grate support for rock in tank

Welcome to the adventure!!

 

I have been researching this as well, as I am about to put together my new 150 gallon tank. From what I have read, the purpose of the egg crate is to dissipate the weight of the rock on the bottom glass while providing a secure surface to build your aquascape. The negative is that you have the egg crate throughout the entire bed that presents problems to the inhabitants who burrow. You don't want to place the rock on top of your sand base, which creates stability problems and dead zones. I really like the idea of using pieces of egg crate just under the rock. That gives you the weight distribution while not creating the other problems associated with covering the entire bed with the stuff. Anyone else have thoughts on this solution? I am going to be putting everything together this weekend, and that might be the route I will follow.

 

I dont believe the eggcrate is for weight distribution as much as preventing a pressure point caused by rock to glass contact while at the same time providing a stable platform to build upon. second it prevents your digging friends from undermining the rock and causing a rockslide in the tank that has proven disasterous results.

 

Good points. I bought a RSM250 yesterday, so I guess I wont have that problem

The LFS suggested since I'm using a DSB (deep sand bed), I should be okay. The tank in the store had about 70 lbs in it, and has been stable with all of the customers oohing and aahing over it for the past two years. My point being, if I glue my rock together, I should be stable enough that digging friends wont cause a problem. Having a DSB should also help provide enough stability. I guess time will tell

 

So guys, I filled my tank with sand first then added the live rock. I didn't use Egg Crate, however I push the rocks through the sand to the base of the aquarium. They there may be a bit of sand in between the rock and the glass but were not talking much.

Think thats an issue. Has anyone ever had a bottom break out because they didn't use egg crate and develop from a pressure point or something?

 

it's not common but also not unheard of. The real danger will be a large snail or crab shifting unsecured rock and causing it to topple and slide into the glass.

 

Eggcrate under the sand wo't do anything for that then. The rock will just hit the sand and disperse the weight. Epoxy is only thing that would help that.

 

epoxy to eggcrate

When I did my aquascaping, I wanted a large section to provide front and back access for the fish and other critters - more room for them to swim and hide. To accomplish this, I have a lot of rock built up in the middle with no vertical support.

• I cut the eggcrate for a tight fit to the bottom of my tank. I then put in sand to fill all the holes in the egg crate.
• The base rock was then epoxied to the egg crate and left to cure for a day.
• The rest of the rock was then epoxied together and left to cure overnight.
• I then added five gallons of water and the rest of my non-live sand (30lbs).
• And finally 60lbs of live sand on top and worked in around the rock.