How secure do you WANT your rockwork?

[CStrickland]

This is def true for most tanks, where you can get a nice wide base to balance a stable formation off of. My tank is a long skinny 55 so I went more minimalist and tall. Sticking the rocks together let me build something stable with a lot of hidey holes in it without leaning against the walls. I don't have any spots I can't reach if I'm feeling determined. I really wanted the structure to be over a foot tall and only 9" wide so the only way was to build a wall. I have a few clear inches on the front and back side to reach into the rock, and toward the base it spreads out a little and has more caves.
The obvi answer to my issue is don't get a 55, but I'm stubborn so cement was the next best thing

 

[Sk8r]

I use eggcrate on the bottom glass (and employ undersand critters like nassarius) to set the basement rock on before the sand goes in. That more than prevents point-load: it stabilizes the rock even if burrowing fish move the sand. I've broken down tanks using it and never found any accumulation of nastiness. The worms and critters seem to take care of it quite nicely.

 

[whosurcaddie]

This is my latest build. I did a barebottom with a 3Dbackground to make it look a little more natural. All of my rock is fitted together like puzzle pieces. I can push on them and they wont budge but I can pull them out if need be.

 

[mmittlesteadt]

I prefer VERY secure. At least secure but deceptively easy to disassemble. I used hydraulic cement and fiberglass dowels to secure certain ledges and such. I also sawed the bottoms completely flat and they rest directly on the glass.

In the pic below you see what appears to be a solid piece of rockwork, but it is made up of five separate rock sections that were carefully constructed as to fit together like a puzzle. Each can stand on their own (directly on the glass) without support from another, but when fitted together cannot fall apart, topple or shift without my help.

The back wall is one solid piece of false rockwork, but it will never be moved and nothing can get behind it anyway. There are a few small rock pieces simply set in place, but they interlock with the pieces they are set on. Nothing will cause the rockwork to fall or even shift, yet it still can easily come apart if absolutely necessary without too much trouble.

 

[taricha]

Thanks for this thread! Timing is perfect.
I had just gotten a shipment of dry rock to add to my rock work and was planning and plotting where exactly to glue it all down.

Now instead, I glued the rocks together to make large interesting pieces with desirable shapes, then placed the pieces where I wanted. Easily removable.
Thanks!

Took these pieces...

And made a couple of arches and a long curvy shelf thing