Base for slate tile to line bottom of tank

[Cria]

I'm setting up a 75 g for my turtle and want to cover the bottom with slate tiles. I currently have tiles just resting on the bottom of his smaller tank. Because the bottom of the tiles isn't flat, I'm concerned about stagnant water and crud accumulating, so I'd like to glue the tiles down to something that I can then put on the tank bottom. I don't want to glue them directly to the tank bottom because they'd be neigh impossible to remove in the future if I wanted to.

I was thinking of gluing them to cork sheets at first, but I don't know if any of the glues are 1) safe for turtles/fish, or 2) waterproof.

Then I was thinking of gluing them to acrylic, but Silicone doesn't bond to plexiglass permanently so I'm looking for ideas, recommendations.

Thanks.

 

[jjohnwm]

I had a similar set-up...and similar concerns. In typical fashion, I did nothing and waited to see what would happen. I made sure when doing water changes to direct a forceful flow onto the floor to flush out under the tiles; no problems ever developed. Depending on what type of filtration you use, try to direct the filter exhaust down for the same reason.

My tiles were ceramic rather than slate, but they were still a bit uneven on the bottom surface, so I assume the situation worked about the same.

 

[fishdance]

Look into imitation slate vinyl plank (flooring) but get the textured stuff which has colour right through the profile so surface scratches don't show up.

This is heavy enough to stay on the bottom but easy enough to pull out for a water change.

 

[Oughtsix]

You could silicone the tiles in but that would be a headache if you ever wanted to remove them.

Have you considered proping the tiles a 1/2" off the bottom. Drill a hole in the back corner of one of the tiles. Then plumbing the intake of your filter to the hole so it sucks water from under the tiles and hopefully a good bit of debris that works it way under the tile?

Just a thought.

 

[tigerbob]

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o o o o o o o
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egg crate
pipes

 

[Cria]

Oughtsix and tigerbob, those are very interesting ideas.

At one point I wondered if there was a way to have one tile a bit higher so that there was a gap between edges and have the filter intake under the higher tile and if it would ever pull hard enough to actually suck poo etc across the tank bottom, kind of like a linear drain in a shower...

I got a sheet of craft foam at Joanne Etc. I'm pretty sure it is EVA foam, which *seems* to be aquarium safe. I'm thinking of gluing the tiles to that with silicone. It's flexible enough to get it into the tank after gluing without too much trouble (I think) and then I can silicone the edges only to keep water from getting down below.

My other idea was to use the plastic canvas made for needle point crafts (and used by some to make aquarium dividers), and glue the tiles to that, but not sure how well the silicone would flow into the material to give a smooth bottom...