Bottom Glass Support?

[fishbone]

Hi,

We are still on the 'gathering' stage of building up a tropical aquarium. Our recent purchase of a Juwel Trigon 190 tank is the starting point but I have a question/concern about the tank itself.

Due to the design of the tank, the glass base is lifted from the bottom stand by around half an inch (guess). Now I don't think the missus will be filling the tank up with masses of rock for a tropical set up so it shouldn't be a problem for now, however, would it be prudent to fill the gap with some polystyrene to help insulation from below? I'm thinking about saving a bit of power used by the heater long term really.

Should the tank be converted to Marine at a much later date, I intend to stick some slats of wood underneath to spread the weight, I've seen a couple of these tanks with masses of rock in them and was wondering if others have had the same concern or simply got on with it and never looked back?

So, has anyone out there with a similar Trigon tank done anything about the gap under the glass?

Cheers

 

[doresy]

My guess is no to filling the 'void' under the base. The bottom rim must be supported evenly all the way around. When you place rocks in tank the weight 'footprint' is spread and there is a certain amount of bouyancy factor in place too. I reckon that if you support as you have suggested it will crack
Added.....placing a polystyrene ceiling tile in the void may help slightly with insulation but with a good measure of substrate in there I hardly think it neccessary

 

[Tolak]

That's a floating base design. Do not try to fill that gap, the bottom is designed to be supported by the sides. If you want to do any major rock work, line the bottom with eggcrate, found in the lighting department of any diy shop. Add large rocks, using aquarium sealant to secure any that are stacked. Add your substrate last.

I've seen tanks completely filled with rocks using that system.

 

[rjsmith]

Tolak - What's eggcrate please?

 

[Bloo]

A from of eggcrate.

 

[BINKSY]

as this subject is towards egg crate, any ideas where to buy some in the uk?



Cheers Gordon

 

[fishbone]

Thanks everyone for the advice, I'll leave the tank as is until my husband decides to pinch it and turn it into a marine tank. For now I'm sticking with tropical, have filled the tank, added the gravel and (soaked) mopani wood, just waiting on some plants and for the tank to cycle.
Cheers (Mrs fishbone)

 

[rjsmith]

A from of eggcrate.

Thank-you. Does it act as a protective layer then for the bottom of the aquarium?