Acrylic Rods for building LR structures.

[Beckmola24]

For my 90g I am thinking about using acrylic rods to build my rock "structures". Can someone give me some advice on how to do this? Do y'all just make a frame, or drill holes in the rock and feed it through the rock?? I want the structure to be sturdy. If y'all don't use acrylic rods, is there an alternative you use?? I guess I'm just curious to how everyone goes about making sure their structures don't come crashing down... Also, What diameter rods does everyone find works the best (if that's what you use)???

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[JPG@CFI]

Becky,

We use 1/2" cell cast rod, and drill through the live rock. It also helps to have the right rock connections in LA. I've been getting 25-80lb rocks for years. Which hepls when you have customers with 30"-48" tall tanks. A rule of thumb is 3 rock layers and that is it. Too squirley if you go higher.

Hope this helps you,

Jason
CFI
worldclassaquariums.com

 

[Paul B]

Becky, I use acrylic rods (and PVC pipe) to not just put rock together but to actually build the rock. This way I don't have to put smaller rock together, I can make what I want. I also sometimes build some fake rock and incorporate real rock with it. Even in my own tank I can't pick out the pieces I built or collected.
Here is one under construction and the smaller one is made from acrylic rod.
Paul

 

[Maxx]

Becky,
all I did was find a local place that sold acrylic rods, bought the same size as the largest drill bit my drill would hold, (3/8ths of an inch), and drilled holes in the rock and stuck the rods in. I added rock as I saw fit to make the most interesting shapes to me. If it felt loos or unstable, I drilled more holes and added more rods for structural stability.

Nick

 

[o2manyfish]

I used a product called Safe-T-Grate which is fiberglass and built structures out of that and then set the rack on top of it.

Super stong stuff.

Dave B