# How to achieve height/layers



## Colin Wrexham (Mar 24, 2017)

Hi. Lava rock is probably the most common as its lightweight. 
My method is to use aquatic pond compost built up in a mound/ hill. (Base layer).
Then position lava rock around the area i want to be higher. 
I then add a wet soil layer which starts to set the compost. 
I then add my layer of dry soil. 

I use the same method for placing heavy stones at height. 

A 10kg stone mounted 9inches in the air. 

Option 2. Sand bags built up with either gravel or crushed lava rock. 

This is my 6ft x 18 x 18 with about 60kg of stone supported using this method. The weight is dispersed. 

Hope that helps



















































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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

TLWR said:


> not sure I can post links or not, but if so, how is this hill done? I'm guessing rocks then stuff piled on top of that to fill it in a bit?
> http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/as...-light-all4aquarium-ru-horizontal-gallery.jpg


In that tank the big rocks you see are used like a fence or retaining wall to support deeper layers behind them.

The deeper areas probably have a bottom layer of small lava rocks or something to build initial height, then a few inches of regular substrate material on top of that. 

As for how much weight can a tank take? Its not really a matter of too much weight, water weighs 8.3 lbs per gallon after all.

But a lot of people dont like those big rocks touching bare glass on the bottom (I dont really have an opinion on that). So it's common to use plastic "egg crate" light diffuser material under the rocks. This keeps the rocks off the glass and also lets you adjust the final height

You can also use plastic drainage cells made for landscaping. I think that's what they're called, google to see what Im talking about


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## Colin Wrexham (Mar 24, 2017)

burr740 said:


> In that tank the big rocks you see are used like a fence or retaining wall to support deeper layers behind them.
> 
> The deeper areas probably have a bottom layer of small lava rocks or something to build initial height, then a few inches of regular substrate material on top of that.
> 
> ...


This is what i've just set up, i was showing him my method.
https://youtu.be/xYV-9RR6dIE

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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

That tank you linked is pretty deep; probably 18-24" front to back. That helps a lot with height because the slope doesn't need to be as steep. If your tank is narrower, it's going to be harder to build it up and keep it from settling.


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## Colin Wrexham (Mar 24, 2017)

Fishly said:


> That tank you linked is pretty deep; probably 18-24" front to back. That helps a lot with height because the slope doesn't need to be as steep. If your tank is narrower, it's going to be harder to build it up and keep it from settling.


18 x 18

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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Colin Wrexham said:


> This is what i've just set up, i was showing him my method.
> https://youtu.be/xYV-9RR6dIE
> 
> Sent from my SM-A530F using Tapatalk


Yeah I was talking about the tank linked in the OP, not yours. 

We posted about the same time, I should probably go back and edit for clarity.

Nice tank btw!


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## Colin Wrexham (Mar 24, 2017)

Yeah sorry burr i didnt see your post lol

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## TLWR (Oct 30, 2018)

Thanks for the info (and pics!) - very helpful
I never thought of doing a sandbag method.


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