Okay, so I am getting in 50 lBS of Uncured Live ROck today from the LFS. 3.50 a pound for uncured, and like 6 bucks for cured...thats why I went with it.
Do I need to do anything with the uncured Rock before I put it in my tank? or can I just put it in?
I already have 50 lbs of base rock for the tank. And I guess I just need some suggestions on how to arange or stack the rock in the tank. Like, how do I create a stable structure that isent going to fall (and shatter the tank and have it all over the basement floor) ? I went out and bought some pvc pipeing because someone said to use that to hold the rock in place, however, I am sure there is more to it than that..
any suggestions? I dont know where to begin or have any idea of how to design this tank...
Uncured rock means that it was shipped to you, but it still has plenty of dead stuff in and on the rock that will continue to rot until it is gone. You need to "cure" the rock, which will involve soaking it in salt water with plenty of movement, skimming the water to remove junk, doing water changes when it gets stinky, and monitoring your ammonia and nitrite levels until all the dead stuff is gone and the rock won't pollute your tank. When the water tests zero for nitrites you can think about using it in your tank. You can cure it in your tank before your tank is set up, but I wouldn't do it if you have anything else in there. If the rock is in pretty bad shape, you may want to consider "cooking" the rock in a dark room for a month to get it in good condition for your tank.
Okay, so I am getting in 50 lBS of Uncured Live ROck today from the LFS. 3.50 a pound for uncured, and like 6 bucks for cured...thats why I went with it.
Do I need to do anything with the uncured Rock before I put it in my tank? or can I just put it in?
I already have 50 lbs of base rock for the tank. And I guess I just need some suggestions on how to arange or stack the rock in the tank. Like, how do I create a stable structure that isent going to fall (and shatter the tank and have it all over the basement floor) ? I went out and bought some pvc pipeing because someone said to use that to hold the rock in place, however, I am sure there is more to it than that..
any suggestions? I dont know where to begin or have any idea of how to design this tank...
its a 150 gallon.
first off is this a new tank? meaning, are there any critters in it?
If your worried about the rocks crashing down your best bet is to get clear acrylic rods and drill the rocks than stack them like that.
You can also try the putty they use for mounting frags to rock, it dries hard and some people have used it for their rock works.
Havnt seen you for a while. As for me, I just used the pvc/eggcrate frame to stack the rock on so it was up off the bottom. I added different tiers to the base one and zip tied them together for some taller areas.
Just stack your rock so that pieces interlock with their odd shapes and so it feels stable, if you arent going to get too fancy and make extravagant pillars and overhangs ect. You might want to putty a few together if you want a certain shape and they wont stack that way.
You can cure them elsewhere or if you dont have any fish or anything in your tank, do it there. You will just have to monitor it and do a larger water change when it is done. Also if there is alot of visable dead stff on the rock you can scrub it first to get rid of most of it.
Last edited by cg5071; 08-27-2010 at 12:27 PM.
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Personally I stack rocks right on the glass before the sand is added. Use your biggest rocks at the base, regardless of dried vs cured/uncured, big stuff at bottom on the glass. Once you have enough rock at the bottom add the sand/substrate and move it around the bottom rocks to suit your taste. After that build up the rest of your rocks to suit you. If you build something you like, wiggle/push it around (carefully) so you can get a feel for the stability of the stack if it seems like it's a little unstable move it around till it seems solid.
Since you have uncured rock you have at least 2-4 weeks before you should add any livestock (make sure you understand what you should test for and DO IT, no sense wasteing money and critters). The cycle time will give you some time to look at the settled tank and decide if you want to change the aquascape. Dont spend 3hrs trying to get perfection, create a stable aquascape and give it a day or two of observation to see if you like it, then if you dont try again, it's art not science, YOU have to like the results.
You can use acrylic rod or pvc if you wish, but usually it requires that you drill the two pieces of rock that the rod/pvc is holding together. You really only need to go there if you want some crazy structures in your aquascape. Otherwise look at a ton of tank pictures and see what aquascapes grab your eye and play around with that style, you wont duplicate anything you see, in fact I have never been able to duplicate my own aquascape with the very same rocks!!
Above all, don't rush the process and keep the rocks far enough away from the glass so you can clean the glass without undue hassle.
AquaScapeing help
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Originally Posted by whitedove359
