Originally Posted by
Flower
http:///forum/post/3286042
That does not look stable...16 oz of epoxy isn't strong enough to hold rock and I personally don't think you should epoxy your rock anyway. Rock slides can break the tank and also crush your critters.
...how are you going to get to it?
muuahhahaahahah. Trust me, this thing is solid! (famous last words, right? lol) That is the cool thing about my aquascaping. Most people said "just take your time and stack it so you don't need epoxy or tricks." Well, try building a 24" tall structure with a diameter less than 10". You cannot build a stable strucutre that tall without help from some kind of adhesive. Now, the structure (seen below) has 5 basic layers. I wanted to take the advice of not making the structure permanent and couple it with the ability to actually build it this tall.
Levels 1 and 2 have no epoxy or adhesive. Just carefully placed rocks based on shape and size.
Level 3 has what I am calling "stability epoxy". That is to say the rock was just not quite the right shape and perhaps had some wobble to it. This epoxy took out the wobble. There might be a certain degree of adhesion as well, but the main goal was stability. All "stability epoxy" was applied directly under water.
It is not until level 4 that actual "bonding" took place. Level 4 consists of three rocks. These rocks were removed from the tank and allowed to dry. I then permanently bonded them together in two different sessions over 24 hours. "Stability epoxy" was then used at the three contact points, again not to adhere the levels together, but to provide an environment in which no lateral sliding could occur.
Level 5 is made up of two large rocks. These were also bonded together. This one was a little more tricky. The bonding points did not hold on one of the rocks. My solution to this was to put superglue on the hardened epoxy and put it back together now that the epoxy itself was the exact shape of the rock and all of its imperfections. This
[hr]
is not coming a part now. These two bonded rocks had three points of contact with level 4, where "stability epoxy" was again applied.
What all this crap means: As long as gravity continues to pull to the earth, the structure should remain solid. Perish the thought; but if I had to remove the rock; it can be done so in layers now.
Discuss
Additional thoughts: Seriously? I cannot say BA$TRD?? I know it is like looking at the leaning tower and expecting it to fall at any moment, but I have applied a lot of downward pressure and it is strong. I also thought like an anemone and simulated the pulling down of just one side of the rock as it is climbed...again stable. Time will tell eh?
