# Rock on substrate? Or rock on glass?



## Aquatic Delight (Mar 2, 2012)

putting the rocks down first and then putting the substrate in gives the tank a different look that setting them on top. one way is not better than the other, it comes down prefrence and what you are trying to achieve from the look of the tank. personally i do both. 


in freshwater our bottom sifting guys are not as rough on the substrate as most of the salt guys. so you are safe setting things on top of the substrate.


----------



## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

I run some fish that will get the sand out from under rocks and some that don't bother it. The difference in looks is a personal choice to me. I never bother to think about scratches on the glass bottom. Even if there are scratches, I try to keep it covered. On tanks where the fish will dig, I paint the bottom so it is not shiny. Makes the fish try to swim down and they really look goofy! 
I don't favor insulation or eggcrate on the tank bottom as I find it really looks bad when it does get exposed.


----------



## doughpat (Oct 3, 2013)

Is it totally unnecessary to put down a piece of foam on the bottom, before the substrate? Harmful in any way?


----------



## lochaber (Jan 23, 2012)

I tend to favor putting hardscape (driftwood, rocks, whatever) directly on the bottom (or, in the case of driftwood, anchored to a piece of slate that is directly on the bottom), and then put the substrate around it. Mostly for stability, but I also like how it looks a bit better.

One of the craft stores I went to had some really large sheets of plastic canvas - I got one of those and trimmed it down and put it on the very bottom of the tank, under the slate, just to avoid scratching and such. Takes up less space (~1/16"?) then eggcrate, so there is no real risk of it getting uncovered, but then, it probably doesn't distribute weight/force like eggcrate would. 

If the rocks aren't big enough to be placed on the bottom, maybe you could place them on a small pedestal/platform - like a clay brick, or stack of eggcrate, section of pvc tube or something? -I'd probably epoxy them all together on top of a broader slate base, but I tend to overcompensate on the stability bit sometimes...


----------



## Aquatic Delight (Mar 2, 2012)

doughpat said:


> Is it totally unnecessary to put down a piece of foam on the bottom, before the substrate? Harmful in any way?



some people will use foam to make a back ground, but beyond that and raising a rock up, it is not required.


----------



## DaveFish (Oct 7, 2011)

doughpat said:


> Is it totally unnecessary to put down a piece of foam on the bottom, before the substrate? Harmful in any way?


If the rocks are sharp you want to put something down. Like plastic sign board or foam. If the rocks are super heavy you don't want to place them on top of sharp substrate. If you aren't going to have Cichlids you don't need to worry about fish digging. African Cichlids dig as much as saltwater gobies etc...


----------



## ShiftSix (Sep 12, 2013)

Aquatic Delight said:


> some people will use foam to make a back ground, but beyond that and raising a rock up, it is not required.


Just out of curiosity what foam is preferred? I suppose with enough substrate on top of it would keep it from floating, but I would prefer not to have to fight that.


----------

