Rock Placement

[lines_michael]

I have read that placing your Live Rock where it is all stacked up in the middle is the best because it is the easiest to clean around it andpromotes the best water flow.

I would prefer having it stack against the back of the tank and that being the highest point....then coming toward the front. COnsider it stadium seating for my corals. My LR is in really big chunks and is hard to stack as it is.

Are there any huge disadvantages to stacking it that wat that can't be overcome and don't require a lot of extra time each week?

[Frick-n-Frags]

All I can do is tell a story about my LR. After trying a bazillion ways to stack rock and maintain EZ maintenance, I have evolved to a general concept that I have been using for a few years now.

My rock stacks lean against the back wall. But I have a completely clean channel along the whole back bottom of the tank to get the dust out. This works great and leaves me the option of throwing a secondary PH behind there to blow the dust to one end for siphoning.

so my rock wall touches only the center of the bottom, but then upper tiers also use the back for extra stability and a place to lean things.


caveat: I don't have a livingroom showtank. My tanks are strictly for my own personal sick amusement, so pure aesthetics have partially stepped aside for flow and frag raising considerations.

I still think they look OK, but no TOTM that's for sure.

[taillonjohn]

I asked the same question myself last week. my rocks were al balanced in the middle, so I could clean the tank. Several people did it that way,. and several others leaned it against the back glass. So i changed my scheme on the weekend and leaned my rocks against the back glass, and I like it much better. the rocks are much more balanced and solid... the rock "wall" goes much higher since they are leaned against the glass for stability instead of just balanced on top of each other... much more room up front for fish and inverts, etc... only downside is how to clean the back glass? I don't know yet, guess I'll deal with that question in a month or so when its really covered with algae.

anyway, i suggest you just try it, you can change it back if you dont like it

[cdangel0]

There really is no right way or wrong way of doing it. As long as you allow for hollow spots for water to flow through and can clean the glass you can see then you'll be alright.

Find what is astetically <sp?> pleasing to you and give it a shot. Worst case scenario if bugs the heck out of you, you don't like it and have to change it again.

I've probably rearranged mine 20 times now.

[Fuzzy Yarbles]

i like to leave a space of about 3-4 inches from the glass, the flow is alot better and i have few dead spots.