I have a bunch of rock that I found locally, it will be going into a african cichlid tank, and a brackish tank so I am not concerned about it buffering the hardness up i could actually use that. My question is concerning rocks and sand. I have heard that when you put rocks into an aquarium that you need to put something under them other then sand like rubber, because the point loading of a rock on a few grains of sand would be enough to crack glass. I am a mechanical engineer and this seems like a very realistic event, so my question is what could I use for padding under the rock that would be chemically inert and fairly easy to obtain, I am in the upper peninsula of michigan and stuff is hard to come by up here.
Tank Rock
- Thread starter upaquariest
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"Egg Crate" otherwise known as light diffuser. Found in the lighting sections of HD, Lowes, or the local electrical supply house.
Typically 2x4, or 2x2 sheets. Cut to fit.
BTW, with enough weight, it is possible.
You probably know that tempered glass (common in most larger tank bottoms) is approx. 5 times stronger than plate, but also more brittle and more suceptable to point loads (less to no flexing).
Typically 2x4, or 2x2 sheets. Cut to fit.
BTW, with enough weight, it is possible.
You probably know that tempered glass (common in most larger tank bottoms) is approx. 5 times stronger than plate, but also more brittle and more suceptable to point loads (less to no flexing).
Depends, smaller pieces strewn about randomly ? prolly not.voss345;1244157; said:
Smaller pieces stacked to form "rockwork ? prolly not, but maybe.
How's that for middle of the fence ?
Styrofoam would leech chemicals into your water. With egg crate, you simply cut to fit and lay it in your tank, add sand, then add rocks. Also, if the rocks were to fall, theres almost no chance of it smashing your base.
Personally eggcrate would be my first choice here... protect the whole floor and not only that but helps with the weight distro better than than thing else...best of all ... it's CHEAP! LOL
it would ... but not very much... I wouldn't trust it for anything more than scratch protection to tell you the truth
i use eggcrate in my malawi tanks.. and set the rock pile directly on the eggcrate, then add the sand around the rock and cover the eggcrate. i wouldnt recommend styrofoam (the fish can pick chunks off of it and eat or choke on it) and rubber would probably crack and fall apart over time...
eggcrate is really the best thing especially if you are putting rock weight in the tank..
eggcrate is really the best thing especially if you are putting rock weight in the tank..