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Preventing cracks from live rock

itsacrispy

itsacrispy

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Hi all,

I have a 1" sandbed in my tank, however I'm concerned about the live rock cracking the bottom of the tank. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to prevent that from happening? Is there something I can put under the live rock to keep it above the glass?

Thanks!
 
A lot of people will put egg crate under the rocks. I have also used PVC pipe custom cut to keep the rock level (or at the angle you like). You might have to add more sand if you do this, to hide it. Key is to make sure the rock is sitting as solid / steady as possible. For example, if you find an angle that looks cool, but the rock teeters a little......you might have to find a different angle. It's not just the bottom you have to worry about, if you build a mound of rock, and the base is not stable, they can fall into the sides as well.

Place the rock directly on the bottom (not on top of the sand). If you get a fish or shrimp that burrow (think sand sifting goby, Eels, etc.) then they will surely dig under the sand and topple the rock if it is not stable on the bottom. Fun stuff to stress about. ;)


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Think of the people with no substrate! Couple things I've seen done. I've seen egg crate used, but I'd think that would end up being a bigger problem because of all the trapped detritus. You can also buy rolls of food-grade rubber. I have used it in my filter areas in my AOI and it works fine. The other possiblility off the top of my head is to have Tap plastics cut a piece of HDPE marine plastic. You can get it as this as 1'4". I am currently using it in a nano tank since I wanted a surface to grow a GSP bottom on, but be able to lift and remove it easily to cut the GSP back and to clean.
 
Glue small 1" x 1" bits of egg-crate on the bottom of the rock in spots where it would touch.
Basically feet only, not a big sheet.
 
You could "shave/sand" the bottom of the rock to make sure no pointy ends. I've never used anything under rock, and have had no issues, it will scratch the bottom for certain, but never cracked. Just don't drop it, or put any undue downward pressure (i.e. don't cram your frags down on it super hard thinking that's necessary)

That said, little PVC legs would work wonders, something like 2" stuff at least and make it 1" high so your sand bed hides them plus you can still have the sand "movable" under it by whatever critters without worrying about toppling over.
 
Take a hammer/chisel n slowly flatten out the underside. Or u can use emaco or similar to fill in the bottom so that it is flattish. Or do a combo if it is really uneven. I have not done it on any of my rocks but when I buy rock, I keep an eye out for rocks with flat sides for bottoms. No problem yet.


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Eggcrate worked for me when I had a tank and the concern of the rock breaking the glass. I cut the eggcrate short of the sides of the tank and then added the sand to cover it; no detritus issue since the plastic was covered by the sand. You can also get from TAP Plastics 1/4" gray PVC
 
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