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Plastic Grid on Bottom?


L.W. Wetarm
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I don't see where it would hurt anything to do that as long as the grid didn't dig into the silicone sealant along the tank edges. It could possibly create more anaerobic zones in the gravel as it would limit water transfer through the gravel, but that might not be a huge issue. If you're worried about the weight of the rock, I'd say go for it and see what happens.  

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We've done this for a few tanks. As gardenman says, be sure to trim the light diffuser paneling a bit smaller than the exact footprint of the tank bottom so that it doesn't dig into the silicone. I will say though . . . if you're going to have African mbuna cichlids in there . . . they'll probably dig down and expose the light diffuser paneling. 

If you look in the attached photo, zoom in under the large piece of Texas holey rock (ca. 80-100 lbs), you'll see that they've dug down to expose it.

 

IMG_2332.jpg

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5 minutes ago, Brandy said:

@Fish Folk That is a beautiful tank for a completely non-planted tank...I love the greenery at the top.

Thanks! We just cut to size and fold large pieces of filter sponge in half around pothos roots, jam it into the open tops of two  aqueon 75 hob, and then . . . . fuggedaboudit . . . 😂

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2 hours ago, Fish Folk said:

if you're going to have African mbuna cichlids in there . . . they'll probably dig down and expose the light diffuser paneling.

No, this tank will be a plants and small fish tank. I do know about diggers though. My Tanganyikan Brichardi (species only) have dug under every rock. I planned for that and put flat rocks under the hardscape and they dug under those.  I’ve learned that Val will survive with roots totally exposed. 

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