How To Protect Glass Inside tank?

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couvier

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Dec 7, 2019
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Hello, I have been through several large glass aquariums with the same size of 72x24x25 inches (180 gal). Im on my 3rd one now over 12 years. The other 2 cracked on the bottom and water spilled all over my house. Anyways I am taking extra measures to make sure this does not happen again. I have made my stand flat and sturdy and started using a foam pad between the tank and stand.

My question is, how can I protect the bottom of the glass inside the tank? Basically protecting it from when I do the gravel siphoning. I assume when gravel siphoning over the years it will weaken the bottom glass of the aquarium when gravel and the siphon tube scrapes against the glass.

I assume using undergravel filters would help in this area or possibly some other kind of product I can lay down at the bottom of the inside of the tank, but what to use for that? Also I could not find an undergravel filter product that fills the 72''x24'' tank I have. Any suggestions on products to use here?

I do use an Ehiem canister filter as well. I was thinking about just laying down the undergravel plates but not actually connecting power heads to it and just leave it up to my canister to do all the filtration. The undergravel plates would just be used to protect the glass from cracking at the bottom. But I was thinking there has to be an easier way to protect the bottom of the tank with some kind of product or material, but what?
 
I considered using a neoprene pad. Something like 2mm to 4mm that the glass sits on instead of directly on top of the stand.

I have a tank exactly that same size. I didn't use neoprene on it, but thought of it. The installers had never heard of it and didn't think I should do it. Later they told me it's becoming common.
 
#1 issue from my understanding is keeping the tank properly supported and level.

For your tank, I would consider using the egg crate for the reasons of spreading the weight and also avoiding the issues of pointy rocks / pressure points causing the bottom to break.

Making sure your rock work is stable. Maybe even silicone in place (must use correct silicone - fish safe). Boy I wouldn't want my living room to become a pond with the tank popping!!!

The neoprene pads are popular under the tank (- on top of the stand). One came with my new Waterbox tank and an old 12G nano I have had from Mr. Aqua.
 
Thanks for the egg crate and neoprene pad ideas.

I was at home depot today and what caught my attention was the Acrylic Lighting Panels made by Plaskolite. These are the thin sheets of plastic that goes with Florescent/LED tube light fixtures. I figure putting them down at the bottom of the tank between the glass and gravel would work. But I have found zero info about people using them for aquariums, so no idea if this is a good idea. Are they waterproof and safe for fish? Has anyone tried this before? Maybe drilling a small hole every inch or so to let the gas out?
 
Is it the smoother on one side and bumpy on the other for the light diffusion?

Bought one of those for that purpose and then decided I wasn't sure about its possibility of leaching plastic toxins eventually.

The egg crate has been used for years and no one seems to be concerned or seemed to experience problems.

Then I bought the plastic rack cover for metal kitchen shelving
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EUBA564/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Also haven't seen anyone use this and I have the feeling of caution as well. It WILL be underneath the sand and gravel though.

Here is my recent thread fyi...
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...m-inside-of-a-tank-before-scaping-370586.html
 
Youre doing something wrong if gravel is cracking your tanks every 4 years. Are you buying cheap tanks? Doing bare bottom tanks with 500lbs of rock on one square inch? Jumping on the gravel when your vacuuming?

I very strongly suspect that your surface isnt level, that will cause extra stress and will shorten the life of the tank. There are countless videos and examples of how strong the glass on the bottom of tanks are, even over a small area.

Ive had a 50gal tank for 6 years that was built in 1998, has been moved with me 8 times, and has over 100-150 lbs of rock and large rocks in random locations without any issues. I also gravel vacuum once a week.

Check your surface area first, if its not perfectly level I suspect that is the biggest culprit. Here is a video from the King of DIY that shows how small of a issue can cause a tank to break.
You can jump to 7 mins to see him start looking for the issue. He also puts down foam UNDER the tank to help keep it level which is a good idea. Trust me, your issue isnt and shouldnt be the glass breaking from your substrate and rocks.
 
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