pyrex baking dish as a shelf?

[andruboz]

i am thinking about creating a planted shelf in my 55. i keep thinking a glass baking dish would have a smooth edge my puffer wouldnt scrape himself on. and fish could swim under it, and i could slide it over to vacuum under it without distrubing the plants. will plants be happy with only 2-1/2 inches of substrate?

 

[val]

Near as I can tell, by reading aquarium and fish books from the 60s and 70s that was one of the advanced ways to get plants to grow back then. Sounds like a good idea to me...

Val

 

[Cichlid Woman]

My plants have 1-1/2" to 2" substrate (small gravel) and they do fine. The baking dish is a safe idea--as long as it hasn't been washed with soap.

How are you going to do it? Just fill it with substrate so the top sits an inch or two above the tank floor? Cool idea! Are you going to mound gravel or something up along the sides so you can't see it? I wonder if vacuuming under it would be necessary. And doing so would be a real pain if you mound stuff up around it to hide it. I'd like to hear more about your design. Might try it myself!

-- Pat

 

[RTR]

I've used Pyrex baking dishes, plastic drawer dividers, and plastic or glass DIY'd trays for in-tank plant trays without problems for many years (some of us started doing this back in those dark ages Val mentioned ). I do get new Pyrex for this - I know better than to steal from my wife...

If elevated, I'd plan on vacuuming under the tray routinely, just as for any other unplanted substrate. Also make sure the setup is really stable - you do not want this to collapse.