sachabballi reef December 10, 2011 Share December 10, 2011 Hi all I am getting ready to get water in the new 180 and was thinking about something I have never done in my tanks before.....star board on the bottom of the tank. Anyone use it? Any pros or cons? I have always just put sand down and rocks on top and after reading more it seems there is an argument to be made for elevating the live rock off the floor of the tank.... What do you all do? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind December 10, 2011 Share December 10, 2011 I have always just put my live rock straight on the glass bottom. A tank that size will have at least a 1/2" glass bottom so it is not something that will break easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefoholic December 10, 2011 Share December 10, 2011 (edited) In the past I elevated my rocks on PVC pipes. It helps with dead spots where flow can't reach and help eliminate dietrius build up. Having said that, you need to guide the flow to not blow sand but still go thru, under and over the rocks. I wouldn't recommend using PVC pipes because I realized in time dietrius is collected within the pipe instead of under the rocks, defeating the entire purpose of such a setup... I have my rocks on the sand for a while now and with enough sand sifters I have pristine, white sand constantly... Edited December 10, 2011 by Reefoholic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakotasreef December 10, 2011 Share December 10, 2011 I have been running a bb tank for a while and like coral hind I just put the rock in the glass. If you decide to use starboard, you would have to silicone it in to prevent detritus from getting trapped in the crevices between it and the glass. Once the tank matures, it will become covered in coralline algae. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami December 10, 2011 Share December 10, 2011 I can't tell if you are going to use sand or not. When I set up this new tank that I have, knowing that I was going to have a sand bottom, I put egg crate down on the bottom to distribute the weight of the rocks a little bit before hiding it with sand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachabballi reef December 10, 2011 Author Share December 10, 2011 I can't tell if you are going to use sand or not. When I set up this new tank that I have, knowing that I was going to have a sand bottom, I put egg crate down on the bottom to distribute the weight of the rocks a little bit before hiding it with sand. Would have been helpful if I mentioned what I planned...I do intend on using sand and in the past have always put the rocks on the glass or sand but was wondering that was a bad idea. Seems likes its ok though! Thanks all!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak December 10, 2011 Share December 10, 2011 I use egg crate to keep rock from shifting when flow or fish under cut rock of its sand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron December 11, 2011 Share December 11, 2011 I go with egg crate also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachabballi reef December 11, 2011 Author Share December 11, 2011 so you put the egg crate directly on the glass, right? or top of the sand? The egg crate isn't visible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind December 11, 2011 Share December 11, 2011 The ones I have seen put it directly on the glass and the sand covers it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron December 11, 2011 Share December 11, 2011 Yup, put it right on the glass, sit the rock on the egg crate, and cover it with the sand...the egg crate not all the rock It spreads out the load from the rock, but more important, I think, is it keeps from having any pressure points on the glass from uneven rock surfaces. The rock is also more stable, since critters can't really undermine it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachabballi reef December 11, 2011 Author Share December 11, 2011 Yup, put it right on the glass, sit the rock on the egg crate, and cover it with the sand...the egg crate not all the rock It spreads out the load from the rock, but more important, I think, is it keeps from having any pressure points on the glass from uneven rock surfaces. The rock is also more stable, since critters can't really undermine it. what I wouldn't have given to have read up on this topic years ago before hubby decided he had to have engineering gobies....... thank you all so much for your help....heading off to water test the 180G and start the ball rolling!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefoholic December 12, 2011 Share December 12, 2011 Great idea to put the egg crate first! You can even secure the rocks to the egg crate with some plastic stings. This would ensure the solidity of your rock work considering in addition to any adventurous gobies that would dig under anything for whatever construction project they are working on, also sand sifting creators like snails and starfish could also move the sand under the rocks. I have one side if my tank literally slowly sinking because of my tiny construction team, lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachabballi reef December 12, 2011 Author Share December 12, 2011 I have one side if my tank literally slowly sinking because of my tiny construction team, lol! oh do I know what that's like...I have 2 engineering gobies and its shockng what they do in the course of a day...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now