Egg Crate

[strttndrrn]

ive read using egg crates are good for seting the rock on and then sum people are telling me that they are bad i dont no weather to get sum or not what do u think

 

[ben1987]

well in some ways its good and other its bad

it means that the rocks arent actually in direct contact with the galss bottom of the tank. Some people get worried about the bottom of their tank cracking

on the other hand, it restricts the sand, so creatures that lives/sleeps in the sand dont do so well.

i always make sure my rcok stucturs are secure so they cant fall and damage the base of the tank, then put sand in after. ive never had a problem

 

[drsquirrel]

If the crate is only 1/2" and your sand is 3-4" does it really restrict the "burrowing" fish that much?

I've been looking around for egg crate, no idea why the price is so "high", though "koi filter grid", almost the same thing tends to be cheaper and slightly thinner - which would suit the reasoning for using it above...

 

[ben1987]

3-4" of sand could cause you problem when fish burrow in it a bit later down the line. It would be classed as a deep sand bed, with anerobic bacteria and exposing some of this bacteria to air could cause you a spike

 

[drsquirrel]

Then you could say that the eggcrate will stop fish from delving that deep thus allowing the deepest bacteria to go unaffected?

 

[ben1987]

not at half inch i dont think.
your still going to have 3.5 inches of sand on top. also depends what grain sizes you use etc. why do you need so much sand? why not 1-1.5"?

 

[drsquirrel]

not at half inch i dont think.
your still going to have 3.5 inches of sand on top. also depends what grain sizes you use etc. why do you need so much sand? why not 1-1.5"?

Probably because I am confusing cm and inches, which explains my silly results recently for calculating how much sand I needed

(Neither did anyone point it out! )

What about using a thinner egg crate if people want to keep the rock off? Or maybe there is a better solution for people wanting to keep their rock off of their bottom glass.

 

[steelhealr]

Thumbs down on eggcrate in my books. Limits substrate aeration, creates deadzones, affects burrowing creatures.

SH

 

[ben1987]

not at half inch i dont think.
your still going to have 3.5 inches of sand on top. also depends what grain sizes you use etc. why do you need so much sand? why not 1-1.5"?

Probably because I am confusing cm and inches, which explains my silly results recently for calculating how much sand I needed

(Neither did anyone point it out! )

What about using a thinner egg crate if people want to keep the rock off? Or maybe there is a better solution for people wanting to keep their rock off of their bottom glass.

if it were me i wouldnt bother, ive never had any problems with just scaping direct on teh glass. if i was worried id use something like thin perspext flat on the bottom glass

 

[APG78]

I was thinking about this too, my LFS suggested using it. The base of my tank is 1524cm x 457cm, on top of 5-10mm Styrofoam, then solid cabinet. If I drop my rock on the glass, my fault, might crack?

Putting the LR straight on top of the sand? LFS say that's a bad idea as it CAN be moved by fish burrowing around/under the rock.

What thinks everyone else? Just lay the rock on top? Or move the sand and make sure I'm careful doing my aquascaping?

Sand was added to my tank before rocks, so will be creating a lot of washed up murkiness, but not a big problem for me - way off adding live stock yet.

 

[ben1987]

you usually put rocks onto the glass, then sand after. then the main supporting parts to your aquascape are sat firmly on the flat glass surface

 

[APG78]

you usually put rocks onto the glass, then sand after. then the main supporting parts to your aquascape are sat firmly on the flat glass surface

Cheers - moved the sand out the way and got a few bits in. Just need about another 40Kg - that'll break the bank!

 

[ben1987]

you usually put rocks onto the glass, then sand after. then the main supporting parts to your aquascape are sat firmly on the flat glass surface

Cheers - moved the sand out the way and got a few bits in. Just need about another 40Kg - that'll break the bank!

aye the rock seems expensive now...wait til you stock the thing

 

[APG78]

aye the rock seems expensive now...wait til you stock the thing

True. Been looking, no idea what we want. Well, the obvious choice of 2 clowns