What shall I put under my aquascape?

[1Clown]

My new scape will be made up of real reef branching rock including the base which has 5 points of contact with the glass, all being pointy branches. I've thought of cementing large frag grow out discs to each branch touching the glass so it'll distribute the weight and have less stress on the glass below and make it base sturdier.

Thoughts?

 

[Pkunk35]

Frag discs could work but might break , I used the flat cut dry rock from brs and cemented to the main structure to act as feet and it works very well, think any flat cut rock would be much more sturdy for maybe any points that are heavier than others

 

[Chaseon]

In freshwater tanks, I’ve always used that plastic lighting ceiling eggcrate. Maybe there’s a “food grade” version that would be safe?

 

[N.Sreefer]

Egg crate then cover with sand

 

[Memisis]

I used an extruded PVC sheet by cutting the coral decore stick flat on the bottom and epoxy gluing the stick to the sheet. With a sand bed It holds the piece upright.

Maybe what you are thinking is a bit different than what my scape was but I feel that this worked very well.

On the bottom of the rock I printed a 10x10 4mm thick mesh plate that I cut to the rough size of the rocks. I have no rock (but sand) touching the glass bottom (or sides). Its all PVC or PETG. No 3d printer? You can buy this mesh from online fish stores or even Amazon with some tuned searching.

Hope this helps

 

[JCTReefer]

White or black ABS is what some use. Eggcrate like mentioned above. Acrylic sheet, polycarbonate, HDPE. Lots of choices. You could even put sand beneath the rocks.

 

[Gtinnel]

In freshwater tanks, I’ve always used that plastic lighting ceiling eggcrate. Maybe there’s a “food grade” version that would be safe?

The stuff you use in the freshwater tanks shouldn't cause an issue in reef tanks either. I've used it for diy frag racks without issue.

 

[slojim]

I've used eggcrate. It traps a lot of detritus, and it creates a zone that larger sand diggers cant access. So I used acrylic sheet/plexiglass. No issues specifically, but sand did work under the edges. This last time, I cut white clearance floor tile to fit and siliconed it in place, leaving about half inch to inch gap around the edges. Seems to be fine, and the white color doesn't show-off when the sand is disturbed.