Aquascaping question

T

Torsionpain

Cleaner Shrimp
M.A.S.C Club Member
#1
#1
I want to make an aquascape for a 120g, 4x2x2 with arches and pillars so fish can hide under and go thru things. I don't want to just stack rock. If I use live rock, how do I bond them together? Take them out and use mortar? Will that kill live rock while mortar sets up? Or is there something that sets up underwater? Will dry rock be easier? And, are there LFS's with supplies (not rock) for aquascaping? Any help is appreciated.
 
F

FinsUp

According to my watch, the time is now.
M.A.S.C Club Member
#2
#2
My scape is all arches and pillars, and it's drystacked. It really just depends on the rocks you're using, and your stacking skills. Most of the LFSs sell epoxy, which you can use to lock rocks in place. You can also get reef safe mortar from Marco Rocks. Using dry rock is almost always easier. You can build your scape outside the tank and then just put it in place, without worrying about keeping it live.
 
X

xxHLTxx

Detritus
M.A.S.C Club Member
#3
#3
u can also use the super small black (depending on rock color) or white zip ties and a drill, which is what i did. i have a 75g with almost 300lb of live rock, it literally looks like a live rock culturing tank at a LFS. I have all reef dwelling fish and they all swim in and out of the rock, but i just got a drillbit, my drill and poked holes where i needed it and zip tied into place works like a charm and always easy to disassemble
 
J

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#4
#4
You can also use acrylic rods.

Rock can be out of water for a long time before it dies. Most aqua putty will set underwater.

Whatever you do, the scape can shift over time, especially if you have a critter (or pumps) that move sand around, so make sure it is rock solid (that hurt to type).

Just a few pieces of live rock and seed dry rock in 3-4 months in a new tank.
 
X

xxHLTxx

Detritus
M.A.S.C Club Member
#6
#6
[attachment=64372:name]

im starting to put coral back into this tank after my roommate crashed my tank when i was gone for 3 days... but it was a "reef" fowlr for about 3 months. Im upgrading to a 100-130 custom acrylic cube thatll have a center drilled overflow and a pyramid middle rockscape with a 360 degree view, so to answer any questions, yes i know i have 3 tangs in a 75. but here u can see how my rock is laid out, 90% is zip tied together, only part visible is the top middleish and thats because the damned urchin was strong enough to topple that one rock i laid up there, so i tied it down vs putty
 
D

dalovesj

Copepod
#7
#7
I've found that the aquamend putty sucks... I wouldn't recommend using that stuff. I now have all my rocks just stacked up, and while I have lots of arches and tunnels, my aquascape is far from stable. My husband puts his big gorilla hands in there and the whole thing comes tumbling down. I don't really have any big crawlers in my tank (14G) so it's fine for now. I want to drill and zip tie the rocks into place eventually. If you do decide to do the zip ties or acrylic rods, post pics!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top