Do I need to glue/epoxy my live rock

[limejuice82]

Hi guys!

I just wanted an opinion on this…





So to preface, my initial rockscape was put directly onto the glass before the sand. It looked a bit shallow so I purchased a large rock arch which I love…I kind of just shuffled it into place to lock it in on top of the existing rockscape.

It feels pretty secure from all sides, but if I use a bit of force to push it from behind, it does lean a bit. Is that okay?

I’m a bit anxious about using epoxy as I’ve read horror stories about it depleting oxygen levels in the tank and making skimmers go crazy. I would also lose the flexibility of being able to move the rocks individually.

Any opinions would be great (this is my first tank)!

 

[TX_REEF]

Congrats on your first tank, and good job taking your time with planning!

I would use the epoxy putty to be safe. You can still pull them apart with enough force, but they won't come apart by accident. I use this stuff: https://amzn.to/4b8OU6C

 

[lapin]

You will be the only one to knock it over.

 

[HARDY CORALS]

You might like being able to move those pieces. If it feels stable I would go with it.

 

[exnisstech]

As long as it's stable I wouldn't glue it. Never know if you might need to remove a piece to get rid of a pest or catch a fish. Easier to remove a piece than the entire scape.

 

[BryanM]

I have something like 400lbs of live rock in my tank, none of it is glued. Just be super diligent about testing its stability and you should be fine.

 

[mfinn]

I've glued a few pieces over the years, but for the most part I usually don't. Never really had an issue with rock falling over.

 

[Euphylliaphyle]

If it's at all top-heavy, I'd use 3 maybe nickle-size or smaller balls at the points of contact to be safe. You may have a rogue zebra turbo snail or urchin in your future who just cannot stand that the tiny space between your rocks remains unexplored. Or you can give an accidental nudge during maintenance, etc. Fwiw, 90% of my rockwork depends upon gravity alone. I love gravity. Effective and reliable.

 

[BriDroid]

I'm having a similar dilemma on my new tank I'm setting up. In my nano, I used epoxy to make one large rock structure. The issue that I have is when things grow wild, like certain zoas, etc and I want to remove them, it is very difficult. It would be so much easier to be able to pull that one rock out and work on them and be able to put that rock back.

I think I'm going to use the bare minimum of any kind of glue in the new tank. I'll use the Tropic Eden moldable rock where needed since it holds but seems to let go pretty easily. Just something to keep in mind that you might not be thinking of right now.

 

[landlubber]

Its tough to say for sure but it appears you put your substrate down and set the liverock on top of it... if so, you're going to want to change that. The substrate will shift over time causing your aquascape to topple.
Shimmy the rock on the base of your structure so it is sitting on straight glass

 

[Euphylliaphyle]

Its tough to say for sure but it appears you put your substrate down and set the liverock on top of it... if so, you're going to want to change that. The substrate will shift over time causing your aquascape to topple.
Shimmy the rock on the base of your structure so it is sitting on straight glass

I made that mistake and my Neon Dottyback undermined all my rockwork. Had to re-set everything. There are a number of fish and inverts that will do this if you don't have a base of rock directly on the glass.

 

[limejuice82]

Its tough to say for sure but it appears you put your substrate down and set the liverock on top of it... if so, you're going to want to change that. The substrate will shift over time causing your aquascape to topple.
Shimmy the rock on the base of your structure so it is sitting on straight glass

I put the liverock in first! Weirdly it does look like it’s sitting on top of the sand.

 

[Science/G]

I have some pieces of my scape that I drilled holes into and used acrylic rods to give me a little more support. And quite often if I need a little extra surface area to attach a coral I will use super glue on small rubble rock.

 

[mfinn]

I have some pieces of my scape that I drilled holes into and used acrylic rods to give me a little more support.

I've done that a few times too. Connect rock together and to use as legs to elevate a piece or 2 off the bottom of the tank.