eggcrate under sand...

[scbrooks87]

Yay or Nay?

Will be 29g tank, pretty shallow sand bed... Mostly just for aesthetics... I was thinking of putting down egg crate on the bottom under the sand so the rocks arent sitting right on the glass.

Is there any negative effect of this? It's sometimes hard to weed through whats real and false, I've heard the "its fine" and the "causes areas of no water movement which makes for notrate factories"

I just want a solid, clear answer backed by solid facts lol.

And if it doesnt work, maybe a solution?

Thank you in advance! :D
-Scott

[albano]

Rock is more stable ON glass, than on sand...forget eggcrate. Other option is to drill bottom rocks and put 'legs' in it, to elevate rock off bottom, completely!

[Joe]

If you're going to have a DSB, then no, I wouldn't place eggcrate in the sand. The life that you will need to make the sandbed "live" and turn it over will be hindered by the eggcrate.

Joe

[cloak]

If you are going to place your rocks on the glass, you'll have to be very carefull when your hands are in the tank. Sometimes the slightest bump will cause your rocks to slide, disrupting the whole rock structure. I've spent way too many hours trying to put my reef back together. There's epoxy in some of the hot spots now, but it's still someting that I have to watch out for.

[Anemonebuff]

Go to a crafts store and get the plastic mesh they use to do needle point. It is very thin and not interfere with the sand critters.

[scbrooks87]

So the answer is that egg crate is undesireable in the sand bed?

And just to clarify why I even thought to use it:
Keeping rocks off the bottom glass of the tank so it doesnt scratch the glass, as well as making it so if a rock falls, it doesnt take out the bottom of the tank.

I don't want to elevate the rocks above the sand bed, yes it makes things function better, but I just dont like how it looks personally. I want the sand to hit the rocks, but dont want the rocks against the glass...

I may look at the mesh stuff though, good thought there! My sand bed will only be maybe an inch or so.

-Scott

[HorsePower]

I would not put eggcrate in the sand bed, If you have the sandbed and the rock falls it should not break the glass...

[fishchef]

I don't have a DSB, but my substrate is deep enough for my wrasses to bury themselves. I use eggcrate in my 125 and have for over 12 years in other tanks. It keeps the rocks from shifting from the diggers since I choose not to glue the whole thing together. The safety factor is why I started. Drop one rock on the bottom and you might wish you had. The sewing grid does sound like a good idea however.

[mark54321]

I have eggcrate in my tank with very shallow sand bed, I don't see any negative so far. I too use it for safety reason.

[crodger]

rocks falling should not break the glass, i also think it would just trap detrius