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Here is the situation: My tank is in my room which is on the top floor of the house. It is a 55 gallon tank, with lots of rocks that could possibly, and sometimes when I'm cleaning get dropped onto the bottom of the tank. By now you can probably see my problem. If ever a rock was to drop into a spot where there wasn't much gravel to cushion its fall....I'm in deeeeep trouble. So, I was thinking about putting something like some type of foam or other material on the bottom of my tank below the gravel to cushion any rocks if they fall. What I'm wondering is 1) what material to use and 2) how to install it.

Last edited by Fallout at 06-Mar-2005 06:21

Mmm, first check your homeowners or renters insurance. You want to be sure that you are covered by acts of stupidity. That is, overfilling your aquarium or dropping rocks throught the bottom. Now, before you get angry, I have been guilty of "gross acts of stupidity" with aquariums. My insurance company thankfully covered the damage.

If your insurance company does not insure aquarium mishaps, I might shift that aquarium to a lower floor, possibly the basement. If you have large rocks in the aquarium AND you have slippery fingers, I would either get rid of the rocks, stop playing with the rocks, move the aquarium to the lowest floor or get a dog.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

fishiedude

Bob Wesolowski has informed you of some very good advice. 55G on the floor can do a lot of damage, tanks can spring a leak or crack just from age. Dropping a rock is only one method of cracking a tank.

Keith

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You might try purchasing plastic rocks, or plastic decorations for the tank. There is a HUGE variety of them out there. Everything from plastic rocks, that come on all sizes and shapes, to plastic rock walls, plastic rock caves, etc.

Foam is not a good idea, as it will eventually collect detritus, and become a biological nightmare and need cleaning on a regular basis. Many people use egg crate to distribute the weight better, but a heavy rock dropped, could still cause a break in the tank. Egg crate is the plastic honey comb covers that are used in some fluorescent light fixtures and can be found at most hard ware stores. They place these on the glass bottom and then place the substrate and rocks on them.

HTH.....

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Ok, I actually forgot about this post for a while because I've been pretty busy with homework and all that.... so basically, I'm not going to be able to move the tank so I should leave the rocks alone then I guess. Its not that I move them around a lot its just that I like to clean underneath them everynow and then (every couple months) and thats when the rocks could get dropped. Anyways thanks for the help!