False bottom question

[klowns]

So i'm currently putting together my false bottom, i got the egg crate cut to size it fits perfect, i got the weed cloth on, perfect, next is the plastic sewing canvas, which i'll use a hole punch to each sheet all at 1 time, then use like 3-4 zip ties to attach them together , like 6 long. anyway. my question is i got pvc couplers to put under the egg crate, and i just realized they are 3 inches tall, that seems a little much???

i have a 60 gallon tank, 24 tall, 12 wide and and 48 long. so i figure that if i move down to maybe just 1 inch of space between tank and egg crate that would be enough? roughly enough for 2.5 gallons of water if it flooded.

thoughts ideas suggestions? also whats the best way to attach the pvc pipe to the back and to the egg crate as well so it won't move.

thanks in advance for any advice!!!! i'm pretty excited, the 10 gallon is just not enough

[moonbeam]

How tall is your false bottom? You probably don't want the supports to be taller than it is (if I'm reading that correctly?...). I just built a false bottom 2 weeks ago and I used wire cutters to cut the egg crate. I cut them in a small hole and kept chipping away at it until the pipe sat in the hole without moving (it was a bit tedious). I'm sure there are other and probably better ways to do it but I just went with the rule that you can always cut more out. You can't add it back in. Once my hole was the right size I used sealant to seal it in.


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[klowns]

yeah that would of been a good idea to just barely cut out the parts around the egg crate so the pipe fits perfectly snug, by the time i saw the idea, i had already chunked out little 3x3 sections up in the corner, it's pretty snug, we'll see. but this is what it looks like, basically just used a hole punch, and then used zip ties to connect the dots so to speak. it could look prettier and done better, but it'll never be seen again and there will be so much weight on it that any little bumps or uneven ness will be smashed by the weight. and I took the 3" couplers back and got 1 and 1/2 inch couplers for the spacing between the bottom of the tank and the egg crate.



ok i am adding some more zip ties to the most of the surrounding edge, just in case but just ran out of zip ties, brb.

here's with some more zipties i found in the garage, i think imma call it good here.

here's a sideshot with the 1 and 1/4 inch pipe, with the 3x3 section missing in each corner, its almost a perfect fit, so i think i lucked out on that, figure i'd put 2, just in case i needed to access it from either side, and for extra ventilation.

[TheLilMommaB]

For my false bottom I just took my large pvc pipe and cut 1 inch sections for the leg parts. Also I didn't attach the pvc to anything and the sand held everything in place just fine for me. Oh and awesome idea using the hole punch wish I'd have thought of that

Stay at home mommy to 4 kids (Ana 11, Joseph 9, Alizabeth 6, and Christian 2) 8 cats, 6 purple pincher hermit crabs, 4 little molly fish, 3 ferrets, 2 parrakets, 2 Oscars, 1 red eared slider, 1 cockatiel, 1 goldfish and 1 bone headed pittbull.

[klowns]

yeah i thought about just cutting the pipe, but i didn't want to A) actually have to mess with cutting the pipe, and B) wanted to make sure they were all EXACTLY the same size for perfect weight distrobution, which me hand sawing a bunch of little sections, that probably wouldn't of happened.

For the bottom of the pipe i was thinking about putting a 90 degree or 45 degree angle adapter on it, to help keep it in place, but maybe i'll just notch out an opening on the bottom and just have it sit flat, cause yeah the sand/EE will keep it in place.. then for the top of the pipes, i was going to put a cap over them, and then drill a tiny hole in the top so that way air still flowed through them to keep from getting nasty down there, but not big enough where a crab could get stuck, would actually probably use the hole for aholding post.

[TheLilMommaB]

Oh yea the hand saw is a pain for cutting the pvc. I ended up going back to Lowe's to pick up a pvc cutter after trying to cut 2 pieces. With the pvc cutter I had about 30-40 pieces cut in like 5-10 minutes. Unfortunately I ended up breaking the tip off the blade trying to use them to cut the notches...that's what I get for trying to use a tool in a way it's not ment to

Stay at home mommy to 4 kids (Ana 11, Joseph 9, Alizabeth 6, and Christian 2) 8 cats, 6 purple pincher hermit crabs, 4 little molly fish, 3 ferrets, 2 parrakets, 2 Oscars, 1 red eared slider, 1 cockatiel, 1 goldfish and 1 bone headed pittbull.

[CrabbySquirrel]

My Dad (who is retired and just loves "side projects") just helped me out by cutting my pvc bottom pieces for the false bottom with a power miter saw - according to him, it helped make all the pieces uniform size. We decided that 2 inches is a decent height for holding the egg crate off the bottom. Of course, I haven't put anything in yet, all the pieces are just sitting around in my empty tank, I'm still waiting on getting the egg crate.......so take my comments with a grain of salt (or sand, more appropriately! )

I also have a question - the pvc that we had available has a small diameter - 1" -- that shouldn't be a problem, right? I mean, it's certainly strong enough to hold everything, and as long as I can fit a siphon tube down the longer pipe, it's ok, right?

Oh, and moonbeam mentions using silicone to attach the larger pipe to the egg crate/weedblock/plastic canvas - is that necessary? I was thinking that the sheer weight of the substrate would be enough to keep it in place....thoughts?

[moonbeam]

I don't think it's at all necessary but I'm an all or nothing kinda girl so it was probably me just being over zealous doing that. I also sprayed in a background around the pipe (bc I decided to do the false bottom after sealing in a bunch of corner guards so my pipe ended up dead center in my tank. It needed a disguise) so the already sealed in pipe made that process really easy.


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[klowns]

so the supports that i am using are 1 1/2 inch base, and i think these ended up being 2 1/4 inch tall, but they were just barely big enough so my pipes that sit in the corner, can be there with a 45 degree angle connector, and so i can shove even a hose down there if i needed to, (i tested it), the 1 and 1/2 inch tall supports were to small and i couldn't get even weight distribution, as part of the egg crate was hitting the 45 degree angle, as it sits about 2" tall . in the process of cutting the notches with a little battery operated circular saw i found buried in my garage. but this is what it will look like. i need to cut the pipes down maybe avbout 6 inches or so still.

I almost feel like i'm wasting too much space on the false bottom , i really wish it was an inch shorter, cause after egg crate and weed block and plastic canvas, its using up a solid 3" out of my available 24" of height in the tank. but i think that's just me being paranoid and wanting more space for climbing etc.

[YYWW]

This might be a dumb question, but i have never built a false bottom so..... Why cant you just cut the supports shorter? From what i understand you will not need 3" to see if you are experiencing a flood, nor will you need 3" to vacuum out any flooding. But them down!
On a side note the tank looks pretty big and i think you will have the space you want. When i was putting together my 75 gal i put all the sub in and was like THERES NO SPACE! But after all the rest of the stuff went in i'm like I NEED MORE STUFF!


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[klowns]

yeah i could cut them down some, but then the problem i ran into was that the 45 degree connector that i haev on the bottom of the pipes so i can shove a tube/hose down there, is about 2" tall, so i had to get supports that were barely bigger than that for even weight distrobution. I guess i could just cut some off the 45 degree angle, decisions decisions, i've got tomorrow off, so i'll have to thnk about this today.

[klowns]

putting in substrate now.. going with a 2:1 sand to EE mix.



still going....

[klowns]

almost done, the pump i got doesn't even power 1 air stone let alone the 2 it was advertised for, so going to have to wait until tomorrow.

man i gave them so much substrate!!! and the open ness at the bottom for the false bottom, killing me, just going to have to pack this thing full.

[YYWW]

LOOKING GOOD! I see what you got going there, VERRRRRY NICE!


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[klowns]

so far i've only moved 2 of them in there, my smallest pp, and my only E, i think he's a murder, only 1 left out of 3 originals. I've already witnessed my first saltwater bubbler fight. The E was having none of the PP trying to get near the bubbles that the air stone was putting out while he was on top of it.