Attaching rocks?

[whaase]

When placing your rock, do you attach it somehow to each other? I have everything where I want it but it does not seem stable. Ideas?

Walter

[mark]

I've just stacked mine but some people will epoxy together. Also seen where one drills through the rock and secures with plastic zip ties.

[whaase]

I've just stacked mine but some people will epoxy together. Also seen where one drills through the rock and secures with plastic zip ties.

Do you ever have a problem with smaller ones falling down? Or something knocking them down? Heck, some of mine get moved by my powerheads! :lol:

Walter

[StirCrazy]

I stack them in a interlocking kinda way. I would never glue them togeather what would happen if you decided you wanted to change things? :mrgreen:

Steve

[Canadian Man]

My aquascaping depends on how the rocks fit together. That's why I got so many extra rocks in the sump. They just didn't fit in anywhere.

Stackem Stable

[Aquattro]

Heck, some of mine get moved by my powerheads! :lol:

Walter

Those gotta be pretty small rocks, or some awesome powerheads!!

[whaase]

My aquascaping depends on how the rocks fit together. That's why I got so many extra rocks in the sump. They just didn't fit in anywhere.

Stackem Stable

Hmmmm. Extra rock.... clearly that rock should be in my tank! :lol:

Walter

[Beverly]

Walter,

For me, aquascaping is one of the most exciting things about putting together a reef. I take my time doing it. Sometimes it'll take two mornings to get the right look and have the rock REALLY stable.

Over the past few months, I've had a lot of practice aquascaping my 72g bowfront, the tank of doom where I've had horrible luck with fish and disease :confused: :eek: :evil:

Now that my fish are in a Q-tank, I plan on going back into the 72g to rearrange the rock yet again. The two main factors I keep in mind are the habits of the fish I intend to keep in the tank and having enough places to put the various mushrooms and xenia I already have.

The fish, in the case of the 72g, are a yellow tailed angel, a blue sided fairy wrasse, as well as fish I have not yet decided on. The two fish I currently have like lots of passages through the rockwork, so I stack the rock so they can go back and forth, up and down, and back to front through the rock. Plus, I want at least one open area so I can get a good look at them when I need to. The new fish, whatever they will be, will probably also be chosen to utilize the intricate rockwork tunnels and passages.

This makes for an interesting challenge to utilize all my rock (no sump or refug) in such a way that the fish will be satisfied with their home, once they are out of QT, and to have obvious and stable places for my shrooms and xenia.

My 42g hex reef has the rock relatively tightly packed with a lot of space on the sandbed under and around the main rock structure for our goby. The other fish in that tank are a pair each of skunk and ocellaris clowns, and a blue-green chromis that shools with the ocellaris pair. Corals range from green star polyps to a few lps and a couple of sps. For the corals, I make sure that there are stable ledges or places to wedge the lps that have stalks.

I have aquascaped tanks one day to find out that, overnight, the structure wasn't as stable as I thought and corals/rocks have fallen over so I've had to take the thing apart and put it back together again. Oh well, at least I like the challenge :mrgreen:

Anyway, take your time. Aquascape your tank a few times until you get it both looking right and having it stable enough to withstand the flow of your powerheads.

And take pics for us when you're done :smile:

[whaase]

Thanks for the tips. One problem I have is my tank is build into a wall. I can't get a good picture of what things will look like when I arange them, so I have to run around the corner to look and then run back and adjust :lol: Makes for entertainment I guess :smile:

Walter

[IslandReefer]

can you set up a mirror?

[whaase]

can you set up a mirror?

I'll have to try that. Thanks for the idea!

Walter

[chwkreefer]

I like to aquascape my tanks by putting my rock in before sand or water. I use pvc with holes drilled into it to make a post to mount rocks around. I then drill my rocks and use cable ties to attach the main structure of the reef together. I find it's easier to be creative that way. Best of all, no worries about landslides. The only downside would be if your the type that likes to keep ripping things apart and moving stuff around. Which really isn't good for a reef tank anyways. I spray the rock with salt water to keep it moist, but I find this way the view to the structure is crystal clear, no cloudy water or sand flying around.

When the main structure is up I'll add the sand, and the corals that have larger rocks attached to make sure it still works with the structure. If necessary, I'll drill those rocks too and secure them also. When that is done I'll start adding water and the rest of the corals. I started doing that on my tank and clients tanks and find it so much faster and the reef structure is more stable. Any cable ties that are in a position to scratch a fish are covered with epoxy to smooth them over.

Bill