Eggcrate under rock?

[Stormvillefish]

Setting up 135 fowlr tank ... does anyone use eggcrate under the rock or do you just put the rock directly on the glass? Also, I've read ... first put in some water, then live rock then sand ... how do most of you put the sand in the tank? I was thinking of using a PVC pipe and just pouring sand through the pipe to the bottom of them tank. Sorry for the newbie questions ... been keeping tanks for a long time and seems like I've been setting them up the wrong way all these years ... I always added the sand, rocks and then water!
- Mike

[lionfissh]

The reason you're suppose to have the rocks on the glass directly is for stability. If you have the rock on the sand you can have them shift positions and they can fall over, but if its a FOWLR and you dont have any sand burrowing fish that could disturb the sand then you should be ok doing it the way youre doing it.

[psilentchild]

I really don't think that there is a right or wrong way to do it.Its just a good and a better way to do it.What I did with mine and what Im going to do with my upgrade is half water then LR and place sand around the LR.You don't won't to place LR on the sand cause if the sand shifts for any reason your LR may fall.After I get done placing sand around my LR then I finish adding water.

[Stormvillefish]

Appreciate the responses ... I know why the sand is put down after the rock ... I was just concerned about putting the rock directly on the glass and was curious if anybody puts eggcrate under the rock so the rock isn't touching the glass.

[Marc]

Stormvillefish


Placing eggcrate under liverock is a fantastic way to prevent sudden sifting and movement of live rock, especially large pieces. Egg crate also prevents scratches from liverock to your tank as well as pressure points which could cause glass tanks to crack. Believe me, I have seen it happen. I have very large pieces of rock that way nearly 30 to 40 pounds each and I set them on egg crate to prevent slipping of the rock and to prevent scratching of the glass and to prevent catastrophic failiure. Eggcrate will support the rock more evenly without any pressure points of the rock on the glass.

Marc

[Wolverine]

I've also routinely used eggcrate under the rocks, for the stability reasons mentioned. The one downside is that you can get some deadspots in the space if you don't have a nice healthy sandbed.

[Eklikewhoa]

I do it on all my tanks... cheap sense of security.

Help keeps rocks from shifting and also disperses weight of rocks and keeps from having pressure points.

[IchthyoloChris]

At least IME, eggcrate reduced stability & caused more rockslides than it prevented. Also, it created more dead spots than live rock directly on substrate, & made maintenance more challenging. I'm sure there's a better way to do it than what I was trying, but in the end, it worked better for me to just keep things simpler.

[Wolverine]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14130155#post14130155 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by IchthyoloChris
At least IME, eggcrate reduced stability & caused more rockslides than it prevented. Also, it created more dead spots than live rock directly on substrate, & made maintenance more challenging. I'm sure there's a better way to do it than what I was trying, but in the end, it worked better for me to just keep things simpler.

How did you do it? This may help get to the root of the problem.
In my case, with our old tank, I had a piece of eggcrate that covered the entire bottom of the tank. If you have a lot of little pieces that are just sitting underneath the separate rocks, then those will slide just as easily as the rocks themselves, so you don't really gain any advantage.

[IchthyoloChris]

Oh, you know what - I just realized that I misread the original post. I was referring to elevating rock above the substrate to increase the contact area of a sand bed, using a combination of eggcrate & PVC. My bad. Guess I could use some more coffee today. Wolverine, I agree with the technique you describe: it would indeed prevent rockslides and protect the base glass.

[StayPuft]

There are a lot of digging fish, like most triggers. They'll dig under the rock and if it's placed on the sand, it'll shift and fall. I have my LR placed on eggcrate, then I placed the sand around.

[Stormvillefish]

Thanks for the great responses ... last question I have on using egg crate ... okay to just put under the rocks or do most of you cover the entire bottom with it? I was leaning towards just under the rocks. For those of you that cover the entire bottom ... do you have a problem with seeing the eggcrate if the sand gets moved around due to fish or water movement? Thanks again.

[Wolverine]

I like to cover most of the bottom with it, or, at the very least, brace it against the sides so it doesn't move. If you have just small pieces right under the rocks, those can slide around almost as easily as the rocks can, and you lose a lot of the benefit to having it there.