how to stack live rock?

hoodoo · 10-16-2004, 04:39 PM

well, now that I put my new rock in the question comes back?
How do I stack my rock best?
Maybe somebody could give some good advise on that, because it really seams tricky.

I red a lot about it, here's what I got so far:

* No leaning rock on glass
* Try to touch the sand as little as possible
* Don't stack "solid", leave a lot of room between the rocks

well, that sounds quite easy but seams almost impossible for me to make a nice "wall" like that.

Dave_J · 10-16-2004, 05:00 PM

The advice that I got was to stack the rock on its pivot points. My natural instinct (being a guy that had buit a stone wall once before) was to build a wall with the rock. But, after talking to my LFS about this, they showed me how to balance/stack the rock on the pivot points. This took awhile to get the hang of it - I think I re-built my aquascaped about 20 times before I got the design I liked. I layed it out on thr floor next to the tank to get a rough idea on what it would look and feel (you need to apply downward pressure on the structure to make sure it can stand up to the crabs etc). I think aquascaping is an art in itself!

hoodoo · 10-16-2004, 05:12 PM

You probably can't explain that part about the "stack/balance on the pivot points", right? That's probably one of those things that you have to see.
Maybe somebody should make a movie about this

crutkas · 10-16-2004, 05:30 PM

think of a box. The corners are the "pivot points."
you know that the rock will move on those points. Another idea is to drill into the rock and use PVC / plastic rods to connect them yet be hidden.

reiple · 10-16-2004, 06:09 PM

I notice lots of spaces between stacked rock is beneficial for fishes. You can do as much of this only if the rocks are oblong/flat and big pieces. Small pieces tend to pack. IMO.

Dave_J · 10-16-2004, 06:19 PM

Crutkas explained it well. It's not easy to build the "structure". You can even use under water curing epoxy to cement the rock. If you decide on an expoxy compound - I suggest buying it from the LFS or some other marine fish supply dealer.

GraviT · 10-16-2004, 07:00 PM

Another idea is to use long wire ties to hold the stuff together. They may be a bit unsightly at first, but will quickly become covered in coralline and disappear!

I bought a bag of them about a month ago...too bad I haven't used them yet! I got the idea from the Dallas World Aquarium. I got a lot of odd looks from people who were wondering why I was looking behind the rocks and not at what was growing on them!

beamer · 10-18-2004, 05:13 PM

But what do you do if you need to take it apart? I've been breaking mine down some so I can remove excess coral, especially star polyps and mushrooms. They've already grown back and I need to take some of the rock out again to clean it up. My LFS has been benefiting from this.

Cindy

crutkas · 10-18-2004, 06:30 PM

That is why I like the idea of the rods. you have a small hole in yoru rock ... yes but it should blend decently in.

beamer · 10-19-2004, 02:02 AM

I gotcha! Mine is all live rock so i'm not going to be able to lay it out on the floor--can I? What do you use for rods and what size? how deep is the hole that you drill for the rod?

Cindy