Substrate Question

[jdw206]

I have read on here somewhere that some people are using egg crate under their substrate. What is this and why is it used?

Also what is a good rule of thumb for the amount of substrate needed for a tank? ex. 20g long, or 55 gallon?

 

[DoN_WoN]

ive only seen people use eggs crate under there substrate is for a tank that your gonna have a lot of rock or heave stuff on the tank to possible crack the bottom of the tank,

my friend did it on his 55 gallon tank cause he had like 70 pounds of live rock

 

[Ozymandias]

ya same, only with a huge amount of rocks on top of them. to find them though i you need to look in the lighting section of a store like home depo or lowes. thay are called light defusers and might be hidden away.


for substrate most people go for about 2" to 3" not sure how much that actually is but there are calculators out on the web for it. it also depends on what substrate your using too.

 

[jschall]

I use eggcrate, but I'm paranoid. It's really quite easy to get, easy to use, and stays completely hidden under the substrate. I'd imagine it would allow plants to root more strongly as well, preventing overzealous fish from uprooting them.

 

[DeeDeeK]

We're talking about styrofoam egg crates? Would they create a sort of plenum or would that take some extra perforation?

 

[Ozymandias]

We're talking about styrofoam egg crates? Would they create a sort of plenum or would that take some extra perforation?

no it's like a hard plastic grid that is used in some lighting fixtures to disperse light

 

[dundadundun]

egg crate light diffuser...

most common places to notice them is in office buildings and shopping marts/centers. they'll be the part of the drop ceiling the fluorescent lights are peeking out from behind.

 

[Star_Rider]

it's a personal choice.

I don't use it.. my tanks all have tempered glass..my 110 has over 200#'s of LR sitting on the glass.

some prefer to use it to help distribute wt.

I don't as it may interfere with critters that burrow.(snails)

the choice is yours to make.