What size acrylic rods to support rockwork?

bo0sted2g · Dec 5, 2018

For those of you who aquascaped using a drill and acrylic rods, what size diameter rod did you use?

I am thinking about rescaping my tank soon and am looking into using a combo of stone fix and acrylic rods. I just dont know what size I should go with. I need it to be able to support some overhangs

Thanks!

CHEWAL · Dec 5, 2018

bo0sted2g said:
For those of you who aquascaped using a drill and acrylic rods, what size diameter rod did you use?

I am thinking about rescaping my tank soon and am looking into using a combo of stone fix and acrylic rods. I just dont know what size I should go with. I need it to be able to support some overhangs

Thanks!

1/8 works the best

CMD2213 · Dec 5, 2018

CHEWAL said:
1/8 works the best

Any specific type of drill bit best for rock?

Instigate · Dec 5, 2018

CMD2213 said:
Any specific type of drill bit best for rock?

Masonry

cromag27 · Dec 5, 2018

i would go with 1/4” to be safe. 1/8” is very thin and can snap easily.

CHEWAL · Dec 5, 2018

I went with the 1\8 and it's a lot stronger than people think. I used a 3\16 masonry bit and it works great

KCSUMPS · Dec 5, 2018

I was using 1/8 and 1/4 and both worked well. The 'trick' was putting glue IN with the rod and not drilling holes to large...

Here is what we did with it...

IMG_7871

KCSUMPS
Nov 25, 2018

Water Finally Going in today... 3 months coming...

ncaldwell · Dec 5, 2018

I used the cheap 1/4 in fiberglass rods lowes sells for marking driveways and firehydrants under snow. They held up really well

BirdGuy21 · Dec 5, 2018

ncaldwell said:
I used the cheap 1/4 in fiberglass rods lowes sells for marking driveways and firehydrants under snow. They held up really well

Exactly what I am using. They are about 1/4, used a masonry bit.

JCTReefer · Dec 5, 2018

1/4 inch fiberglass rods from lowes is what I used. " highway reflectors/markers" I've used acrylic rod too. A lot more expensive. I used 1/8th x 9 inch acrylic rod to peg corals. A 30 pack of rod was like 12.00 on amazon. US plastic coorp has a good selection of acrylic rod if you don't have a local place. I've also used pex pipe from lowes. It's not quite as rigid as the fiberglass though. I've always liked drilling rock and securing. I've never trusted epoxy to much. Get a quality masonry bit if you can. The cheap ones don't work very well. It also helps to use some water to keep the drill bit cool when drilling. Plus it drills a lot easier with water also. Here's a late night shot of everything tied together. It's very sturdy.
5 total rocks for the main structure. This is a very new set up! Now for everything to just grow out!!

Dubs83 · Dec 5, 2018

For what it’s worth, I used 3/8 threaded nylon rod with 3/8 nut. I’d drill with a 3/8 masonry bit, insert the threaded rod and super glue a nut on one side once I made up my mind. I’d then cut the rod to length on the opposite and tighten another nut to hold the structure together while I used emarco cement. Then superglue some rubble to hide the nut. Will never do it any other way.

This is how I was able to create the overhang at 20” from the baserock

PhreeByrd · Dec 6, 2018

FWIW, a masonry bit is completely unnecessary. Reef rock is extremely soft compared to concrete, which is what masonry bits are designed for. A plain high speed steel twist drill bit is fine. It will dull, but they are cheap and easily replaceable. Even a dull HSS bit will easily bore through reef rock. Just make sure the bit you get is long enough.

Sleepydoc · Dec 6, 2018

rather than acrylic, I used the fiberglass rods you can get at the hardware store for marking your driveway. Much stiffer & less likely to break. I got a masonry bit, but PhreeByrd is right- most rock is just calcium carbonate and not that hard, so a regular bit will work fine. Just be prepared to throw it out.

ScottB · Dec 7, 2018

@Dubs83 excellent suggestion gluing the nuts and using threaded nylon rods. That would've made several of my pieces easier to build. Great looking scape too.

I will throw out one more suggestion: Using rods (clear acrylic 3/8 in my case) I built tripod legs under each base rock so that it "floats" at the sand level. Zero detritus traps; I can just use a small pump/hose to blast under the rock at WC time. Plus the engineering gobies can move all the sand they like and nothing falls over.

Dubs83 · Dec 7, 2018

ScottB said:
@Dubs83 excellent suggestion gluing the nuts and using threaded nylon rods. That would've made several of my pieces easier to build. Great looking scape too.

I will throw out one more suggestion: Using rods (clear acrylic 3/8 in my case) I built tripod legs under each base rock so that it "floats" at the sand level. Zero detritus traps; I can just use a small pump/hose to blast under the rock at WC time. Plus the engineering gobies can move all the sand they like and nothing falls over.

Thanks. I found these to give example.

You can see two rods there

Three here with two of them secured with nylon nuts

Completed structure before flying rubble to cover up all the bits. RED are the rods and Blue is the emarco cement. Total of 3 threaded rods. Structure is SOLID

ScottB · Dec 7, 2018

Well documented; that final pic tells the story. Did you work from the base rock outward to the branch or build the branch first, then attach that to the base?