Thought this link might turn into an interesting thread.

There is a definate trend to less rock nowadays, perhaps enabled by the better skimmers etc.

Frees up room for the livestock too.

Anyway, here it is. http://zeovit.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5976

Very interesting for sps tanks it's a pitty he didn't do before and after photos

Well if anyone decides to do that to their tank and wants rid of the rock then let me know if its going cheap....

I thought the general rule of thumb was: 1 pound of rock / gallon of water.

With a 400G tank and 1500P of rock, I'm surprised he managed to keep anything with all that rock!

Yes that, or a little more, maybe 1 1/2 pounds per gallon, used to be the general rule.

But now with improved husbandry / equipment, less can be more!

Fay, Bergsy has been posting on Reef Central for years, I would think a search may find some of his pics. He used to be a big time critic of zeovit at one point, although nice about it. But he has obviously come around. :lol:

For me, I am nearly ready to get my new tank fired up, hence the interest in rocks / aquascaping. Unfortunately this has always been one of my weak points.

I have a rock borer urchin who is VERY cool and MUST be part of my new tank. Looks like a little hedgehog walking around! However he is also a little bulldozer and pushes rocks around and causes rock slides. So for this tank I want to stick all the rocks together somehow to prevent this.

The difficulty is these rocks are already covered in growth & corals that I want to retain, so any sticking together will have to be done wet.

Anybody can give me any advice or tips at all? I'll be real pleased to hear it.

Wasp asked:

Anybody can give me any advice or tips at all? I'll be real pleased to hear it.

Nip to the Hardware Store..

Buy a packet of plastic Rawlplugs that are used for putting screws into walls.

Drill the holes in the rocks and drive the plug firmly in.

Leave enough plug showing for the next rock.

Drill a hole in another rock, and force the two together like "Connecta Bricks"

The plugs you want are the long pararell ones.

Bill.

the plan for my new tank is to have about 1/2 to 2/3's of the rock i currently have in my display tank with a very thin layer (1/4") of sand. the fuge will have all sand removed. it'll contain all the current rock plus whats left over from the display. a couple of powerheads will then sit near the bottom of the fuge at either end and flow directed up through the rocks. a reef rack will sit over the entire area of rocks for frags. thats the plan anyway. still tossing up whether i retain some sandbed in the fuge.

Cheers Wasp, glad to hear that you can get away with less.

I'm currently setting up a new 350L tank, and have about 40KG in it now. It's only 6 pieces too, so I've been wondering if it's overkill.

Good one Bubbles! Be great to see how it developes. Only 6 pieces, that will probably make it easy to get good flow around them all.

Those rawlplugs seem like just the ticket, I know the ones you mean they look kind of like grooved dowelling. That's what I'll do. I'll have the drill alongside while I'm doing the transfer and set it all up right from the word go. Can see it taking some time though, might set aside a whole day for it.

Those rawlplugs seem like just the ticket, I know the ones you mean they look kind of like grooved dowelling

Yup.. They are the ones you need.

Might not be convieniant.. but if you had a small drillpress you would find the job a real simple one.

Bill.

Pegasus you are a fountain of good ideas today!! :lol: :lol:

A drillpress would certainly speed things up, I'm not sure if I can get one but I'll ask around. Also I can imagine what all that salt & rock slag would do to it, if I can borrow one I will have to carefully protect it with plastic wrapping or similar.

Hire one

Make sure you get a few different masonary drill sizes. I put a hole in some of my rocks and a plasic pipe down the middle to make a bommy, found that the hole ended up about half again the size of the drill bit.

Hire one

Some of the advice on this site is beautiful in its simplicity!!

Good advice also Suphew. I've been down and bought a new masonry bit which I've tested on a bit of rock. With the hammer drill it cuts it like butter (well almost), so I don't think the drillpress will be essential, but I'll get one if I can.

Couldn't get those grooved type rawlplugs, the salesman was a young dorky looking guy with glasses, he grinned and said "only the old generation use that kind nowdays", then his grin waned slightly and he said "no offence".

SHEESH!@!!! Thought I could get all the insults I need on the net! :lol:

Anyhow, went down to engineering plastics and bought some nylon rod. Cheap as, and can be cut to whatever lengths I need, will be perfect. Also noticed they have threaded nylon rod, so rocks could actually be drilled right through and bolted, I got one of those super long masonry bits just incase I do that.

BTW Fay I asked that Bergsy guy if he could post a before & after pic, but he said all the rock he removed was in his fuge not the main, so not much to show. Nonetheless, he has put up a pic of the tank with a massive amount of rock if you wanted to have a look.

Couldn't get those grooved type rawlplugs, the salesman was a young dorky looking guy with glasses, he grinned and said "only the old generation use that kind nowdays",

They are definitely still available, as I have seen them recently... errr.. "Somewhere".. don't know where.

Thing with the Rawls is that they are a little bit "forgiving".. and will flex as they are pushed or hammered into the hole.. whereas solid rod could split small rocks apart.

Hope we haven't created a monster here. (Frankie Rockenstien)

I can just see Wasp running around weilding a hammer drill looking for more rocks to attach together.. so lock up your tanks guys

Bill.

Ha Ha! Wasprockstein :lol:

The nylon rod I got is not super hard it is just the perfect consistency, flexible but strong enough.

Wish I'd done this years ago, could have saved some grief, and a few frags.

Youse guys noticed the different types of 'rock' that are used in our various tanks - ranging from imitation concrete block-like to very porous coral rock that you can drill with a wood drill?

Surely it must make a difference to how well it can host bacteria for the nitrifying cycle...and therefore how much we need of it... :-?

Yes, good observation Rossco.

Be interesting to find out which is the best. For me, as I've never seen any discussion or info on this before, I just try to keep a mix of all types.

But it is something I've wondered about.