Is It Bad To Place Rock Against Wall

[atmmachine816]

Basically title says the question. Is it OK to place rock against the back or side walls of a tank or no. Obviously you might have a flow problem but if you put a powerhead back there is it ok or no. I keep seeing tanks with it like this but have also read that it's bad. what's your take?

 

[dirtydog]

ive done it to create a background in my new tank with slate so i hope its ok!

 

[n3ont3tra]

I voted yes. If possible, leave room for a mag float, or at least room to scrape off algae somehow. Of course, I don't have a tank yet, but I'm planning on leaving space for algae-scraping. Also, I don't think it's good to have extra weight on the glass.
My $0.02.

 

[K.J.]

As long as you do it gently and make it sturdy, I don't see why not...

 

[steelhealr]

I've posted on this a few times before. I'm an 'anti' wall rock leaner. Why?

• prevents maintenance
• blocks a magfloat allowing buildup or coralline and opacification of the glass to view
• can scratch
• risk of cracking glass or focusing pressure on one wall
• obstruction to flow thru causing dead areas

JMO

SH

 

[ryguy]

i do place rocks on the wall of my cichlid tank and i have not had a problem. i think its ok to.

 

[dirtydog]

my slate is very thin and sit securely in the sand. i guess I can lean it forward to clean behind. i might have to rearrange some bits to allow me to do it though. good point I dont have any fish in yet so I can still play around.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

ours is up against the glass due to the shape of our tank we've not much room to do anything else with it. i appreciate the reason's given for not doing it, however if you've no other choice i don't think it's that awful. we've two powerheads positioned behind our rock wall and have no dead spots as they not only blast water out through it but also suck it back round the sides and back.

 

[atmmachine816]

Ok thanks, it's a bit hard to not have rock against the wall with only 8" deep to work with. I had just got this impression from doing my research before that it's bad to have it touch the wall but once I've actually done it, it seemed ok to have it touch the wall just a little bit. I'm more of a learner through doing so I get what SH says, too bad they didn't make mag-floats thinner, some of the rocks are close to touching the wall.

thanks

 

[ox5477]

I think in response to the people talking about slate in a freshwater tank, that is a different scenario that saltwater. Because of a greater tendency to grow algae and need to keep the tank extra clean, as well as keeping up a high flow to all parts of the tank, the need for a freshwater tank is not as great. True, crud, poop, and whatever can get behind the rocks and could pile-up over time, but its not as crucial in a freshwater tank to get all the little bits of waste and such as it is in a salty.

 

[steelhealr]

IMO, if you must 'lean', you can do it against the back wall if you have a JBJ or equivalent back wall. All I can see is in a year from now, when your aquascaping is up and you start getting coralline etc, it's gonna be an ugly patch on one side and if you THEN want to start moving your reef, rockwork, etc around...........

SH

 

[SkiFletch]

ours is up against the glass due to the shape of our tank we've not much room to do anything else with it. i appreciate the reason's given for not doing it, however if you've no other choice i don't think it's that awful. we've two powerheads positioned behind our rock wall and have no dead spots as they not only blast water out through it but also suck it back round the sides and back.

Couldn't agree more. Those of us with thin footprints and tall tanks are almoast forced to lean rocks up against the back wall. I've been doing it for over a year now with no ill effects.

 

[Ehudd]

In my standard 4 ft (used to have) i had all my LR leaning on the back wall. I had around 40kg. Well 8 months later i had to dismantle it for room issues. Put it in the paper bloke comes round i had no idea but he noticed small cracks all along the back wall. I cant imagine if i left it a bit longer! Deffinately not recomended just bcos of what it did to me. Could be a freak accident.

 

[atmmachine816]

Hmmm ok I'll try to get a pic of what I have, I don't think it's a big deal for me since just a small part is touching it and not really doing anything else. It would be nice if the darn mag-float was an inch big.

 

[N1z]

Tbh i have mine against the wall because im limited to what i can have but its never caused me and issues you have just got to keep up the siphoning.