[Lucidblue]

I need some advanced advice on eggcrate as a falsebottom. I would like to know if it's better to silicone pvc spacers to the bottom of the tank and lay eggcrate on top, or to just stack the eggcrate? - just silicone sheats together and silicone the bottom of the eggcrate to the bottom of the tank. I would be using a pvc pipe to siphon out water, and there wouldn't be any pump or filter under the falsebottom to worry about.

 

[Arklier]

I siliconed mine on. I was glad later, too. I had to shove an aquarium heater underneath the false bottom after the fact, and it kept the spacers from moving around. But if you don't need to get under there, then it probably wouldn't be an issue.

 

[tkavan01]

i zip tied the spacers to the eggcrate,
it was a less evasive to the tank, and gives
me the flexibility to add a heater or whatever
if needed...

 

[Lucidblue]

eggcrate question

Zip ties sound good, but would i still have to silicone the spacers to the bottom of the tank, or would the weight of the substrate keep them in place? I guess to be safe I should silicone them to the bottom, but is it really neccessary?

 

[tkavan01]

if the spacers are zip tied to the eggcrate they are goin to
stay putt, the weight of whatever you put on top of them
only presses down on them harder

 

[Guest]

When I made my false bottom, I siliconed the spacers to the bottom of the egg-crate. I suppose either way would work, as long as they are attached to something. One time, long ago, I did it by just having the spacers loose underneath. And while it is true, once you have everything in place, the weight of the substrate will keep everything in place, we (at least I) do not live in a perfect world, where no tank maintenance is ever needed beneath the false bottom. Whether it is leaks, or needing to unplug a siphon tube, or fixing a bad water pump, or adding a heater, etc., you just never know. I highly recommend designing your enclosure to allow for acces to everything, ....just in case. I learned the hard way.