Tank Bottom - Egg Crate or no?

[cmtbears34]

Hey there,

I am finally about ready to get my 120 gallon tank up and running. One question I had was regarding using egg crate on the bottom of a tank...any positives/negatives to using it?

I have in the past just left the bottom bare with sand and rock...any advice/thoughts? Should I use something else?

Thanks in advance,
-Matt :.

 

[joelg]

I like using the egg crate on the bottom to protect the glass from the live rock

 

[Mcubed]

Lots of people have used egg crate with out any problems. I prefer to use flat pieces of acrylic under the rock structures. I wonder if dead areas of sand could form in the eggcrate?

 

[cmtbears34]

Thanks for the input! I think the egg crate would be good for protecting the bottom, definitely better than nothing. I hadn't thought about dead areas of sand that fill in the egg crate...something to think about.

Does anyone know if egg crate affects burrowers or sand sifters like Diamond Gobies?
-Matt

 

[DoctaQ]

that will ultimateley come down to how thick your sandbed is to begin with, just dont count the crate as sand thickness

 

[jdemarco]

I took some advice of others a few years ago when i was setting up my tank and i placed my larger foundational rocks on PVC cuttouts basically that had been cut from long piece of very large opening PVC pipe (basically look like 4inch connectors) and they sit well below the top of the sand bed and i even put large holes in the sides and around the circumfrance so that there are no dead spots within the rings themselves but they supprt the rocks well and so far so good.....

 

[SteveDola]

I have never had a problem with placing rocks directly on bottom of tank. the only way I would put plastic or eggcrate on my bottom would be if the glass was thin and I think a 120g has thick enough glass to support rockwork.

 

[stingythingy45]

I've had eggcrate under my rock for over 2 years now in my 90 gal. with no issues.
I run a DSB of approx. 4 inches in depth.

 

[cmtbears34]

Great, thank you all for the input on this...really helps out!

-Matt