suphew Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 Thinking about putting a tall thin stack or arch of live rock in my new setup, was wondering about drilling a hole through the rock and using a plastic hose or rod to support it. Is this a stupid idea? Has anyone tried drilling live rock, can it be done with a normal style drill bit or would I need a masonary (sp) bit? Also open to other suggestions, I want to give the tank a bit more dimension so I dont end up with a flat wall of rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 if its a nice solid paice of rock then you ll have no problems drilling it, is the rock dry or wet?? the little plastic ties that you take hostages with are an aquascapers best friend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 I think when you drill rock you need one that drills wet. Not sure of the terminology here. People often silicone their rock stacks together too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted January 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 Will be using live rock so will be wet but planning on doing it out of the water. Did think about cable ties but want to do a tall stack with single rocks on top of each other and was thinking it would be hard to get it solid enough, i.e. not wobbly. Was also worried about murphies law and silcon, i.e. bottom joint letting go and the whole lot falling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 the trick is getting the base solid, what is the rod going to be ancored to?? or is it just to give it the vertical support? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RnB Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 use the epoxy stuff between the rocks, sets like a rock compared with silicone and is reef safe. Also coraline grows on it. not sure about attaching it to the bottom though you could build a pvc pipe "base" which is somewhat wider then the lowest rock, and attach that to the bottom rock, covered in sand the support would be invisable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 mirrors and smoke the epoxy is good once it sets my only problem was the amount of it that i needed to used Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 The expoxy is not strong enough to attach rocks together. It may stop them from sliding, but not strong enough to support s structure. Suphey, drill holes, use curtain rods, cable tidies etc. If you want it to stick to the base, silicone it, this will work. Lots of stuff on RC about aquascaping 'overhangs', tall narrow bommies etc. Silicone, cable tidy, curtain rods seem to be the most common. Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted January 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2005 I was planning on putting a bigger rock on the bottom to make it more stable or join it at the top to the main rock formation. Thanks for the advise so far. The holes are going to need to be quite long, before I invest in a drill bit has anyone tried drilling, do I need a masonary drill bit or is coral rock soft enough to drill with a long wood bit say? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted January 11, 2005 Report Share Posted January 11, 2005 i havent "drilled" but i noticed when trying to break up some live rock with a screw driver that i could put a nice whole in it , because its so porous you shouild be fine with a normal drill bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted January 11, 2005 Report Share Posted January 11, 2005 Ive drilled a few holes in it, piece of cake. Especially with a drill press Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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