I have a 30 gallon tank and am setting up a 90 gallon tank this weekend. I have looked at many pictures on reef central and have a couple of questions about rock placement. First, how close to the back glass do you stack the rock? Do you leave enough space to clean the back glass? Second, do you just carefully stack the rock or do you "tie" it to something?
Live Rock Placement
- Thread starter jdm01
- Start date
Blown 346
New member
Placing the rock close to or leaning o the back glass is up to you and how you want the tank to look. When placing rockwork I reccomed to make sure it is very stabile, you want to think of it as putting together a puzzle. Each rock will have its place and should fit snugly in.
Most wont clean the back glass as it soon becomes covered with coralline algae.
Most wont clean the back glass as it soon becomes covered with coralline algae.
kraze3
New member
You can use zip ties or plastic rods to hold rock together. You can also use half inch pvc to build 3D squares or shelves to help hold the rock in the placement you like. You can also glue your rock together. you want your aquascaping to be strong to prevent it from toppling over. you dont want trapped fish or cracked glass.
Depending on the demenisons you would be better leaving a space in the back for cleaning but your rock can be against the wall, I wouldnt recommend it.
Depending on the demenisons you would be better leaving a space in the back for cleaning but your rock can be against the wall, I wouldnt recommend it.
Teremei
New member
I put mine up against the glass. Basically the back, or either side you might not be viewing from. The more support from the glass and rock below for the higher rocks, the better.
My tank has been just fine for 1 year with this method. So I haven't seen TOO much trouble with trapped organics. And I've personally seen DSB tanks with rocks stacked all up against the back glass, one as old as 6 years. So you can use the back glass, no problem. Just try to stack your rocks with open holes and crevices so flow can get through it easier.
My tank has been just fine for 1 year with this method. So I haven't seen TOO much trouble with trapped organics. And I've personally seen DSB tanks with rocks stacked all up against the back glass, one as old as 6 years. So you can use the back glass, no problem. Just try to stack your rocks with open holes and crevices so flow can get through it easier.
Alaskan Reefer
New member
I stack them against the glass, and always have in my 5+ years of doing this. It's not going to hurt the glass, and it only adds more support to your structure. There's no way you'll scrape coraline off the back of your tank long term. I don't even scrape the sides any more. Man I hate coraline. LOL.
sage1970
New member
We did this with our tank....made like a horseshoe shape to place LR on. Worked out really cool and the fish had different levels to swim thru. On the back edges of the plateform, we do stack the rock against the back glass.
One word of advice is to make sure you can get flow behind your rocks somewhat. We placed one of our return pipes down low to go under/behind our LR. This helps to prevent buildup of nasties around the rock.
