Egg crates under live rocks?

AquaWave523 · 07/24/2009, 12:15 PM

is this really necessary? I seen it somewhere ...i have only 1" of sand and 95lbs of live rock

KarlBob · 07/24/2009, 12:27 PM

Not necessary, per se, but certainly not a bad precaution. Especially if you a) have burrowers like pistol shrimp, and b) start with your live rock resting on the surface of the sand bed, you could potentially have a tank-cracking situation.

AquaWave523 · 07/24/2009, 12:39 PM

what if i put the rocks on the glass and then there's no sand under the rocks

CloruroDiSodio · 07/24/2009, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by AquaWave523
what if i put the rocks on the glass and then there's no sand under the rocks

This is what I did. I struggled with the thought of putting egg crate down or not but I knew if any sand shifted and the eggcrate kept coming into view that it would drive me crazy so I didn't use it. Plus I wasn't sure if detritus or dead spots could form within the squares of the eggcrate?

mightyevil · 07/24/2009, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by AquaWave523
what if i put the rocks on the glass and then there's no sand under the rocks

Why don't you just put pieces of egg crate under the rocks and leave the places with open space (no rock) without egg crate? Better safe than sorry.

thegrun · 07/24/2009, 02:41 PM

The only reason to put the rock on egg crate would be if you plan on a deep sand bed and don't want to burry 6" of you live rock in sand. If you want a deep sand bed, then build a raised platform out of egg crate 1" lower than the planed height of the sand bed. If you only have a 1 or 2 inch sand bed, just place the rock (gently) on the glass/acrylic bottom of the tank.

Swoop · 07/24/2009, 04:18 PM

Nothing wrong with putting the Live Rock directly on the bottom of the tank. Matter of fact that is the preferred way to do it rather than setting it on top of the sand. The egg crate is totally unnecessary unless like someone else said your doing a DBS and don't want a lot of rock buried.

KarlBob · 07/24/2009, 04:37 PM

You don't need sand under the rocks. You're likely to pile rocks on top of each other when you aquascape the tank. If so, you'll want the piles to be as stable as possible. If the bottom rock in a pile is resting on sand, and the sand shifts, then the whole pile could come crashing down.

The portion of a rock that's under the sand will be out of sight, and it won't color up with coralline algae, but as others have said, unless you have a Deep Sand Bed (DSB), you're not going to bury very much of the rock.

I dunno about "stale pockets" forming in the squares of buried eggcrate, but I rather doubt it would be a big concern. I've certainly never seen anyone here at RC blame eggcrate for fostering a toxic sand bed.

Looking at it another way, the entire bottom of the tank is holding up the weight of all the water, sand and rock in the tank. The weight of a rock resting on any particular spot isn't likely to cause a crack in that spot. There are plenty of people running bare-bottom tanks, and they hold up just as well as tanks with sand (provided that the rockpiles don't collapse).

As long as you settle the bottom rock in each pile to the glass, you don't need eggcrate. On the other hand, I don't think having eggcrate would hurt anything. If someone absolutely insisted on resting their rocks on top of the sand bed, that would be the only case where I'd strongly advise using eggcrate.

07/24/2009, 12:15 PM	#1
AquaWave523 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 911	Egg crates under live rocks? is this really necessary? I seen it somewhere ...i have only 1" of sand and 95lbs of live rock

07/24/2009, 12:27 PM	#2
KarlBob Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Laveen, AZ Posts: 2,309	Not necessary, per se, but certainly not a bad precaution. Especially if you a) have burrowers like pistol shrimp, and b) start with your live rock resting on the surface of the sand bed, you could potentially have a tank-cracking situation. __________________ Later, KarlBob Current Tank Info: No tanks for now. Starting over in Austin sometime next year.

07/24/2009, 12:39 PM	#3
AquaWave523 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 911	what if i put the rocks on the glass and then there's no sand under the rocks __________________ "Take your time...going slow always works out best. There's no rush in this hobby" Yes that is a memo Current Tank Info: 175 gal Oceanic bowfront w/ 55 gal sump refugium, MSX 200 protein skimmer,Digital Aquatics Controller, Coralife Aqualight (three 250 watt Metal Halides, dual 96 watt cf, triple moon leds)

07/24/2009, 04:37 PM	#8
KarlBob Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Laveen, AZ Posts: 2,309	You don't need sand under the rocks. You're likely to pile rocks on top of each other when you aquascape the tank. If so, you'll want the piles to be as stable as possible. If the bottom rock in a pile is resting on sand, and the sand shifts, then the whole pile could come crashing down. The portion of a rock that's under the sand will be out of sight, and it won't color up with coralline algae, but as others have said, unless you have a Deep Sand Bed (DSB), you're not going to bury very much of the rock. I dunno about "stale pockets" forming in the squares of buried eggcrate, but I rather doubt it would be a big concern. I've certainly never seen anyone here at RC blame eggcrate for fostering a toxic sand bed. Looking at it another way, the entire bottom of the tank is holding up the weight of all the water, sand and rock in the tank. The weight of a rock resting on any particular spot isn't likely to cause a crack in that spot. There are plenty of people running bare-bottom tanks, and they hold up just as well as tanks with sand (provided that the rockpiles don't collapse). As long as you settle the bottom rock in each pile to the glass, you don't need eggcrate. On the other hand, I don't think having eggcrate would hurt anything. If someone absolutely insisted on resting their rocks on top of the sand bed, that would be the only case where I'd strongly advise using eggcrate. __________________ Later, KarlBob Current Tank Info: No tanks for now. Starting over in Austin sometime next year. Last edited by KarlBob; 07/24/2009 at 04:49 PM.

07/24/2009, 02:41 PM	#6
thegrun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Garden Grove, Ca Posts: 17,023	The only reason to put the rock on egg crate would be if you plan on a deep sand bed and don't want to burry 6" of you live rock in sand. If you want a deep sand bed, then build a raised platform out of egg crate 1" lower than the planed height of the sand bed. If you only have a 1 or 2 inch sand bed, just place the rock (gently) on the glass/acrylic bottom of the tank.

07/24/2009, 04:18 PM	#7
Swoop Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Florida Posts: 151	Nothing wrong with putting the Live Rock directly on the bottom of the tank. Matter of fact that is the preferred way to do it rather than setting it on top of the sand. The egg crate is totally unnecessary unless like someone else said your doing a DBS and don't want a lot of rock buried.