Stacking Rock

[jaiden]

I have 60lb of hirocks that I'm putting in my new 54g corner bowfront. I have been able to make a few arches that feel stable enough, but overall the rock is very low in the tank.

Do I just need more rock? or is there a technique involved?

I've stacked it on the bare glass, and plan to add sand gently around it... i heard this will be more stable in the long run (though it means everything will be even LOWER looking and will cover up some of the "good parts" of the rock.)

thoughts?

 

[Sparky]

Thats the way to do it. Bare bottom and sand around it. Yes you will cover some of it up but it will make for a much more stable setup. There are various tricks to keeping the rock stacked tightly so they don't fall. Some people glue them together with Aquarium silicone, others will drill holes and put them together with plastic dowels. Some just stack them up on top of each other and kid of fit them together so they make a tighter fit.

Remember also that you want to make hiding places and little nooks and crannies for fish to be able to go into, but you also want to "recreate" thier native reef enviroment, so continuity of the "reef" would be the aim when placing your rocks.

I am sure there will be more answers to your question. This is just my view on this. I got alot of my information from the folks here and through reading.

I hope this helps.

Mike

 

[fishfreek]

Its a balancing act between having the rock placed so its secure and not so close together that water flow is restricted in and around the rocks.

The way I do it is usually just start working with larger flater rocks as a base and as I work up I go for smaller and smaller rocks. I place the rocks and move them around and rotate them till I find a spot where they interlock with the rocks below yet their is still space for fish/water to move around the rocks.