Anyone with tips for stacking rocks?

[Complexity]

I'm sorry to hear that. But, yeah, no returns or exchanges.

Hopefully, you can get the rocks you want sometime soon.

[DUHK]

Hey complexity, I know you soaked your rocks in bleach water but after you took it out did you just rinse them and let them dry? I want to be safe cause I'm scared the chemicals in the bleach might mess up the tank water

[Complexity]

After they soaked in bleach water, I removed them, rinsed them very well with the garden hose sprayer, and then soaked them water with a high concentration of Prime to dechlorinate them.

When I get them in my tank (before adding the sand), I will flush them again with water, syphon that off, and then flush them again with water with Prime added.

After I put the sand in the tank, I'm thinking I'll use the python to move the sand into the nooks and crannies. Once that settles, I'll do another water change, using Prime.

By that time, the rocks should be in good shape for me to add water, Prime, and then I can add my first fish (keeping in mind that I'll be jump starting this tank with lots of used media). I'll also use this tank as a holding tank for my plants as I rescape my 75g. The plants will not only help with adding bacteria, but it should help the tank cycle without large spikes in ammonia or nitrites. I'll keep a very close eye on the cycling process, making water changes as needed since I intend to stock the tank right away.

I should note that the plants won't be in the tank long nor will they ever be planted in the tank. They'll be there for just a day or two. But they should still help with the cycling process nonetheless.

[Zulaab]

When soaking rocks in Bleach its simple.
Soak in bleach for 24 hours.
Then Soak them for 24 hours in regular water.
Then remove rock put in sun for 24-48 days. Make sure that they are 100% dry (this is why you put them in the sun)
Once Bleach is sundried it evaps off.
Then put in tank and when you fill with water again just Prime / Amquel.
You are safe. I have never heard of anyone who has ever had a problem after this regiment. The BIG part is the sun drying. If you dont then you are going to end up with problems.

[Complexity]

Jesper, I agree that your advice is the best; however, I have never had a problem without sun drying. Or drying at all, for that matter.

I have taken rocks out of my 75g with BBA, soaked in very heavy bleach/water to kill and clean it, then dumped the rocks in heavy Prime/water to dechlorinate, and then put directly back in the tank. Not a problem.

I think it might be dependent on how porous the rocks may be.

[Zulaab]

Very true Vicki. Some people just want to take the extra step because bleach evaps under heat.. and this is why I put it out there.

[flowerhornhouston]

Rocks are beautiful for aquarium & safe heaven for fishes, but rocks can mess you up if you don't stack them up carefully. I don't know how high you plan to stack them up. My suggestion is that you put a clear plastic at the bottom (cut to fit the bottom glass) & fill the sand up first as the safe side incase some rocks fall down during stack up & can crack the bottom. fill water up half way (around 8"). pick the widest rocks at the bottom to the smallest at top. lean agaist the back glass & stack them up from there.

Good luck!

[Complexity]

No problem! I'm just weird in that I always envision contaminates crawling onto my rocks when I leave them outside like that. My new black rocks have been on my patio for a couple of days (on a towel), and it's driving me crazy. I see some leaves on them by now, and who knows what bugs have crawled on/under them. Makes me feel like I have to clean them all over again!

Maybe I'm OCD about my rocks? )

[Complexity]

Hi flowerhornhouston! I appreciate the suggestion.

I'm going to be putting cichlids in the tank so I'm going to stack them before I put the sand in. It's done that way so the rocks cannot shift (and fall!) when the cichlids move the sand around.

I already have a plastic egg crate on the bottom. It looks like this one:

http://www.collins-consulting.org/orchids/eggCrate.jpg

What's good about the egg crates is that they give a place for the rocks to get a good footing. Plus, they help protect the bottom glass if rocks do fall. I think that might be the same thing you were talking about.

Here's what I plan on doing. I first painted the egg crate the color of the sand so when the cichlids dig the sand to the point of the egg crate showing, it won't be quite as obvious. I have the egg crate at the bottom of the tank now.

After getting the filters installed (almost done!), I'll then wash it all out with water to clean the glass and get out any debris that fell into the tank while I was working on it.

Then I'm going to move all the rocks inside and stack them on the floor as Jesper had suggested earlier. Once I get the rocks stacked the way I want them, I'll take the stacks apart carefully so I can rebuild the same stack in the tank itself. I'm going to go ahead and add some water to the tank when I put the rocks in because I think it will help with the extreme weight, making it a little easier for me to stack.

I'm going to try something when stacking them to get extra height. I have a few really nice large, flat rocks to use as a base. What I'm going to do is use those rocks as a second level in the stacks. The first level will be smaller rocks put together closely to life the base. Then the base rocks will go on over that. Their weight should prevent the bottom rocks from shifting; plus, I'm going to be very careful to be sure the bottom row is solid. Every row must be solid before I add more rocks on top.

From there, I'll keep building the rocks upward until I get what I want OR until I can see that I've reached the limit of what I can do with these rocks.

Once I get the rocks stacked in the tank, I'll then add the sand and use the pressure of the water from the python to force the sand into the rock structures. Then I'll let it all settle, do a water change, and see how clear the water is.

If all goes well, I might be able to start putting fish in the tank by tomorrow! The only holdup is that my new filter media won't arrive until Monday so I can't fill the canisters all the way with media. They'll just have the old media from my filter on my 75g. But I think I can get away with that for a couple of days.

I'm down to installing one more filter, and then I can start adding water!

[FuzzyDragon09]

Sounds like you've really planned this out. I can't wait for the pictures. Sounds awesome!

I'm curious, btw you said you painted the egg crate. What kind of paint did you use on that? Won't it dissolve/flake off in the water?

[Mzungu]

I know you've done it before (scaped tanks, etc.) But just in case you weren't thinking about it, sometimes a tank looks very different empty and scaped vs. full and scaped. Filling your masterpiece with water can often ruin your vision, lol. :) So just making sure that you WILL have the tank filled up to at least cover that first (or second) base layer, be able to look at it straight on through the water to ensure that the stack is where you want it, fills the space you intended, etc. Angles get all messed up underwater. :)

Like I said, you probably already planned it this way, but I would hate for you to lug all of those rocks around for hours only to fill the tank and have it look much different than when empty.

[peterp63]

Let me know when you've decided what rocks you're going to use... I have the same stuff in my tank and wouldn't mind adding more.

[Complexity]

Sounds good, Peter! I hope to know today. Tomorrow at the latest (depending on how well my back holds out).

[Complexity]

I have water!

So far, I'm very pleased. Both filters are up and running with no signs of leaks. I might have some air getting into one, not sure, or it might be purging air already in it. I'll let it go for awhile and see what it does. It seems to be quietening down already.

The water is churning like mad since there's no media in the canisters and nothing to block the water flow in the tank. So I definitely have enough flow power!

Now to let that run while I clean up and prepare myself to lug almost 400lbs of rocks. Ack!

I'm curious, btw you said you painted the egg crate. What kind of paint did you use on that? Won't it dissolve/flake off in the water?

Krylon Fusion. Well used in the planted tank community. Make sure it's Fusion which is specifically for plastic.

Like I said, you probably already planned it this way, but I would hate for you to lug all of those rocks around for hours only to fill the tank and have it look much different than when empty.

Thank you; you're so kind to think of that. And I honestly hadn't thought about it. Scaping a planted tank is very different from what I'm doing now.

My focus has been so much on making sure the rocks are stable that I wasn't giving much thought as to water angles and all. Very good point!

I can't promise the rock stacks will look worth a darn. I'm just going to give it a try and see what happens. I figure if I don't break the tank, then I'll consider it a success.

[Complexity]

I have discovered something I never knew.

My arms are too short!

I am trying so hard to get the rocks in, but I literally cannot reach the bottom of the tank. I've dropped two HEAVY rocks already. Thank goodness for the egg crate. My tank would be busted by now without it. One rock hit hard enough to gouge the egg crate.

I'm so frustrated. If I could just get the first row of rocks in place, I can reach the rest since they'll be higher in the stack. But getting this first row in place is killing me. I now have one big rock in the tank, but I can't move it in place because I can't reach it well enough to actually make it move.

Wish me luck that I don't break this tank!