Glue, foam or something else

[Fisher2007]

Looking for ideas for the following, if anyone has any please...

So for my soon to be 45cm cube I'm going with dragon stone and carpeting plants, plus a couple stems at the back. The dragon stone pieces I intend to put almost vertical with the larger ones at the back. They will have a slight slant to the right or left to create an interesting form/layout overall and a pathway through the middle. I was fortunate enough to go to Aquarium Gardens a couple of weeks ago and had a play in their sandpit (thanks again Steven!) and have selected a few rocks already which should look great. The rocks will be sat in/on soil (a mix of probidio (the small balls) capped with tropica powder). The soil will be banked towards the back, so slopping from an inch or so at the front to maybe 6 or 8 inches at the back. The concern I have is how stable will the rock be and what can I do to improve that?

In the sandpit it felt ok but equally also felt like if I were to knock it whilst doing maintenance I'd be forever chasing my tail rescaping, which I don't really want. I also want to try and get the rock up a bit higher, so less is in the soil, and that's where I'm looking for ideas - a way of creating more height (less rock in the soil) and some stability

Right now I'm thinking;
- JBL mineral rock - the small lava pieces as a base. Never used it but heard it locks together well and would be a more stable base for the larger pieces of rock?
- Putting some rock under the dragon stone. I have a few granite cobbles in the garden which are unused and pretty square. Maybe I could use these as a base to the dragon stone
- Oase foamfix. Either to stick the cobbles and dragon stone together or just to spray a lump, leave to harden slightly and then push the dragon stone into that. I've never used it before so not sure if that would work but have used normal expanding foam so I'm assuming it's not too dissimilar
- D&D epoxy or equivalent. I've used this loads of times in my marine days. Again to hold the cobble to the dragon stone
- Bury some more dragon stone pieces below the soil to create a base
- Or some mix of the above

Anyone got any experience or suggestions?

Cheers

 

[BarryH]

Following sound advice on here, I bought a pack of the D&D Epoxy and found it really good to use. Before fixing the rocks I wanted, I used it on some scrap rocks to try out. I let it set then tried to break them apart but they were firmly fixed.

 

[Jayefc1]

Could fill some tights with some of the soil to help.raise the back and also stop the soil sliding

this will give you the height your looking for and make the soil more stable then foam the rocks into place either on or around the bags

J

 

[Gill]

You could also use egg crate and zip tie it together to form the structure for the Stones to sit on. And also creates nice cave system.
e.g Egg Crate cut into squares and zip tied. Place some filter foam on top. And then the stones.

 

[Fisher2007]

Thanks guys. All could work in some form or another. I'll take another look at the rock I have tonight to get a gauge of how much higher (from the base glass of the tank) I need to lift and go from there

I already have some eggcrate so that could be a decent option but then which is the best way to attach the stones to that, otherwise I'm back to square one with the stability

 

[BarryH]

Thanks guys. All could work in some form or another. I'll take another look at the rock I have tonight to get a gauge of how much higher (from the base glass of the tank) I need to lift and go from there

I already have some eggcrate so that could be a decent option but then which is the best way to attach the stones to that, otherwise I'm back to square one with the stability

As a trial for the D&D Epoxy, I also glued a 200mm tall piece of black basalt rock that was roughly 75mm wide to a square base made from 2mm thick perspex to give it stability. The D&D held the rock firmly to the base and I couldn't get it to topple over. My idea was to hide the perspex under a sand substrate.

 

[Basviola]

I think egg crate is the idea, as you will have the option of zip tie another one on if you need more height, or vise versa. Allso you your plant can grow roots better, and you can easily plant all around the rocks.

My first thought was to glue some PVC pipes to the rock that would reach all the way to the bottom of the tank
But I would go for egg crates... allso I think you could get the structure stable enough to just place the rock on that. Where fine adjustments on Angel's, small turn would still be possible.

Ofcourse you could also give it a splash of expanding foam (with no anti mold additives) on top of the egg crate if you need to position the rocks in more extreme positions.

Polystyrene could be another option, if the rock is heaven enough to keep it down... but can again give some trouble with planting!

 

[Andrew Butler]

Hi @Fisher2007 how did you get on; what route did you take?
I know this will be too late for you but anyone else reading this thread for inspiration like myself 'Nyos Reef Cement' is a great product for securing the rocks to each other that I've used before and believe that 'Aquaforest Stone Fix' is pretty much the same product.
This doesn't help with the height issue I know

 

[Wookii]

Hi @Fisher2007 how did you get on; what route did you take?
I know this will be too late for you but anyone else reading this thread for inspiration like myself 'Nyos Reef Cement' is a great product for securing the rocks to each other that I've used before and believe that 'Aquaforest Stone Fix' is pretty much the same product.
This doesn't help with the height issue I know

Nice suggestion, never seen that stuff before, and it looks like you get quite a lot for your money. Looks to be pretty strong too: