View Full Version : Here is a dump question about my tank set up!
SFChef79
04/23/2013, 01:18 PM
Getting ready to set up my second tank since my first FOWLR is gogin very well!
I want to make this tank into a reef tank eventually and everyone says to use lighting grid form lowes on the bottom, where the heck do you find that stuff? noone @ lowes know what I am taking about, so where is a good source for that plastic grid stuff? any got any ideas?
RocketEngineer
04/23/2013, 01:23 PM
Its in the lighting section near the fluorescent lights. Its considered a lighting diffuser.
worm5406
04/23/2013, 01:33 PM
ALSO by the acoustical tiles section.
JeffBowlin
04/23/2013, 01:38 PM
So is that the consensus from what you've been reading in RC; to use egg crate on the bottom under the rock?
I've always heard that one should just sit the rock directly on the bottom.
In the midst of a new build myself, and curios now.
Spyderturbo007
04/23/2013, 01:41 PM
That's what I did when I set mine up. It was helpful to stabilize the rock and also dissipate the pressure on the bottom glass.
RocketEngineer
04/23/2013, 01:47 PM
ALSO by the acoustical tiles section.
They are next to each other in mine so that may be why I associate them with lights. Good call, will have to remember that they are in either.
So is that the consensus from what you've been reading in RC; to use egg crate on the bottom under the rock?
I've always heard that one should just sit the rock directly on the bottom.
In the midst of a new build myself, and curios now.
Either on the glass itself or on the egg crate. My piles are stacked but not glued so having the rock catch on the egg crate keeps them from moving until I got the sand in. Plus my jawfish dug down under the main pile but nothing moved despite the tunneling efforts.
worm5406
04/23/2013, 01:50 PM
They are next to each other in mine so that may be why I associate them with lights. Good call, will have to remember that they are in either.
That is the same section in most... Just incase he forgot one place he might remember my idea.
HAHA...
alexander_ktn
04/23/2013, 02:12 PM
So is that the consensus from what you've been reading in RC; to use egg crate on the bottom under the rock?
I've always heard that one should just sit the rock directly on the bottom.
In the midst of a new build myself, and curios now.
I don't think there's consensus about doing it. With a shallower sandbed you might always see the eggcrate when sand gets blown around and some say that it hinders movement of critters in the sand and makes it harder to clean.
Fwiw I never used it, at first because egg crate is hard to get here and in the subsequent tanks because it worked without in the first one...
igot2gats
04/23/2013, 02:28 PM
Just like a lot of things in this hobby, it all comes down to preference.
There's no right or wrong way to do it. Using light diffuser/egg crate isn't the correct way of doing it - it's only correct if you are going to do it.
alexander_ktn
04/23/2013, 02:32 PM
Just like a lot of things in this hobby, it all comes down to preference.
Agreed! Just wanted to point out the other views I read on the forums here.
tommyhrs
04/23/2013, 03:16 PM
Look in the drop ceiling section at Lowes for the grid.
KeepNitReel
04/23/2013, 04:51 PM
All the Lowes in my area don't carry egg crate but all the home depot's do.
sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX using Tapatalk 2
devimik
04/23/2013, 05:02 PM
I ended up using some that I found at Lowe's. I didn't put entire layers over the whole bottom, but cut squares and rectangles of it and stacked them about 3 or 4 layers high to put under the rocks, so the rest of the sand bed has none, but the rocks are supported by the egg crate stacks. My sand bed is 4-5 inches deep and this worked well to stabilize the rockscape.
sail33
04/23/2013, 05:10 PM
I did not use egg crate inside the tank. I'm glad I didn't. I installed an algae turf scrubber and the light bleed has encouraged lots of stuff to grow below the sand . I think that the sand star and other critters have a better chance to get to that growth without egg crate.
If you place large rocks on the bottom and don't lean too much against the back wall causing a lever effect, the build should have good stability . At least mine does.
Hope this helps.
vBulletin® v3.8.4, Copyright ©2000-2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.