Securing Live Rock

[Tommy Gunnz]

Hello agian everyone!

Here is a picture of my current set-up: (Sorry its so big)

Anyways, I am looking for a good method of securing my live rock better for two reasons:

1.) I have a snowflake moray eel in the tank

2.) I would like to use the live rock to hide the large overflow chamber in the middle of the tank by stacking the LR higher, into a sort of pryamid shape. I would also like to open up a little room on the sides of the tank but right now I cant do this because I am worred about the strength of the base of my current 'pile'.


I have heard of a lot of people using a product called "Great Stuff" or some sort of expandind silicone foam (like is used to plug holes in the foundations of houses) but I am not sure as to the safety of something like this and as you can see in the upper left hand part of the tank, I have fish in there and do not have a good place to put them if I had to drain the tank.

Also, if you look at the bottom left hand part of the tank, I have three larger rocks. The rock that is directly against the left hand glass could be moved without problems, but the other two are hiding my powerhead intake plumbing which is essentially a large round plastic peice with holes in it. I have tried in vain to hide it with smaller rocks, but it is just not really feasable so those two rocks would have to stay.

Does anyone have any ideas for me on how to get this rock stacked higher and safer to accomplish my goals? Just keep in mind that I would have to keep at least half of the water in the tank and I do have fish in there, so anything that will not be instantly non-toxic is out of the question. I have also tried using the regular silicone that is used to seal fish tanks, but it is not very strong at all and I am worried that my eel will still be able to knock things over.

Thanks for any help in advance!

 

[SkiFletch]

There are many Epoxy Putties out there for the marine world that will dry underwater and are non-toxic. These are designed to hold LR together and hold frags in palce. Somewhat unsightly at first if its exposed to view but gets coraline covered eventually Here's an example

 

[crazyelece]

You can also build pvc racks and stack the live rock against and on top of it.

Another way is to drill 1/2" holes and use some pvc pieces like dowel rods to connect two pieces.

Personally I don't like epoxy as it isn't easily removable. If you use it be sure your epoxied pieces can be taken out of the tank as a whole piece.

 

[mr.dark-saint]

Start with the soild foundation as in place the rock on bottom and not on top of sand. This way no matter how much they dig the rocks will not topple unless the fish can move the rocks by flexing.

I used the "epoxi putty" but it never did work 100% and I was disapointed had better result with Crazy Glue Gel.

As for stacking rock it's trial and error. But unmoving foundation is a good start.

if this works you won't see the two powerhead and the overflow.