It is sitting on the sand ..is that a rookie mistake ???its my first saltwater tank by the way
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Does this look like to much rock ??
- Thread starter gimmiks
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It is sitting on the sand ..is that a rookie mistake ???its my first saltwater tank by the way
...Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
the rock sitting on the sand could cause a pressure point and crack the glass/acrylic, unlikely but possible
O_O Never heard of this before lol. I have rock in some tanks straight on the glass :O!
Wont the sand bed just spread the weight out anyways? or how else should it be done? Add stryo under the rocks?
I always put eggcrate down in my tanks before adding any sand or rocks, it eliminates pressure points on the glass and helps distribute the weight out evenly.
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^ Eggcrate is good, it just makes it a bit harder to clean the sand or gravel. I used to put a silicone grid on the bottom of a dry tank and let it cure out, the rock with get cushioned and you can clean or rearrange easy to
f course with the tank like it is now that's not going to happen. Using flat rocks to spread weight out is good too.
f course with the tank like it is now that's not going to happen. Using flat rocks to spread weight out is good too.ah so if we start flat and spread out should be fine? thats how I made my wall kind off, big to small.
would have to take a bit of force to break the base of tanks, my RDs kick the rocks around with bare bottom and touch wood the tanks still fine!
would have to take a bit of force to break the base of tanks, my RDs kick the rocks around with bare bottom and touch wood the tanks still fine!
It is sitting on the sand ..is that a rookie mistake ???its my first saltwater tank by the way
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The concern is more of toppling the structure. If you get fish that like to digg(gobies, rays,etc) there is the danger of undermining the structure causing it to fail. Little sand granules under the rock could cause a stress fracture but you can place squares of acrylic under the rock to distribute the weight. Some reefers will order the tank with twice the thickness as the sides on the bottom to help with the huge weight issue, but the most common I've seen is simply placing 1/4" pieces of acrylic under the rocks that contact the bottom, distributing the weight. The acrylic is way strong and the piece of mind is also a bonus.
The eggcrate is only about 1/2" thick so unless you're going for a very shallow sandbed it shouldn't interfere with and burrowing animals. I like to keep my sand around 2" deep so there is plenty of room for burrowing, until my stock rearranges everything and creates pits and hills all over.
Forget about the FX 5 it will become a nitrate factory, as will you Emperor. Your live rock and sand should be your only biological filter. Invest in a couple Koralia powerheads and a HOB skimmer made by Eshopps or Reef Octopus. In the long run you'll be glad you did.
