How do u struckture LR??

Okay so how do you aquascape your LR?? Make suitable hidy holes, not lean it against the glass and it all be stable??? So many questions to ask but which ones are the right ones??:-/

 

Give Aquascape a search here, on google & google images too. Part depends on your stocking goals. Some fish like caves, some like tunnels. Plus it depends on what you like. You don't necessarily want to butt up against the glass as that restricts flow possibly. You also need to consider how you are attaching the rocks to each other as it needs to be solid to include livestock pushing and prodding that may make it fall.

 

+1 on above, plus

a lot depends on the type of rock your working with
if your wanting to do a reasonably open water tank, and using branch rock
then a method of fixing is a good idea IMO

There are various ways of achieving this such as

1) drilling and pegging - simply put, holes are drilled in the rockm, using a masonary drill bit and then plastic rods or even PVC tubing, is glued/ epoxied into the holes, and the next piece of rock, epoxied onto the the other end of the tube/ rod
many intricate structures have been built using this method, you can create branches of the type that would fall over if you just tried to stack them in place

2 ) to create a really good looking island type structure, holes are drilled through several piecec of rock, and then these rocks are stacked onto a PVC tubing frame
the base is made using corner pieces and tubing to form a square, and then from the centre a tube comes straight up, and the drilled rocks are stacked on this
again using this method, providing you have used a heavy enough base rock, you can drill holes in subsequant rock, off centre, to create shelves coming away in different directions


if you use mainly shelf rock, then you can aquascape really easily without any need for support structure
the flater the rock, the easier it is to stack and the more stable it is when stacked

this is the primary concern of any aquascaping method used - stability
if if feels like is wobbling when your adding the next rock
then it may well wobble and fall over when snails, hermits etc start clambering all over it

Steve

 

It's basically like a puzzle. Sometimes it's frustrating when you want a rock in a specific place, and it just won't fit that way. It'll look like it should fit, but it just isn't stable. I have a few in my tank that have frustrated the crud outta me! You just have to try different rocks in different ways to see which ones fit where.

Or you secure it all together like Steve said, in the way that you want.

 

The left tower was done with PVC pipe and zip ties.

The other 2 were stacked.

 

I usually change after a couple of months, first i had a single island setup, then I did arches from the island to the glass, then i did a single bigger island, then that island with a single arch against the glass, now i've got a reef wall setup.

IMO there is no certain way to set it up, its all how you like it.

 

Very nice formation!! I have never tried anything like that, looks awesome!





With my rock, I was able to stack then used an aquarium safe (coralline colored even!) 2 part epoxy to give additional support. This is a new build, but I have used this method before and it's worked for me very well.