d.i.y rock formation.

[craw]

hi all.

i've got 3 malawi tanks (50 gal,20 gal for breeding pai,10 gal fry tank) I have plenty of rocks built into formations,but held in place by gravity alone!
when i hoover out the crap from the bottom of tank i always like to remove some rock so i can access the hard to reach waste.

I'm wanting to secure small rock formation to make this easier,as its always hard to rebuild the rocks in their original positions.

Can i just use sillicon? or would that not be strong enough,as the rocks are quite large?or does sillicon harm the fish?is there an adhesive that i could use that would be fish friendly?

any ideas would be most appreciated.

craw

 

[ste2k3]

silocone won't work very effective. you would be best using epoxy resin or millyput sold for marine tanks. another good way is to drill the rocks and boltthem together with eithe plastic or bras screws both of which are inert. this is especially easy when using tufa rock although I don't recamend you use tufa rock.

 

[craw]

ste2k3

about 20% of my rock is tufa rock. my lfs didn't think it would be a problem? whats the general feeling on this???

cheers,

craw

 

[snotirl]

just go to ur harware store and get silicone specially for tanks> normal silicone wont do just read the label or ask someone in the shop!

 

[Jesse]

Check this out - aquarium cave. It is a cave that I put together for my 29 Gallon.

 

[ste2k3]

the problem with tufa rock is that it will absorb toxins like nitrates and phosphates and then dump them back intothe water at a later date causing high nitrates and algae problems for no apparent reason. However, not all tufa seems to do this, just some although i wouldn't risk it.

 

[aquamanis]

I had a quick think about this and I reckon the best way would be to drill some holes into the rock using a masionery drill. Slip some wall plugs into the holes and then use a 1-2 inch piece of brass screw thread to join the pieces together. It should be very strong and wont have any parts that will leach into the water. The hardest part will be the drilling.