75 Gallon base advice

[jhj]

A friend will be setting up a new 75G Malawi tank. She has already bought all the limestone possible and I have recommended that she lay some sort of a base on the glass before putting the stones.

What do you guys recommend as a base for the rocks? I was thinking styrofoam, but I do not know where to get the styrofoam cut in that size.

Thanks

 

[Lobo.]

styrofoam would float, wouldnt it? and might be a mess in prepareing it... but if you weighted it down it would be a good idea, just just up some styrofoam coolers, using multiple sections to completely cover the bottom

 

[born2lovefish]

some type of rubber piece might work. Just make sure it will not decompose and be harmful to your fish.

 

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

I use Eggcrate in all my tanks with heavy rockwork. Its also called Lighting Grate, and is the plastic sheets that you sometimes see over flourescent lighting in buildings. A home hardware type of place should have it.

I just cut the sheet to fit the bottom of my tank, lay it down, put a little bit of substrate in to fill in the little squares of the grate, then add the rockwork (make sure its secure and cant topple over), and then finally add some more substrate to fill in around the rockwork.

This is what it looks like:

This is a close-up:

And in the aquarium!

-Diana

 

[DeRo316]

I would suggest eggcrate as stated earlier, it works great and I havnt had a scratch or crack in my rock aquarium yet.

And you can buy styrofoam 15 ft sheets at your local hardware store for around $10 then cut it with a hot knife, its like butta.

 

[jhj]

Fantastic idea with the eggcrate...I will try and get some from HomeDepot

 

[partsrep]

Eggcrate for sure.

 

[wwildcats04]

eggcrate agreed

 

[sfisher]

eggcrate

Has anyone ever painted eggcrate? I want to put it in the bottom of my tank with black sand but I dont want the white color to show when fish dig. Any sugg. on type of paint?

 

[stingray4540]

Eggcrate! You will have an easier time finding it if you know that it is a light diffuser for flourescent light in drop ceilings. It is usually in the section with the drop ceiling tiles. Just ask someone in home depot where the drop ceilings are and you'll find it.