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#1
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![]() I've used eggcrate under sand where live rock was located (to relieve and stress-points) in the past and had no issues but for a new tank I'm building, I'm contemplating putting a sheet of eggcrate covering the entire bottom of the tank to make changing aquascapes easier in the future.
I'm looking at about 1 - 1.5" of sand above the eggcrate. Anyone have an opinion on why this may or may not be a good idea. The obvious concern is that it may impede sand dwellers, sand sifters and the like. Anyone done this and regretted it ?
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-Mark 29 Gal Bowfront w/24" LED Lights. DIY HOB Sump (5.4 Gal) MP40. Orange Spotted Watchman Goby, 2 Clownfish and a few hermits. |
#2
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![]() I have 100% of my tanks bottom covered for a year and a half now. I've had a YWG, twin spot blenny, sand sifting star fish, nassaruis snails, etc and no one has seemed to mind.
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#3
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![]() How deep a sand bed do you have over the eggcrate ?
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-Mark 29 Gal Bowfront w/24" LED Lights. DIY HOB Sump (5.4 Gal) MP40. Orange Spotted Watchman Goby, 2 Clownfish and a few hermits. |
#4
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![]() Mine's about 1.5" |
#5
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![]() We had a good discussion about this early in the year. I ended up going with live rock directly on the bottom, with a shallow layer of sand all around.
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=81984
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Reef Pilot's Undersea Oasis: http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...d.php?t=102101 Frags FS: http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...d.php?t=115022 Solutions are easy. The real difficulty lies in discovering the problem. |
#6
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![]() Yup, I did it, dumbest thing I ever did. And now that I want it out, I can't remove it. I read it and thought "hey, I'll do that" for no real reason, and it was just dumb. The front part is exposed, it impedes sand dwellers and it doesn't actually do anything useful. It is not needed to relieve stress from rocks.
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Brad |
#7
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![]() So do you put the rocks on the bare glass and then add sand or put sand and lay the rock on the sand ?
I figure the latter would remove the need for the eggcrate in the first place but I'm concerned that sand dwellers could undermine the rock structures and cause collapses...
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-Mark 29 Gal Bowfront w/24" LED Lights. DIY HOB Sump (5.4 Gal) MP40. Orange Spotted Watchman Goby, 2 Clownfish and a few hermits. |
#8
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![]() Quote:
The discussion linked above, if it's the one I'm thinking of, will give lots of input. But rock won't break glass just by sitting on it.
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Brad |
#9
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![]() It seems to come down to a few criteria:
-Concern over pressure points on the glass -Bottom breakage due to falling rock If you're not particularly concerned with either of those, then there's no reason to put eggcrate at all ! I can't say I'm seriously concerned about pressure points and I'm not concerned at all about falling rock; it's just that in this tank, I've got more depth and can afford to pile more than a few rocks high and thought that perhaps the additional weight may pose a little more risk. I think that I'm not giving glass enough credit for it's strength....
__________________
-Mark 29 Gal Bowfront w/24" LED Lights. DIY HOB Sump (5.4 Gal) MP40. Orange Spotted Watchman Goby, 2 Clownfish and a few hermits. |
#10
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![]() After having the bottom crack on a tank I opted for egg crate. It just made me feel a little safer. I put 3-4 inches of course sandon top and never had any problems with sand blowing around.
I'm dis illusioned with sand tho. I had the deep sand bed go bad in my RSM a month ago and it was a mess tearing the whole tank down and rebuilding it. I have some days off.. So I'm siphoning the sand out of the bigger tank a small section a night and replacing it with a a single layer of crushed coral. I find I can clean the bottom with the crushed coral by just moving it around with the suction hose. Granted I can't get all the sand under the rocks but I'm getting most of it.
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"Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men." |