Securing Rockscape

R

re76

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How many people secure their rockscape? If you do what method to you use? Would you use it again?

Does anyone not secure their scape? Has it worked out ok?

I would love to not secure it and just make a stable structure that I can easily rearrange, but I want to hear some other opinions first.
 
Mine is stacked but I do not have any high arches. I did cut pieces of egg crate for the bottom of the tank, so the rock sits on that. My tank has been set up this way since we moved here 4 years ago, wow time flies by.

I have known folks to drill holes and use pieces of rod (driveway markers), use cement, use epoxy putty.
 
Flippers4pups said:
Fiberglass driveway makers from Lowe's. Hydraulic cement.
Click to expand...

i used Kwikrete Hydraulic Cement to fix parts of mine together, and after about 6 months it has just started crumbling and releasing from the rocks.

not sure if i mixed it wrong or what, but if i had to do mine over again i would probably go with a dedicated for marine applications like this:

http://www.marcorocks.com/aquascape-supplies/e-marco-400/

what kind did you use? did you do anything special?
 
It sets very quick. 5mim working time. Mine never came apart, but had one rock crack and separate near the joint. Still together after one year.
 
I use gravity and weird-shaped rocks that key into each other---they'll exist in any lot of holey limestone. Practice underwater: nothing's stable unless there's water in the tank, since rocks may have different buoyancy than you expect and center of gravity seems to change underwater.
I would not glue or stabilize rock. Too often I've had to go in and move it---either because I'm moving the tank (lately) and needed to lessen weight; because I had a fish that had to be gotten out; because something was growing on a lower rock that had to go (caulerpa and xenia); or because I wanted to break up a fight (territory.) Fixed rock is a handicap, ime. But I know some swear by it.
 
I do it kinda like Sk8r. I don't glue/cement them, I just try and arrange them with pieces that sort of fit together so they won't fall or slide easily. I don't stack really high either. I've had to move a few rocks here and there over time.
 
Flippers4pups said:
It sets very quick. 5mim working time. Mine never came apart, but had one rock crack and separate near the joint. Still together after one year.
Click to expand...

i was surprised with how fast it set. couple times i added a little more water to loosen it up a bit so i could continue working with it.

maybe that was my problem? perhaps i should have thrown it out and mixed a new batch rather than trying to re-wet the mix.

as a general fyi, i didn't secure my entire rock structure together. rather i affixed small groups of rock to each other to make stable building blocks, then stacked them as i wanted in a more secure manner.

i basically just used to cement to bind together 2 - 4 rocks in to a cluster that would stack evenly/securely in the configuration i wanted.
 
Sk8r said:
I use gravity and weird-shaped rocks that key into each other---they'll exist in any lot of holey limestone. Practice underwater: nothing's stable unless there's water in the tank, since rocks may have different buoyancy than you expect and center of gravity seems to change underwater.
I would not glue or stabilize rock. Too often I've had to go in and move it---either because I'm moving the tank (lately) and needed to lessen weight; because I had a fish that had to be gotten out; because something was growing on a lower rock that had to go (caulerpa and xenia); or because I wanted to break up a fight (territory.) Fixed rock is a handicap, ime. But I know some swear by it.
Click to expand...

This is the approach I am leaning towards, but maybe with some zip ties or acrylic rods that are not glued in place.

I really don't want my rock to be permanent in any way, and would like to be able to remove/rearrange it if needed.
 
I use regular cement. I get one that has "Type II" in the description and mix it with regular reef sand and some rubbley rock. This is used like a mortar in a rock wall. Type II won't raise the ph of the water it's in so you don't need to cure it. I don't stick everything together, since I might need to get it apart. Rather, I'll have one chunk of rock scape that is two or three pieces of smaller rocks cemented together. I also use cement to build up some areas where the pieces rest on each other for stability in the back where you can't see.

I just upgraded into a bigger tank and some of the pieces i tried to break apart with a hammer and couldn't. They were so solid that the rock itself broke before the cement did. It went much easier this time around, a little practice went a long way toward getting the mix right and understanding how it will end up. I have engineer gobies so I needed a pretty solid setup.
 
When I ordered my rock I had some of them cut with a flat bottom to rest on the bottom of the tank. These where my base rocks and I stacked the rest on them. Prefer to just stack in case I need to remove any in the future.
 
C.Eymann said:
Does anyone still use Savio pond foam for scaping?
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I used a little "great stuff," similar but not same. I think the savio stuff is more durable. I got nervous when my urchins started to eat it and the underneath part started crumbling cause I think it's only inert when it's intact. When I removed it there was some pretty gnarly black growth where it connected to the rock. But you can make awesome fake rock walls and backgrounds out of foam with sand stuck on it, and lots of folks do.
 
I have been debating this as well as I am just using gravity/good rock placement. But there are a couple I may need to putty as they are a tad wobbly. Thanks for the personal experiences to help me decide!

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk
 
Grimreaperz said:
I have been debating this as well as I am just using gravity/good rock placement. But there are a couple I may need to putty as they are a tad wobbly. Thanks for the personal experiences to help me decide!

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

If the rock is dry its no problem.

But if you try to use putty with wet/live rock you are going to have a tough time unless you use lots of superglue gel in addition to the putty.

Most aquarium putty has a very very hard time sticking to wet rock.
 
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