DIY Rock and Rock Structures

[Exotic Aquaria]

Looking for some pointers on creating DIY Rock and rock structures. All ideas and techniques welcome. And.........GO

 

[Zoapro]

Some people thought I was crazy for doing this but it worked out great...... I cut dry rock in flat plate like pieces with a huge diamond saw and used water weld to glue rocks together. once I had my pieces I wanted I glued them to the back of my 72 gal bow front using asi aquarium black silicone creating a floating reef. I don’t have much rock on the sand bed. I used props to hold the rocks in place for 24 hrs. The silIcone is super strong I just recently moved my tank to my new home and drained the water and put wet paper towEls over the corals to not dry out, not a single piece detached or came loose its on forever... the pictures I uploaded are from start to finish my reef is slowly growing it took me over months to build before I added water.

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]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180715/f0caf674ebd8216850fb99196d835dc8.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

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[Zachary Roy]

Some people thought I was crazy for doing this but it worked out great...... I cut dry rock in flat plate like pieces with a huge diamond saw and used water weld to glue rocks together. once I had my pieces I wanted I glued them to the back of my 72 gal bow front using asi aquarium black silicone creating a floating reef. I don’t have much rock on the sand bed. I used props to hold the rocks in place for 24 hrs. The silIcone is super strong I just recently moved my tank to my new home and drained the water and put wet paper towEls over the corals to not dry out, not a single piece detached or came loose its on forever... the pictures I uploaded are from start to finish my reef is slowly growing it took me over months to build before I added water.

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]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180715/f0caf674ebd8216850fb99196d835dc8.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

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This is a great idea!

 

[Zoapro]

Thank you!

 

[Exotic Aquaria]

Some people thought I was crazy for doing this but it worked out great...... I cut dry rock in flat plate like pieces with a huge diamond saw and used water weld to glue rocks together. once I had my pieces I wanted I glued them to the back of my 72 gal bow front using asi aquarium black silicone creating a floating reef. I don’t have much rock on the sand bed. I used props to hold the rocks in place for 24 hrs. The silIcone is super strong I just recently moved my tank to my new home and drained the water and put wet paper towEls over the corals to not dry out, not a single piece detached or came loose its on forever... the pictures I uploaded are from start to finish my reef is slowly growing it took me over months to build before I added water.

uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180715/b9761c2e05d67890111663835d2ba0ae.jpg[/IMG]IMG][URL

]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180715/f0caf674ebd8216850fb99196d835dc8.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

/23fc123d4572091b79ea58f30de69ee5.jpg[/IMG]

That actually looks really cool.

 

[Ron Reefman]

It's a cool look. I have done similar things with rocks using magnets and even just frag plugs with magnets.

Question for the OP. How hard will it be to remove and clean the glass when you decide you want to change the rockscape in the tank?

 

[Zoapro]

Those rocks will never come off easy I can only add to it or break away. I don’t like to disturb things once it’s established I leave everything be.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Those rocks will never come off easy I can only add to it or break away. I don’t like to disturb things once it’s established I leave everything be.

That's interesting. I seem to like to change mine around every year or two!

 

[Daniel@R2R]

@Paul B makes his own. I know a number of other guys on here have as well.

 

[Shooter6]

I bought around 75 pounds of marco dryrock rumble and used super glue followed by gorilla glue (brown) to build my rockwork.

 

[chefjpaul]

E-marco cement and zipties are all I use.

Tiles for building structural and support while drying.

 

[Zoapro]

That is awesome!

 

[FLSharkvictim]

I decided to go a different route then trying to caulk or glue a bunch of Marco rocks together. I had mine center show pcs prefabricated from a company called AquaRocks! My guy normally does not like to build his master pieces this big b/c they normally get damaged during shipping. Long story short I was able to talk my vendor into making me a one of a kind Center Show piece for all of my SPS & LPS Corals. My new SCA 150 i am going to go with less live rock this time.. You will never see a piece like this, since they are all hand made out of REEF SAFE Material. Here are a few pictures
AQUAROCK CENTER SHOW PCS

SCA-150 RIMLESS - 60X24X24

Aquarocks custom pcs

 

[av8soulfly]

Has anyone tried to glue/silicon pieces of dry rock to the back of an established tank that is full of water and critters? And, will silicon cure underwater? I am trying to get Montiporas to grow on the back wall of my 100 cube.

 

[Zoapro]

I wouldn’t use silIcone in water it won’t stick and will be messy. use water weld or super glue gel either or is safe. Just don’t get it on the top and hold it in place for a few seconds that’s how I glue my corals down

 

[Shooter6]

Has anyone tried to glue/silicon pieces of dry rock to the back of an established tank that is full of water and critters? And, will silicon cure underwater? I am trying to get Montiporas to grow on the back wall of my 100 cube.

No silicone will nuke the tank. A huge ball of gel superglue will do it though

 

[Shooter6]

For corals youonly rock needs a lot of super glue. Corals only a small ammount

 

[Iona Skye]

Some people thought I was crazy for doing this but it worked out great...... I cut dry rock in flat plate like pieces with a huge diamond saw and used water weld to glue rocks together. once I had my pieces I wanted I glued them to the back of my 72 gal bow front using asi aquarium black silicone creating a floating reef. I don’t have much rock on the sand bed. I used props to hold the rocks in place for 24 hrs. The silIcone is super strong I just recently moved my tank to my new home and drained the water and put wet paper towEls over the corals to not dry out, not a single piece detached or came loose its on forever... the pictures I uploaded are from start to finish my reef is slowly growing it took me over months to build before I added water.

uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180715/b9761c2e05d67890111663835d2ba0ae.jpg[/IMG]IMG][URL

]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180715/f0caf674ebd8216850fb99196d835dc8.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

/23fc123d4572091b79ea58f30de69ee5.jpg[/IMG]

THAT IS SO COOL

Seriously.... Way to think outside the box!

 

[petemichelle]

THAT IS SO COOL

Seriously.... Way to think outside the box!

will the black silicone cure under water? will it hurt inhabitants? this is not a start up, but an existing 10 year old aquarium. I want to glue something to the back glass.

 

[Shooter6]

will the black silicone cure under water? will it hurt inhabitants? this is not a start up, but an existing 10 year old aquarium. I want to glue something to the back glass.

No it wont cure, and will kill inhabitants