Acrylic Rods

[Phyxius]

Really want to get a better rock scape in the 180 upgrade and get some arches and towers in the process. Plan is using some 1/2" Acrylic rod and drilling some holes in the rock and using the rod in the process. Where are you guys getting this rod from and who has the best price. Will 1/2" be enough to hold the rock or will it need top be bigger. It will be more to hold the rock in place once in position over holding all of its weight up.

 

[Jerdog]

I used 3/4" for the larger pieces, it probably wouldnt hurt to have more than 1 size. I ordered mine from united states plastic corp.
usplastic.com

 

[woz9683]

I used 1/2" for all of mine. I basically made tripods for the largest rocks on the bottom and then built up from there with single rods from rock to rock, using a little epoxy where necessary. I also bought from usplastics.com, and their prices were definitely the best at the time.

 

[DEERE G]

craftics.com for acrylic shapes

 

[Phyxius]

Thanks guys I will look into those places. Basically I have some great large pieces for the base work and a few nice pieces for arches and etc from my tanks I`m breaking down for the upgrade. Like I said I`m not worried about them holding lots of weight but don't want a rockfall if possible.

Anyone ever deal with rplastics.com

Acrylic

 

[woz9683]

That 1/2" extruded from rplastics is almost $1/foot. At usplastics it's $0.44. Seriously, best price of any place I could find online, and I checked all the major places I could find.

Again, 1/2" will be plenty to hold up the bigger rocks, several of my rocks were in the 20lb. range before I started building structures, and there's no way they'll slide if they're held up by a tripod.

 

[Phyxius]

woz9683,
Wow thats a big difference. I really had not looked a the actual pricing of any yet but trying to find out where everyone was getting theirs from. Appreciate you saving me some money!!!

 

[woz9683]

no problem, I was surprised too

 

[Phyxius]

woz9683,
I just realized I have an account with them as well as a Catalog in my fish tank stack

I think they just sent out a free shipping email last month or so as I though I read it. Anyone know that code or when it was good for? I did a search of my emails and cant find it. Thats the problem using 2 laptops and a desktop system.....

 

[Phyxius]

woz9683 and others

Thanks for the links. I ordered enough Acrylic to last me a long time LOL. Bought some in 3/8", 1/2" and 5/8" so it should have all bases covered for my needs. Best of all its almost 30ft total for about 16.00 shipped to the house..

 

[woz9683]

good deal, sounds like you found that shipping code.

 

[Jerdog]

Here is a couple pics of the way i used the rod to build aquascape

You can also see that i kept the rock 3 1/2" or so above where the sand will be . no reason to bury such nice rock!!

 

[Malifluous]

I used 3/4 " acrylic rods for support. I put the rods in a large oven to make them flexible. It does not take much to make them very pliable. I made a large circular base with the rod and bent the upper portion of the rods in the shape of an arch. The base is under the sand. The just get threaded on to the rods threaded rocks thru. The rod is now covered with rock.

 

[miatawnt2b]

what about using plastic coat hangers? Sure they aren't clear, but what's not covered with rock will be covered with coraline in no time.

-J

 

[a1amap]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11793152#post11793152 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Malifluous
I used 3/4 " acrylic rods for support. I put the rods in a large oven to make them flexible. It does not take much to make them very pliable. I made a large circular base with the rod and bent the upper portion of the rods in the shape of an arch. The base is under the sand. The just get threaded on to the rods threaded rocks thru. The rod is now covered with rock.

Nice. Do you have a current pic with the rods completely covered with rock?

 

[coralnut99]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11794352#post11794352 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by miatawnt2b
what about using plastic coat hangers? Sure they aren't clear, but what's not covered with rock will be covered with coraline in no time.

-J

I was gonna throw this idea out there too. I had seen it somewhere else, and it just sounds like a great idea to me. I would imagine they could be heated and formed as well. The lengths may not be suitable for longer and more exotic arches and such, but should still have plenty of applications for folks just looking to secure rock, and prevent slides.

 

[alve]

I used acrylic kitchen blind rods and it worked great even though they are not round. I used them to stack rock on top of each other, not to make arches so for that they are definitely strong enough.

 

[asnatlas]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11793152#post11793152 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Malifluous
I used 3/4 " acrylic rods for support. I put the rods in a large oven to make them flexible. It does not take much to make them very pliable. I made a large circular base with the rod and bent the upper portion of the rods in the shape of an arch. The base is under the sand. The just get threaded on to the rods threaded rocks thru. The rod is now covered with rock.

Have any updated pics ??