Styrofoam IN tank?

[Eirikre]

Has anyone used styrofoam in their tanks.  I am setting up a 75g Mbuna tank and I want to put 1/2" styrofoam on the bottom before I put in my hafl tonne of rocks.  I have read of people doing this in passing but I don't remember where.  
Has anyone done this?  
Is this a good idea.  
Will the styrofoam deteriorate over time?  
Is it bad for the fishies?
Does anyone line the inside bottom of their tanks using another method?
Any thoughts or advice would be welcome.

[328iGuy]

Do not use styrofoam on the inside of you're tank.  It will not only deteriorate and be something for the fish to chew on but will release toxins into the water.

Get the eggcrate from home depot that they use for lighting covers in commercial buildings.  It's very cheap and like I Said can be found at Home Depot, Rona etc....

[Eirikre]

Ok. Thanks for the heads up Guy.

Will eggcrate act as a cushion to protect the glass on the bottom of mly tank from the stones?  I'm not really familiar with eggcrate, is it a hard plastic grid about 3/4 inch thick.  The only problem I see with that is that the sand substrate will fill up the wholes in the eggcrate and that sand will not be movable and will build up anaerobic bacteria.  The styrofoam would have been a solid layer and would have just effectively raised the bottom of my tank by 1/2 inche.  but if styrofoam is toxic that is obviously out.

[pegasus]

I've heard of internal background made of styrofoam (scultured to look as rock formation, but styrofoam for the bottoom of tank... never.

[Eirikre]

Does anyone else put something on the bottom of their tank to protect the glass from the huge rock pile necessary for happy Mbuna?

[pegasus]

Does anyone else put something on the bottom of their tank to protect the glass from the huge rock pile necessary for happy Mbuna?

I use gravel. (not meant as joke)
Eggcrate is also a good idea but make gravel vacuuming more difficult.

[Tim]

You can use styrofoam in a tank as many people have to create landscapes etc... But it must be seal with a marine epoxy and what not.

[redbelly]

i have also heard of many people using styrofoam sealed with marine epoxy for backgrounds.

When i set up large rock piles (i guess you would call em piles anyway...), i build a good solid structure then add a nice thick bed of gravel. that way if the fish decide to rearange the gravel in the tank the piles structure is still sound.

[gvv]

Does anyone else put something on the bottom of their tank to protect the glass from the huge rock pile necessary for happy Mbuna?

I use eggcrate on the bottom. Actually, rocks are what make vacuuming more difficult, not eggcrate

[Eirikre]

Thanks again everyone for the input.
 I had a rockpile in my 55g with nothing underneath and a fairly deep crushed coral substrate.  I had no problems (except that I didn't like the light coloured substrate) but I am planning to have about double the amount of rocks in this new tank and I can't help but be concerned about the possibility of breaking that bottom glass.

With the eggcrate what I'm worried about is the sand filling the wholes in the grid under the rockpile.  There would be no way for me to stir that sand up and even the cichlids will be largly unable and unlikely to stir that sand up.  Hence the growth of anaerobic bacteria and a build up of toxins.  Am I being paranoid here? or is this a valid worry.

Anyway it looks like eggcrate might be the way to go although any further input and ideas will be greatly apreciated.

Thanks

[pegasus]

Am I being paranoid here?

I don't think so, specially if you intend to stock pile round rocks up to the rim as I've seen in many african tank. I've use two tricks. First I'd place round rocks at the bottom, add the substrate and finally put more FLAT rocks on top. I've also siliconed my flat rocks to create caves and to protect an overly tedious digger.

[james]

Hi Eric
You can use this plastic grid.They use these on ceiling as air vent covers or light covers (floating ceilings) They are usually white and come in 2x4 sheets (Home Depot) Roughly 1/2 inch high and 1/2 inch square grids. They are very stable. and does not make the gravel hard to clean

James

[328iGuy]

James

Hence why almost every post has recommended egg crate which is the same thing!  :lol:

[james]

Hi
The grid I am talking about is not as high as egg crates and they are more ridgit. You do not need as much gravel to cover them. I also find that the holes in the egg crate are to big for some rocks to sit level.

James

[Eirikre]

well there seems to be a consensus and I will try the eggcrate.  Thank you all for your help.

[gator]

As far as breaking the glass, I wouldn't worry about it!  Most SW tanks with live rock have about 1 to 1-1/2 pounds of live rock per gallon.   What you should remember is that the MASS (a factor of density and volume) of the rocks will remain the same, but the WEIGHT (a force) will be almost halved because of the weight of the water pushing up on the rocks, i.e. the rock's weight is significantly decreased by it's buoyancy.  This assumes, though, that you put the rocks in after your water!