Aquascaping/Rock/Glue Questions
 

I'm not the aqua-scaper of our tank so I have a very stupid question(s) to ask...what do most of you use to glue rock work together...super glue?

Also, despite what you use, have you had INCREDIBLE difficulty trying to AUGMENT your aqua-scape once you've filled your tank and then realized you need to create move caves/hidey-holes?

My logical side says "of course it's more difficult as initial 'scape' was done and 'cured' together in a dry tank until we added water. We had no livestock nor sand in the tank to worry about when we re-positioned something.

We could pull the rocks out of the tank in order to 'line up' anything we wanted to add in terms of height, stackability, fit, etc.

I've heard of others having a bit of struggle trying to create caves/hidey holes after the fact and was wondering if there were any tips that helped you in this situation. I do think we need to let new pieces 'cure/dry' longer than 30 minutes but I honestly don't remember.

Try searching reef putty. You can use those products to connect Rock work together. Of course it's difficult to adjust once the tank is running but that doesn't mean it's impossible. You just have to be careful.

My advice is search images and find a look you like and try to emulate it. As for rock work a lot of the people that do the really nice rock work use a 2 part marine epoxy and they drill the rock and insert like acrylic rod with epoxy to hold the rock together.

I think putty works the best but I never glue my rock work together.
This is because I sometimes needs to take it apart or move the rocks somewhat.
I stack my rock work at the store starting with the biggies on the bottom until I have a general picture. I sometimes use Very small bit of putty to glue the small rocks but only when needed.

Try Aquaforest Stone Fix. I have Walt Smith Reef Rock which is extremely dense....heavy. I created hang-overs by using this product.

I used and really like the aquamaxx reef welder. There little plastic pellets that you can heat up in water and use like a putty. It doesn't permanently fix the rocks together like a glue or epoxy would so you can always change it later without a lot of hassle and can be used on a running system without affecting your skimmer either. If you don't like your scape or need to rearrange just heat the putty back up and try again.

Personally I never have used anything to glue the rock together. Unless you are doing some extravagant archways I feel it is more of a hassle than anything. Both setting up and tearing down if there is an issue.

It is very difficult to remove fish in an emergency if you cannot pull the rock out of the tank.

I start aquascaping by finding my base rocks, then I cut the bottoms flat with a hacksaw. These go directly on the bottom of the tank. After that I make sure each rock placed is stable and will not move. Sand is added last.

Superglue works well for small rock rubble and frags. Epoxy putty for bugger rock.

You can also drill holes in rock (with a concrete bit) and insert acrylic rods to help give you something to lock the rock together.

It's as much an art as a science. Knowing the techniques helps but ultimately you just have to get creative and/or accept the limited ways your given rocks will stack.

Fiji Crete. Best you can find for building reef forms out of rock.