almostthere002

I read an article that said you shouldn't put anything near the sides because you cant clean behind it then. I see pictures all the time that looks liek the rocks are leaning on the back of the tank. What are your thoughts?

CHoffman

I wouldn't but anything against the glass for several reasons. You don't want to put extra weight on the glass that could strain the seals and cause a leak. If the rocks happen to fall they could easily break the tank. Also you wouldn't be able to clean behind there and that could cause high nitrates which isn't good for your fish. Also most fish like to swim in and out of things having it right against the glass would prevent them from being able to do that.

Just saw your talking about live rock..lol..That might change the swimming in and out of thing depending on how you have them stacked but the rest still applies

almostthere002

Thanks for the reply. I thought I read that somewhere. I dont have enough stuff in my tank to worry about it now but I might add to it

Hypnox

I have a drop off that leans against the back wall of my tank. However it is possible to make a pretty cool looking island if you were afraid of having rock against the tank back. Structurally speaking, the rock puts far more pressure on the bottom of your tank than the side glass.

Matt

It depends how stable the rocks are and how much wieght they are putting on the glass.

-Matt

candy803

In my 75g SW(you can see it in my pics) I re-scaped after that picture was taken and put rock too close to the glass and had 2 problems. First, I scratched the glass, which really wasn't a problem as much as a stupid, careless mistake. The main everyday problem was I could not clean that area of the glass. I would recommend keeping a wide enough space for a scraper or your glass will get yucky.