ok here we go...
spliting rock. A flat head screwdriver, a hammer and a cement floor work quite well. Just work at it and it will eventually bust up.
there are numerous ways to secure rock zipties, putty, metal rods, braces, and just wedging them together. However, securing your rock is a very good idea, especially once you start adding inhabitants who might knock the rock over...which could crack the glass and empty your tank...no fun.
I like a combination of all of the above.
aquascaping is easy when you are starting a tank from scratch. Make sure the tank is mostly empty with water...easier to work that way.
zip ties-choose a color that is not noticable, I like black, and they may be visable for a while but will eventually be covered by coraline algae. To attach them either run them through holes already in the rock, or the prefered method is a power drill with a metal drill bit. Do this part out of water. I like to do my rough aquascaping out of water on some towels and cardboard...that way it is easier to move around and adjust and do the work, not to mention the risk of electrical hazard. Put your large base pieces roughly ziptied together outside the tank then have a friend/parent/indentured servant help you lift them into the tank. If you are going to be using metal rods drill the holes for these now at the apropriate diameter for the rod. run lots of zipties through the base rock and make them fairly tight, with just enough room to fit another zip tie through them.
Once the base rocks are in place and your base zipties are ready to go, start adding the other rock in the design you wanted, with zipties though that rock as well...daisy chain the two sets of rock together untill they are as tight as you can get it. At the same time if using metal rods insert them now. Just a note...make sure you have an excess of zipties, you will use alot, and you don't want to have to run out and get more.
So now you have got your basic design down with larger rocks, make sure everything is stable and then start filling in some spaces, use smaller rocks and putty as extra security and wedges against your other rocks. You can even daisy chain medium sized rock together to make bridges etc...(you can see and example of this in in the attached photos.)
Remember! Leave enough room so that you can fit your magnet scraper all the way around where you want to see in the tank.
Fill the rest of the water in and let it sit...It is good to be nervous, go back and check your work, make sure it remains stable...sleep lightly those first couple nights, I always do!
So here are a few pictures of my 90 that was aquascaped using all of the above techniques, you will see rock piles, then a large one piece bridge (about 14", long and thin, it is a great piece, if you get something like that dont break it, put it to good use.) Then on the far side there is another "bridge" linked together by 4 or 5 different pieces of rock.
hope this helped...feel free to elaborate on or ask questions...I am sure I forgot something rather important.
