Rocks weigth / aquarium glass

[marcan]

Hi everyone,

I just saw @CassCats aquarium in Tank of the month contest and I was wondering, how much weigth does the bottom aquarium glass can support?
On the picture there's one big rock but how much rocks can we stack on each other?

Anything to consider to make it work?
Is it only to make sure there's no sharp edges directly on the glass and weigth doesn't matter?

Is there "lighter" rocks recommandation that I should use?

Thanks !

Not my aquarium, it's CassCats picture.
I hope it's okay to repost a picture of another member aquarium. Let me know if it's not.

 

[UnknownFishies]

What type of tank are you using? Because it all depends on what type of glass you are using, and pressure points. So if you want multiple live rocks I would advise putting them on top of substrate or gravel and that should disperse the weight avoiding cracks.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Use plastic "egg crate", cut to fit the tank footprint, buried in sand, to distribute rock weight evenly.

 

[DAnCSF]

Use plastic "egg crate", cut to fit the tank footprint, buried in sand, to distribute rock weight evenly.

Great idea on using egg crate to distribute weight.

 

[marcan]

What type of tank are you using? Because it all depends on what type of glass you are using, and pressure points. So if you want multiple live rocks I would advise putting them on top of substrate or gravel and that should disperse the weight avoiding cracks.

It's a regular 55G tank. Not sure if it's tempered or not.
It's a freshwater aquarium and i would like to stack multiple rocks to create hiding area.

If I understand your comments correctly @Slaphppy7, rocks and weigth won't be a concern if i use egg crates buried under my substrate?
The aquarium is 20 inch tall which means I might stack 15" of rocks. I will probably use silicone or something to make sure they don't move and don't fall.

 

[UnknownFishies]

It's a regular 55G tank. Not sure if it's tempered or not.
It's a freshwater aquarium and i would like to stack multiple rocks to create hiding area.

If I understand your comments correctly @Slaphppy7, rocks and weigth won't be a concern if i use egg crates buried under my substrate?
The aquarium is 20 inch tall which means I might stack 15" of rocks. I will probably use silicone or something to make sure they don't move and don't fall.

It should still be a concern because if you put to much it can still break. But egg crates should make it less of a concern though. Silicon is a great idea.

 

[Slaphppy7]

It's a regular 55G tank. Not sure if it's tempered or not.
It's a freshwater aquarium and i would like to stack multiple rocks to create hiding area.

If I understand your comments correctly @Slaphppy7, rocks and weigth won't be a concern if i use egg crates buried under my substrate?
The aquarium is 20 inch tall which means I might stack 15" of rocks. I will probably use silicone or something to make sure they don't move and don't fall.

Rocks and weight within reason should be no problem when using the egg crate.

I wouldn't go overboard with the rocks....

 

[Guyb93]

It’s just physics really once submerged in water the weight of the item is reduced it’s mass is the same but it’s weight is significantly reduced

 

[marcan]

It won't be an aquarium of rocks, I still want a freshwater aquarium and not a freshrocks aquarium !

I will probably stack of a few rocks on one side and lay few rocks around the footprint of the tank.

Great, thanks all for your inputs !

 

[Colin_T]

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?
How thick is the glass?

Normally the glass can support rocks but some cheaper tanks have thinner glass and this is more likely to crack. If you want lots of rocks in a tank, you can get an aquarium made with a thicker base.