Egg Crate - Bad vs. Good

[bpitts4]

I have a tank that I am setting up and and on the bottom I was going to place egg crate to keep the rock off of the bottom glass. Would this be a bad idea? My concern is will the egg crate trap or hold any waste. I would think that if it going to be buried under 3 inches of sand it should'nt be a problem. What do you all think? I was also considering placing the rock on 3 inch peices of PVC as holders for the rock and to allow maxium flow under each rock so there are no dead spots in the tank.

Just curious what you all think.

 

[kirkwood]

i thought about doing the exact same thing on my recent build. I ended up deciding against it because if it did cause a waste buildup it would be an absolute nightmare trying to remove it. I've never had any problem with rockwork sliding around, so I figured the possible negatives outweighed the positives.

 

[jef4y]

Your concern is correct. The eggcrate will trap detritus and MAY cause problems (I wouldn't guarantee it, but it's a possibility).

You can avoid this by getting the rock down onto the glass. It won't hurt anything and is the best overall way to go.

 

[giulianom]

For glass, I could see putting the rock right on the bottom as not being a problem.


But for acrylic tanks, I'd personally would really not want to scratch the bottom at all - even if nobody would see it due to it being covered by sand.


How about short (1-2" tall) rings of 3" or 4" diameter PVC pipe to support the rocks in that case?

Cutting rings of 3-4" PVC on a table saw isn't too difficult....

 

[djatl]

I put egg crate under my rocks before adding sand based on a recommendation on RC. The good was that the rocks don't slip, so the aquascaping is more stable. I also felt more comfortable if a rock fell, that it wasn't going to hit glass directly.

The bad was that you see egg crate if the fish or powerheads dig deep enough. My diamond watchman goby loves to move sand, but it hasn't been a big problem. I haven't noticed any trapped detritus since the egg crate is normally covered in sand.

I'm setting up a frag tank, and I'm debating this question again, though I'm probably going barebottom in the frag tank, and very little rockwork.

 

[bpitts4]

Thats kinda what I had in mind. Cutting PVC rings to hold the rock.

 

[djatl]

I also remembered that some thought that egg crate could leach phosphates, but I don't know if that's confirmed. After all, I see it all the time as frag racks.

 

[frantz]

You could take a tube of aquarium safe silicone and put rubber feet on the bottom of rocks. That's what I did on my sandless nano and it keeps things in place fairly well.

 

[heathlindner25]

Frantz;831805 wrote: You could take a tube of aquarium safe silicone and put rubber feet on the bottom of rocks. That's what I did on my sandless nano and it keeps things in place fairly well.

that's a really good idea...! also lets a little flow get underneath them I'll bet..

 

[outdrsyguy1]

are you intent on sand or are you considering bare bottom? If you blow water under the rocks the sand will go everywhere I think. If you don't blow hard enough to push sand, then you just created a spot for detritus to settle that you can't clean. I'd rather be able to clean around the rocks than worry about a little bit working it's way under the edges every once in a while.
If you go bare bottom you can blow the crap out of the bottom, literally lol.

If you go bare bottom though, do some research and put the rock on supports or there's some sort of board like a cutting board I see people use.

 

[bpitts4]

Not going bare bottom and I was going to use special grade sand which is a bit coarse so it doesnt blow around as much. I am really considering using 3 - 4 inch PVC rings to hold the rock up just barely above the sand just to allow flow under all crevices.

 

[djatl]

Do the PVC rings end up trapping detritus? I was thinking about cutting holes in the side of them, to allow flow through them. Also, it makes a nice cave for the fish.

 

[giulianom]

Holes in the sides of PVC rings are probably a good idea.

If you make them large enough, critters and CUC should be able to get in.

I am thinking of using 4" diameter PVC cut to 3" tall, with 4 x 1" holes drilled around the sides.

I plan to make a V pipe jig to cut slices on my table saw, and also a drilling rig for a 1" hole saw.