aquascaping

[tkhawaja]

Originally Posted by spikehs

I was planning on putting all the sand in (most anyways) then place the rocks and get em like i want them, then put in the water...

I'm going through my planning phase for the next two weeks. Waiting for the tank to arrive is a drag. From all my research and reading, this is what i will be doing for a new tank setup.

1-check for leaks
2-place tank in its desired location, level tank
3-assemble equipment
4-add water
5-add salt mix, wait 24 hours
6-add live rock
7-add sand or whatever substrate

This way your rock will always have a stable base. With any sort of a sand bed the rock placed on top of the sand can shift due to burrowing critters, causing a rock slide. Not a good thing, even in the smallest aquariums.

There should be some "glue" available from your LFS for putting together live rock. If not I've definately seen some on J & L's website. garf.org has also done some research on super glue. The cheapest solution would be to use plastic. The encrusting algea love to grow on plastic.