Gluing Rocks?

[bucsnut79]

Ok, I apologize in advance if this is a ridiculous question. I am upgrading my fw tank to a 110. I plan on putting africans in the tank and am going with sand on the bottom, and building caves with river rock. I was just going to stack them, should I be gluing them? If so, what kind? I read super glue gel, if so.....do you have to wait to put it in the water? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[SEInverts]

IMO, you should definitely be gluing them. It makes it easier to form your caves and you have significantly less chance of a cave-in. I used to try to build caves without glue and I could never really get it to work the way I wanted.

As far as the type of glue is concerned, I would stick with only brands made specifically for aquariums as many glues can be toxic. I usually use epoxy...not the best but it's pretty cheap. You can get it at Petsmart, check here.

 

[mattrox]

If you get the rock shape right with large enough & you can stack without glue. The benefit is that you can move them into different configurations.

Here are some ideas of what you can do.
malawi tanks - Google Search

 

[BigJim]

I'd go with silicone. I think you'd need a lot of superglue.

 

[mfdrookie516]

I wouldn't glue or silicone them... but thats just my personal opinion. You'll move them around numerous times until you find a way you like. You'll need to take them out once in a while to clean under everything to keep nitrate levels down. Here's what my tank looks like (rocks not glued).

 

[spoonman]

Whether you glue or not, use egg crate under the sand. It will disperse the weight of the rocks.

 

[mattrox]

I place rocks directly on the glass, the fish uncovered the eggcrate and it looked really bad. Just make sure the rocks are safely stacked and the fish can't escavate under.