Dry rock, brake it or use it?

[arturoo1977]

Hi all, Im setting up a new 110g tank. I have some live rock and ordered 40lb of dry rock.
Thing is, yesterday I received dry rock and there are two huge pieces about 20lb each.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/j7euucj9cg1ct0h/c4134d11-0d40-4065-8006-ac77c63878a8.jpg?dl=0

My question is if I should use them as they are for foundation or brake them in smaller pieces and play with aquascape? Of course all other live rock would complete the scape.

Tank is very deep, about 28"

 

[arturoo1977]

Testing how to insert pics directly.....

 

[Dempsey941]

Yea I would break those bad boys up. More rock more flexibility when scaping

 

[RCS82]

I always break mine up into more interesting shapes. My hammer and chisel are never far away lol

 

[Mykawl]

I had fun chiseling and hammering mine into caves and random shapes a huge rock blob just isn’t appealing

 

[sawdonkey]

Big pieces make your aquascape look like a pile of rocks. Small pieces when fit together properly can look like a cohesive shape.

I’d either use these as base rock, but fill the gaps between them with small pieces, or just break them into two to three pieces. But with a 110, I don’t see why you can’t leave them whole and use as base to your structure.

 

[Be102]

What tools are used to chisel the rock? Got a few large pieces I want to break up

 

[Big G]

Masonry chisels work great. Your local builders supply will have a variety to choose from. Old, large, screwdrivers work too. A good mallet or hammer. I like what they call a "dead blow" mallet. Harbor Freight sells them pretty cheap.

Protect your eyes and hands while hacking away. Have fun.

 

[Big G]

These at HF are made for use in an air hammer tool, but would work great just with a mallet.

 

[Be102]

These at HF are made for use in an air hammer tool, but would work great just with a mallet.

Great thanks!! Do you recommend I split wet rock or dry it before splitting? ( I rinsed and soaked it last night to get dust off and whatnot

 

[FMF0331]

I'd break it , use the smaller rocks for frags

 

[Big G]

Great thanks!! Do you recommend I split wet rock or dry it before splitting? ( I rinsed and soaked it last night to get dust off and whatnot

I think it breaks cleaner when dry. Some of the dry rock, once it gets wet, gets a bit soft and gooey in places.

 

[Big G]

smaller rocks for frags

+1 ^^^ save all the bits and pieces in a 1 gallon zip lock bag.

 

[Be102]

+1 ^^^ save all the bits and pieces in a 1 gallon zip lock bag.

Great idea!