Do live rocks avalanche easily?
 

This is funny to say but my tank is setup close to our staircase and since I live with two other roommates in a townhouse and we run up and down the stairs and I have a slightly "larger" roommate who often lumbers around with heavy feet or gets animated while telling a story and I am slightly nervous that my live rock with avalanche and smash my tank. I don't have anything set up in the tank yet, but planning on having around 60lbs of live rock. With time will the rock start to "live" together and have a stronger bond and less chance of falling or am I just totally paranoid and the likelyhood of this would only happen if someone bumped hard into it?

you are most certainly not being merely "paranoid". Tumbling rockwork is a very real concern in a reef environment. there are several factors that contribute to rockwork collapse. Burrowing fish and inverts can undermine rocks that are not sitting squarely on the bottom of the tank, or on egg-crate. This can cause the rockwork to shift adn possibly cause a collapse. Another concern is that of your inhabitants. Emerald (Mithrax) Crabs, for example, are known to push rockwork over. Your best bet is to secure your rockwork by drilling holes and inserting rigid airline tubing as a support. Another option is use of a 2 part plumbers putty (must be labled "safe for potable water") to help support the structure.

thank you for your reply. The plumbers putty sounds like a good idea. Anyone have any additional tips they have run across?

You have several options. Live rock is very easy to drill through with a standard drill. You can easily drill holes in the back of each rock and then zip tie it all together. You can drill through the rock, stacking it on acrylic rods. I know SK likes to call 2 part Epoxy "plumbers putty" and it can be used to stop plumbing leaks, but don't buy "plumbers putty". It's completely different. It's a paste meant to seal sinks, tubs and faucets.

Bah!! You say Potatoe, I say Patahtoe. LoL.. If you want to get really technical, I use "PC Plumbing ,Hand Moldable, NSF Approved for Potable Water, Epoxy Putty Stick, Industrial Strength"