# Can't Decide How to Stack Flagstone - help



## DrewHase7 (Aug 31, 2011)

I have about 300 lbs of flat Sandstone / Flagstone for my 4' 120 gallon with Mbuna in there. Right now have about 30 Mbuna all less than 3" at the moment.

I have seen some of the posts and pics have a jumbled up look, and others are too organized like an apartment complex. I'm trying to get a lot of caves, but not get that perfectly stacked look.

Do you think that I have accomplished that, or should I start over and just throw all the flagstone into 2 or 3 large piles?

I probably have to re-arrange anyway. The rock is too close to the back and **** gets stuck back there even with all the water flow I have going.

Can anyone give suggestions about good ways to stack this efficiently? The way it is set up is egg-crate then some bigger pieces on bottom. Then I put down the sand and covered the bottom layer of rock and started stacking. I like the giant pile of rocks look, but think that I should have gotten river-rock boulders to go that route.

Front









Left Shot









Right shot









closeup


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## Aulonocara_Freak (May 19, 2011)

Honest opinion here, I love the look of the rock's on the left!  The rock's to the right are pushed to far back IMO and are stacked neatly unlike the rock's on the left. I would keep the rock's on the right side higher then the rest but get some more to straighten it out with the rock's on the left.

Also, I have to agree with you mate, unorganized rock's don't look as good as randomly placed one's.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I hope this is taken as advise rather than just needless bashing. Just look at it as another thought and see if it fits your thinking, okay?

I let the fish make the decision of what they like. In these pics, I see few fish in the rocks. That tells me that you missed the purpose of the rocks as far as the fish can tell. They want hiding places and they have hardly any. Either the rocks are too flat on each other for the fish to fit between or they are open to view from the front in many cases. You have plenty of rocks but they are arranged as a human would like them which is not what fish want. When they want to hide, it is from you as well as other fish. Pulling some of the rocks down at angles will let them hide and they will be much more at ease. 


> good ways to stack this efficiently?


 Sorry. Nature is often not efficent. It is random. Can you get more small slender peices or break some so that the larger can be propped on the smaller so they tilt more? It will give a variety of spaces and the fish will find the one they like.

Placing the rocks and then covering with sand before placing more can be a hazard. The fish have a super natural talent for getting sand out from under rocks. At some point they may get enough out to make the top rocks collapse on the tanks walls which can make a nasty scratch. Better to not have rocks depend on sand support. The little buggers can suck sand out from under a twenty pound rock but they can't move the rock itself.

Enjoy your fish and I hope this helps a little.


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## DrewHase7 (Aug 31, 2011)

I appreciate the feedback. More constructive criticism is always wanted. I had rearranged the left hand side to kinda see if that would be what I liked, and it seems like that will be the way I go with the tank possibly.

I do have all rock-rock contact though. I did all my rockwork before putting sand in. I'm sure that will change though if I re-do it though.

I am kinda regretting not just doing Holey rock, but didn't want to have white sand with white rocks. Oh well, maybe I'll get more rocks another time.

What about mixing rocks? I don't see that too often, and might find some similar colored rock to use. I might also just take a sledgehammer to a few pieces to make small chunks.

I'm just nervous about stacking the right side up high without having it organized. I was thinking maybe put a big round rock in the middle to make a tee-pee, but not sure how dumb it would look. Most of my chunks are about a foot wide.

My fish are usually using all the rocks, but they are greedy pigs, and whenever I walk by come running to the feeding trough.

Keep the criticism / suggestions coming. Thank you for the help.


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## newforestrob (Feb 1, 2010)

Instead of laying them all flat ( horizontally ),stack some of them on different angles.and breaking some of them would probably work out,so they dont look as flat,if you do end up breaking some of them,be sure to remove sharp edges,I find hitting the edges with a hammer works,I think it looks pretty good already,just some minor tweaking is needed


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## CITADELGRAD87 (Mar 26, 2003)

Maybe get some different rock types, to use to "randomly" prop up the slate? Rounder river types, some curved lace, anything to get a little variety. From a purely aesthetic strandpoint, even though you do have nice, natural looking rock, it is VERY uniform in thickness and size. It's a bit bricklike because you are basically working with bricks.

do not get me wrong, I like the slate, I just think you need to mix it up a bit.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

A suggestion if you do get around to breaking rock- don't try to kill it with one blow. You may just wind up with crumbles. Far better to score it along where you want it to break. Most anything metal like an old screwdriver or even a spike will do to score the line. Once scored try putting the rock over a gap and tap fairly lightly along the line. Increase the strength as you work and at some point it will break, often along the line. Think of repeated vibration rather than strong blows. That's the way a jackhammer works. Just repeated blows rather than cutting through all at once.


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## DrewHase7 (Aug 31, 2011)

Oh, that's a good tip about scoring it. I've done that with bricks, but didn't think it would work with rock because it isn't as uniform. Definitely worth a try though.

I was trying to smash them up, but all I ended up with were thin chips.

The landscape store is right next to the house, so I might just pick up some and test the scoring technique.

Thank ya'll


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

My son breaks 2" thick bluestone for me with a sledge and a chisel. Two bluestones are laid side-by-side on the garage floor with a space in between. The target stone is laid across these. The chisel on top is rapped with the sledge hammer.

The breaks are not perfectly regular, but you basically get the sizes you seek.


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