Aquascaping LR, to PVC or not to PVC that is the question.

[tinpusher]

LR arrives Thursday and I am starting to look at pictures to get ideas for my layout. Question is do you just stack your rocks, tie them together with zip ties, or tie them to a PVC frame? Hey sounds like a good poll question.

[Beverly]

I chose "Stack and Go", but it is never really that simple. It's more like carefully stack so the rock is stable, stand back and look at the results, tear it down, carefully restack, look at it, tear it down, restack..... You get the picture

After a few months of looking at the way a tank is aquascaped, I often give it another go or two or three to improve on the initial ideas.

For some fabulous aquascaping pics, here is RC's former Threads of the Month - "Best Aquascaping Designs" .....

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...4&goto=newpost

[vanreefer]

I like the PVC rack idea... I run a BB with fairly high flow... I think the rack helps eliminate dead spots in the flow... plus it makes it look I can actually afford 200 lbs of LR

[tinpusher]

Wow Beverly those are some nice tanks. Thanks for the link. Hard to tell but do most of those tanks lean the rock against the back wall or is there space for water flow.

[scuglass]

well i jus stacked but i may use some glue of some sort to makethe structure more stable. tke alook http://www.canreef.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=20671

[Werbo]

I've been debating this question for a long time as I've been frustrated with the instability of stacking LR. Rather than strapping LR to pvc piping I may drill 1/2 inch holes through the LR. Then I'll slide 1/2 inch pvc pipe through the holes. I'm hoping it will be cleaner than seeing the zap straps attaching the LR to the pvc.

What do you think?

[Son Of Skyline]

When I kept my 120 I simply stacked. When I needed pieces to be held together, I'd do it with small bits of epoxy. I've never tried it, but it would seem to me to be a pain to rearrange rock in a 90+ gal tank if all the pieces were stuck together on pvc. Remember that you'll be adding rock from time to time when you get new corals, maybe drop frags in between rock, want to get in between a couple pieces to pull algae etc....so you may need to move rock around more than you expect.

[Cap'n]

I stack, and restack, and restack... Much as Bev described.

However, with my new tank I started off with a few large pieces of tuffa rock. I used them to make a great network of large caves and tunnels that I would never have been able to create with my live rock pieces. I took a few days to gradually add all the live rock and have been very pleased with it, only want to make minor changes. First time I've been satisfied with my first attempt. So, I guess what I'm saying is that a few really good sized pieces of rock, live or not, really makes a huge difference in stability, which is half the battle.

[Beverly]

Tinpusher,

Just thought of how I cure new LR. Instead of curing it in my display tank, I cure it in a separate container with heater, lots of water flow and some light. That way, I don't get all the crud that comes off the rock in the display tank which results in algae/cyano problems sooner or later. Also, I change some of the water every so often and swish each rock in the outgoing changewater to remove even more crud. You'd be surprised at how much dead stuff comes off the rock during curing. Not stuff I want in my display tank, especially if I had sandbeds to catch it all.

[dunl]

I also choose stack and go, but when I stack, I try to stack the rocks so that they "fall" into the pile. In other words, place the rock so that when you lift up the end that is facing into the pile, it falls down and balances into that way - it would have to jump up to fall out.