Rock pillars

[BigBadBlenny]

I was wondering what people are using to build pillars. acrylic rods or something like this? also where do you find the material you are using

[jdeanda69]

fiberglass rods is what i used and they are alot stronger then acrylic. i bought them at a place call tap-plastic

[hahnmeister]

I have been using PVC rods, 3/8" diameter, from a local supplier. They are strong, and with a torch, you can heat-bend them if you desire. The main idea is that I use 1/4" acrylic for the base, and use a tap&die set to thread holes into the acrylic base, and then thread the 3/8" rod as well. That way, I can add/remove/move rods as needed. The PVC rods come in a grey color that blends right in with the shadows under the rocks as well, so I didnt even have to worry about covering them with aragacrete or something... you just dont see them unless you look hard. The results have been very cool.

I also used 5/8" OD, 3/8" ID acrylic rod in the past, but since I started using the PVC rod with the threads, there is no going back. You could also use nylon rod (bright white) or HDPE rod. It all threads well.

[buddah001]

how do you keep them in place? any pics??

[Phyxius]

I just bought an assortment of Acrylic Rods to do my 210g when I move all my rock over. Just arrived today and looks like it will work well. I got it from US Plastics and bought 3 sizes to cover anything I may need.

Acrylic Rod (http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5Fname=21315&product%5Fid=18413)

[hahnmeister]

The weight of the rocks at the bottom keeps them in place. I use some as 'pillars', where I drill the center of the LR with a ceramic bit and stack them on top, but others, I just place the rock on top of 3-4 shorter 'pegs' to keep it off the sand w/o drilling the rock.

You can also combine the two into one... placing a large peg in the center to got through the rocks, and shorter pegs around that to keep the bottom rock up off the sand.

Here are some recent ones I made. The black acrylic just sits under the sand, the rods poke through, and the rocks sit on top...
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k278/wetworx101/rocksupports1.jpg
The rods are threaded into the holes so they can be moved depending on the rock...
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k278/wetworx101/rocksupports3.jpg
I dont have a pic of one combining the central support with the smaller support pegs, but it would be something like these two together, just in one plate with a central PVC rod. I suppose this makes pillars that would 'hover' above the sand...
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k278/wetworx101/rocksupports2.jpg

The cool thing is, these plates allow for sand over them, and leave a gap between the sand and the rocks (if you set them up that way). They dont need to be that large either usually... that small square plate is only about 4.5"4.5" and holds about 30lbs of LR on top of it that is much wider than it is. When I 'elevated' just half of my rocks off the sand like this, the tank's circulation greatly improved.

[BigBadBlenny]

great ideas thanks for sharing all. i am looking into getting a 210 30" high and i want to try my hand at more vertical rock structures.