Do you have to use an egg crate with sand/substrate

[InfernoST]

I'm starting a 120 SW FOWLR soon and noticed in a lot of threads about the use of an egg crate, what is this, what is its purpose and where do you get it?

 

[ccCapt]

Egg crate is actually a 2'x4' light diffuser that's used for drop ceilings. Lowes or HD sells it in the lighting dept. Some people use it over the top of their tank to stop fish from jumping out or it can be used in a sump to seperate sections of a fuge, etc and some use it to make frag racks. I would not recommend using it at the bottom of the tank under the sand.

 

[melosu58]

I`ve actually seen some with smaller openings than that. You can also use some netting on the top. I think I saw a link about it on innovators sig.

 

[melosu58]

Here is a thread on some netting. As I said look in innovators sig.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f60/jumper-lid-the-answer-113094.html

 

[ORayRay]

some people use it to keep there LR from moving

 

[thincat]

If you use it as a top to stop fish from jumping out remember that eggcrate has a top and bottom side. One side allows the light to shoot straight down and the other side spreads the light out. Look for the bevels.

 

[mtlion]

For the top of my aquarium I used a piece of gridded plastic (like for fluorescent lighting) and cut it to fit the top of the aquarium. It lets the light in with no problem, keeps the fish in, and also doesn't interfere with O2 exchange.

 

[Innovator]

Eggcrate can be used for a variety of applications such as: plenum, live rock design, and to prevent animals from jumping out of their enclosure. I have not had any problems with using a plenum in past aquariums, which involves eggcrate under the substrate, but definitely not necessary. If you plan to create a framing for your live rock structures I would stay away from Lowes and Home Depot because they normally only carry eggcrate with a 3/8" thickness and you really want 1/2". If you want tips on using eggcrate for live rock construction feel free to ask