Rocks In Glass Tank

[MoMa]

apologies if this an old subject. did a search and found nothing...




I have a 48 gallon (us) glass tank that I want to do some redecorating in. I intend to use a sand substrate and include quite a bit of rockwork (tank will ultimately be a mbuna tank). The question I have is how much weight is too much? The tank has a tempered glass bottom with a strip of plastic running across the bottom middle for support. This 'support' piece is less than 1/8" (3.2mm) thick and about 2 1/2" (63.5mm) wide.

Does anyone have any ideas? Would one brand be better than another? Anyone have horror stories?

thanks,
MoMa

 

[PaulasPets]

Is that support strip on the inside or outside of the tank? If its inside, your outside is flat, so you can just rest the whole tank on a styrofoam sheet on top of a piece of plywood on the stand. This will evenly distribute your weight. I would also glue a piece of styrofoam to your rocks and set them right on the glass and after all rocks are in place you can fill the bottom up with sand. This will prevent the rocks from shifting and breaking the glass if your fish decide to start digging in the sand.

Regards,

Paula

 

[Tolak]

I'm assuming the plastic strip is on the outside, similar to a typical All-Glass design, since you are from the US. These tanks are designed with a floating base, syrofoam underneath isn't needed, as the rim supports the weight of the bottom. The bottom is designed to flex a slight amount, styro underneath won't allow this to happen if it touches the bottom, causing the bottom to shatter.

Before you add your substrate, get some egg crate from the lighting department of Home Depot or other such DIY store. Cut it to fit the bottom, this will prevent any pin point pressure on a small area from rocks. You will need aquarium silicone to secure the rocks as you stack them, a land slide in an aquarium is a real disaster. Add your first layer of rocks, then substrate. Secure each layer of rocks with silicone as you add them. You can fill a tank completely with rock using this method.

 

[MoMa]

phew!

thanks for the help!!!

-MoMa