eggcrates

[Yinger]

Are eggcrates necessary for the bottom of the tank? Also, where do you get them?

 

[dznuts007]

HD

 

[Yinger]

sounds good, thanks! I was reading how people use it to distribute the weight of rocks so it doesn't put direct pressure on the glass. Any thoughts on that?

 

[DRC69]

Eggcrate collects all the junk, makes it harder to clean. I would use ONLY the least amount under the rocks ONLY. NOT the whole bottom.

 

[Sk8r]

I used it all over. No negative effects yet, but I'm only 6 mos into this. [It's in the lighting department, btw.]

 

[gcarroll]

It's not necessary but might be a good precaution if you have a rock slide. I used egg crate on the entire botton of my tank. Unless you are a barebottom reefer there is not much problem in cleaning the sand or gravel with a gravel vac.

 

[Yinger]

i'm not planning on doing a barebottom, however I want to setup everything right on this setup since i'll have it for a while. So no negative effects of eggcrate, is the only benefit to distribute the weight?

 

[gcarroll]

Since I wanted the rock in the tank to be resting on the bottom, to have a less chance of burrowing creatures causing a rockslide, I added the eggcrate. This was added while the tank was empty and siliconed to the bottom glass. I then added water and then the rock. After I was happy with the rock placement, then came the sand. I did not want to take a chance of a rock slide on the bare glass while deciding how I would stack the rock.

 

[Yinger]

hey gcarroll... do you have to silicone it? it won't move around if i don't will it?

 

[NicoleC]

If you are going DSB, be aware that the eggcrate is very damaging to the functionality of a DSB. If you want to go that route AND protect the bottom, starboard (aka cutting board) under your sand might be a better option. If it's just a layer of sand for aesthetics, the eggcrate will reduce any critter population but that's not critical for a shallow sand bed.

(But I like having a live shallow sand bed; the critters clean up the sand for me.)

To prevent rock slides, you can always chose to drill your rocks and secure them with acrylic rods or other methods.

 

[gcarroll]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7602985#post7602985 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Yinger
hey gcarroll... do you have to silicone it? it won't move around if i don't will it?

I doubt it will move. I just did it because the tank was empty and I was dealing with large rocks.

 

[Yinger]

sounds good, i just finished cutting the eggcrate. Nicole, I'm not planning on using a DSB in the display. I will however, be putting one in the fuge. The sand in the display is purely aesthetics, however i do want something in case of a rock slide. Thanks for the inputs

 

[GTR]

If you have fish that dig you'll be seeing the eggcrate.

SteveU

 

[hipertec]

are the egg crates the little squares that they use in frag systems?
where are u pick it up at HD? what dept?

 

[Yinger]

yup, its in the lighting dept