro awhile now and thier product is, and was the only go to for, comfortable little fry caves and medium size fish hideouts. On the other hand, Underwater Galleries had everything right, aside from one "L" shaped rock (Picture Attached) in particular. It is more like a fish "trap" then a fish stone. I lost a very nice Sciaenochromis ahli fully grown breeder male to the "L" shaped stone. Not that the monetary value of the fish matters, but for investment reasons and the fact that it's comparable to the price of the box of stones when said in done, the little "L" shaped cave currently owes me $35 for his life. Months later after removing one of the "L" shaped stone from my Ahli tank, the same stone tried to claim my dominate breeder male Labeotropheus fuelleborni, worth another $35 in monetary investment to my breeding. Luckily I was able to free the 5" fish before it claimed his life. Mind you, this too is not an easy task, either for the caretaker or the fish. I was lucky to not lose him to stress right after the incident. All said, I have informed Underwater Galleries of the design flaw and would hope that as avid fish lovers a like they will take my concern into consideration. IMO I have spent way to much time, money and research in the hobby to invest $60 in a product thats going to run the possibility of claiming $100's in livestock from me. To anyone that owns or is going to purchase this product, remove the "L" shaped rock from the assembly and place it on a mantle.

I just added these Cichlid Stones to my new cichlid tank yesterday. I have six juvenile Mbunas so far. I love the stones and so do the little guys.- Lightweight- Eco friendly (made from ceramic, not plastic)- Lots of caves/holes in a small space- Easy to install and move around- Don't displace a lot of volume of water- Natural looking- Economical- more expensive than clay pots. Less than Texas Holey Rock.- Best look and most caves for the money and weight

These were disappointing. The current picture of the product is accurate, so if that's what you're looking for you should be happy. In the past, the picture made it seem like they were shaped to sort of "fit" together...not attach, but rest against one another in a natural way. The picture on the box made them seem to "nest" together, if desired. The ones I received were very oddly shaped, and only worked when placed apart. I wanted more of a grouping, but that wasn't feasible. The openings were also very small on two of the three. Not a problem if your fish are small, but be sure and check the measurements. The largest "cave" was a good size, but the opening itself was awkward and a little sharp in places - though I would think you could probably smooth out any of the sharp places if you're happy with them otherwise. (I didn't try since I knew they were going to be returned.)They had a good look and seemed well made - just not what I was expecting.

I read the reviews on these stones and I saw the pictures one reviewer posted of the stones next to a laptop for dimensional range. I thought they looked rather large next to the laptop and so I bought them thinking they were medium to large sized. I discovered as soon as they arrived that they are in fact very small. The "larger" stones have small openings that are about 1 1/2-2 inches tall. The smaller stones have about 1 inch openings. They are easy to clean and look very natural, but I would not recommend them for growing fish that may not be able to use the opening easily. They are also light weight and my larger fish easily and frequently pushed them over and blocked the opening.

Wonderfully light and easy to maneuver! Hardly any displacement of water, because it is hollow and doesn't way anything! I would put 30 pounds of rock in a tank before I could get such wonderful caves! Bar Code Sticker on each stone IS NOT hard to get off!!!!!!!!!! Take your time and they come off well! Surface of each cave is uneven so the stickers are not well adhered. Find a loose spot or gap where it isn't adhered and use just the razor out of a box cutter and slide it under the edge and continue to draw it along the back and under side of the sticker, as you pull up on the sticker, that cuts the adhesive off and makes it easier to get them off!!! Take your time and they will come off easy!!!! Stack wonderfully and with a little silicone, like that used to make gaskets in glass tanks, you can adhere them to each other so fish do not move them or collapse your structures! Silicone can be removed and you can adjust your structures or totally redesign! Wonderfully simple to use, don't way your tank down or displace your swimming area for your fish by much. Wonderful Buy!!!! Remember to get all the bubbles out when placing in tank!!!!!! They float if you don't!

These stones are very realistic. I knew they were ceramic but was still surprised when I picked them up. They are great quality! Just make sure you get all the styrofoam that may get inside by rinsing them first. I have parrot cichlids and they love to have 'houses'. Now that theres another hiding place they all have somewhere to rest at night. My parrots are not that large, but they don't fit in the smaller rock so its purely for decoration. To anyone who has parrots or aggressive fish, be ready for war once they discover the new rock. One of the poor fish was all beat up--fins torn, scales missing. But after they worked everything out, all fish are happy and healthy. Sometimes two go in at a time and share, which is rare for my parrots.