Advice regarding stones and aquarium glass...please :-)

[DCLion]

Hello all you lovely scapers with bounds more knowledge than lil ole me....

Ok, i'm really sorry if these have been answered before, i have looked but couldn't find what i was looking for.
I'm wanting to use stone, or more specifically slate in a future scape i'm planning.
My idea most will probly frown upon as i want to build a wall of sorts, with nooks and hidy holes for the planned nano shrimp, yeah i know been done before and not very 'natural'...don't care so nerrr

I'm concerned as slate can be pretty heavy in bulk loads and even if i was to use a small 30l the weight of the slate would be substantial. Is it recommended to place polystyrene between the slate and glass to give a buffer of sorts??.
Annnnd, next one ...i was hoping to use a mixture of slabs and construction trade roof slate to help give a better range of texture/shape and ability to create plenty of hiding places, by layering the slate. Even using a good flat/level slab as my base level, is it advisable to ether silicone the slate to the side/s of the tank, or again use some form of buffer layer between slate and glass side??.

Of course i could get half way in to this idea and decide to bin it, i'm known for doing this with over half my paintings and jewellery ideas hahahaha

Thanks guys for any advice offered

 

[DCLion]

Oh, when i say layer the slabs, i would like to go pretty much to the water level if i could

 

[Dominic]

What about egg crates? If you just used it on the bottom between the first piece of slate and glass i wouldnt have thought that it would be a problem as long as you have polystyrene or carpet etc between the tank and cabinet

People use loads of slate and other rocks in huge setups, so i wouldn't worry about the weight of the slate too much

 

[Ben M]

I agree with the egg crate idea. I have it in my 4ft mbuna setup, which has a hell of a lot of rocks in it and I've never had any problems. I don't think the actual weight is the problem. I think the main problem with having stacked rocks in a tank is pressure points. If the bottom rocks on the pile aren't perfectly flat they will cause a lot of pressure on a point on the glass which can break it. Egg crate with spread the load more evenly.

 

[OllieNZ]

Also agree with the egg crate. Check this out....