Sandbed and LR question

[satellite4881]

I am about to set up my tank. Would you suggest when setting up the tank I place rocks directly on sand? use pvc pipe under the rocks? or build a plenum?? What are the advantages or disadvantages of each??

TIA

 

[taillonjohn]

I've been doing research on these different methods as well. suggest you look in the advanced topics forumn, where there are currently many really good debates on various filtration method using sand or no sand

 

[sgallagher7]

From the research that I have done, use 2" to 3" pieces of acrylic rod to lift the rock up. Buried rock will decompose over time. Placing the rock on the sand can be tricky if you have critters that like to dig. They can cause your rock to shift and possibly fall.

What I am doing is placing a thin sheet of acrylic on the bottom of my 75 and then gluing 3" pieces of acrylic rod all over the sheet. This will lift my rock up off of the bottom and prevent breakdown. After the rock is cured, I will place my sand with a funnel attached to a 1 1/2" piece of PVC. If you want to place the rock directly on the bottom, I would recomend the acrylic sheet to keep the rock off of the tempered glass.

 

[satellite4881]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9808627#post9808627 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sgallagher7
From the research that I have done, use 2" to 3" pieces of acrylic rod to lift the rock up. Buried rock will decompose over time. Placing the rock on the sand can be tricky if you have critters that like to dig. They can cause your rock to shift and possibly fall.

What I am doing is placing a thin sheet of acrylic on the bottom of my 75 and then gluing 3" pieces of acrylic rod all over the sheet. This will lift my rock up off of the bottom and prevent breakdown. After the rock is cured, I will place my sand with a funnel attached to a 1 1/2" piece of PVC. If you want to place the rock directly on the bottom, I would recomend the acrylic sheet to keep the rock off of the tempered glass.

What about an eggcrate and then just ziptie the pvc pipes to it??

 

[sgallagher7]

People on the forum had problems with the eggcrate filling with sand and acting as a barrier to sand sifting animals. Some suggested that the stagnant sand would create problems in the tank.

 

[woodman24]

What is an acrylic sheet?

 

[sgallagher7]

You can get a thin sheet of acrylic or plexiglass at HD or lowes, Then cut it to size with a dremel. I will post a picture of what I did with the acrylic rods and sheet.

 

[elegance coral]

I run my tank BB with a DSB in my refuge. It is much easier to keep things clean like this.

 

[sgallagher7]

This is what I did on a sheet of plexiglass to hold up my rock.

 

[woodman24]

wow okay thanks for the pic sgallagher7. I haven't bought any in a while, but I think that plexiglass will be pretty expensive for my 125 not to mention I don't have a dremel to cut the overflows out. I like your suggestion though.

 

[sgallagher7]

The plexiglass is fairly cheap at Lowes (approx 20 bucks). You could piece 2 pieces togther. It can be cut with a utility knife and a straight edge. The rods were cut with a simple hand saw. Each piece is approx 2 inches high.