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I'm setting up a shelldweller tank in a 20 long. Just to add a little interest, I'm going to add a small rock pile at one end.

Can I just stack the rocks, or should I glue them to one another with silicone?

if you are confident they won't fall over then stack them dry. if youi leave them dry you can move them around if you want. just fit them tightly against eachother. if you decide to use silicone find a type that is non-toxic.

20 Gallon Long:
Aquaclear 300
2 Bolivian Rams, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus: Gumby and Pokey

Silicone is always recomended. Remember you'll be in there doing tank maintence, you'll have fish sticking their little noses in the sand possibly shifting the base layer which can cause the structure to weaken.

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I personaly would not silicone them at all. Reason no matter how long you spend thinking about it and setting it up you will be altering it. I have balanced rocks and none a glued together and I can tell you my clowns know how to move a base.

I would make it out of the tank first, it will a lot easer this way take a few photos different angles then reset it up in the tank. I have sometimes placed a large flat rock just beneath the surface this give a firm base to work with.

Keith

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I've done it both ways - just stacked the rocks if they're flat and stable, siliconed them when I want to make a really tall stack and/or I'm using rounder stones.

I also have clown loaches who love to rearrange the substrate to their own designs. Use your common sense, and if the structure seems solid it should be ok. If in doubt, silicone it.

if you get rocks with a rough surface they can sick together easier.

20 Gallon Long:
Aquaclear 300
2 Bolivian Rams, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus: Gumby and Pokey

Hi,
The problems with piles of rock is that they are unstable.
If you set them on the sand, then the fish and normal
vacuuming can shift the substrate and cause them to fall
sometimes striking the glass and cracking it.
If they are assembled sitting on the glass bottom of the
tank and the substrate poured in, and smoothed around them,
then they are more stable. However, then you run the risk
of larger fish disloging them as they root around or if
startled, running into them.

For peace of mind, and to protect the fish (having a cave
collapse on them) it is best to glue them together.
Be sure to allow at least 48 hours to allow the globs
(in some cases) of silicone to completely cure. Remember
as it cures, it gives off acetic acid and will drop your
pH like a rock. Make sure it's cured before you put the
assembly in the tank.


Frank


Last edited by FRANK at 27-Feb-2005 10:43

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

If you are using silicone, make sure that it is 100% safe for fish &amp; that it's dry.




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First off I just have to say Frank, You are the man...I've seen alot of your posts, always perfect and informative, IMO.

Second I'd like to, ask What would be the best type of rock to do this with? I mean stability wise.

I don't know correct terms for rock, I think slate is flat typed rock in hundreds of layers is it not???

If so would where could I get some, my local petstores only have manufactured rocks and small river rocks...

Thanks for any help,
Angel Eel

Hi,
Thank you.
What rocks to use in your "rock pile" would depend upon what
type of "look" you are trying to create.
Popular rocks that cleave leaving a flat surface are some
sandstones and slate. In some sandstones, the individual
grains of sand are cemented together by a carbonate material
and can, over time, increase the general hardness of the
water.
"River rock" has had all the sharp surfaces worn off by
millions of years of tumbling and water action leaving
rounded surfaces.

In sections of very high currents, the bottom rarely has
sand or plants, and is mostly chunks of rock piled atop of
each other.

Most landscaping, or large hardware stores sell various
types of decorative rock ranging from the sandstones
and slates, to granite.
They also sell river rock that ranges in size from pebbles
to cobbles. Try to arrange them naturally in the tank
and glue them together so that they do not slip or shift
positions within the pile.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

in my 30 gallon I have sand instead of gravel and wanted to have one side high then the other, so what i did was by some river rock from my LFS and got some aquarium silicone and built a retianing wall and glued the rocks together what i did was did 1 row and let it sit over night then the next day did another and so on till i had my wall built, this was over a year ago and it is till holding, other than 2 rocks of the top row which i knocked off when i hit vacumming the bottom out, good luck with whatever you decide