Newbie here with some LR questions

Hello all,

I am currently cycling a 65g I converted from freshwater to salt. The question I wanted to ask is about using the eggcrate/light diffuser from home depot. Do you guys use the diffuser underneath to protect the tank?

I wanted to ask before I start stacking abouter 50 lbs of live rock.

Thanks all!

 

Welcome to 3reef.

Eggcrate/light diffuser is commonly used beneath the rock t protect the glass from scratching/cracking.

50 lb is a good amount to start with. DO you already have the 50 lb of live rock? If not, I suggest you save yourself some money & get mostly dry, or "base" rock & seed all that with a few pounds of live rock.

 

You can use eggcrate, but it can create a dead zone where it will release phosphates which can cause problems, but I'm sure some will know how to minimize the dead zone issue.

Welcome to 3reef!

 

Get smaller cuc critters just for this?

 

I don't think cuc will help much because the eggcrate will be further down?

 

Depends on how deep of a sand bed you have. I will be going with maybe 1.5", tops.

 

I found this in another thread, "Telgar" wrote "The dead spots are easy enough to minimize, I cut 4 strips of crate 3 squares wide and spaced them across the bottom then laid the main sheet down on top of it. This raises it 1/4 inch off the bottom and the only potential dead spots are in the 4 strips".

Link to the thread: http://www.3reef.com/forums/sand/egg-crate-bottom-86999.html

 

Good idea. I don't have eggcrate in my tank currently & don't use it(yet). Exactly how thick is eggcrate, as in how high off the tank bottom would it make the rock, not counting for sand depth? Would this be that 1/4" ?

 

I think the eggcrate I have is about 1/2"

I will be running no sand in my tank, so I wonder if it would look weird with eggcrate under the LR. I was thinking about only putting small pieces of eggcrate under the rock and not the whole tank.

Any thoughts?

 

I think if you want to go BB then eggcrate just under the rocks would look better.