“Artificial Bottom” Clarification

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KrankyKrab
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“Artificial Bottom” Clarification

Post by KrankyKrab » Sun Sep 22, 2019 7:26 pm

I randomly saw someone mention this.... now I feel it’s best to add one as I start my upgrade to minimize chances of bloom ...

This is egg crate it looks like? Do you just put drainage rocks in the crate before your sub?

I can’t imagine having to undo a 65g as I’m slowly researching how to construct it - so any preventive measures should be taken seriously as far as I’m concerned.

Thanks guys!


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Scarletfire
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Re: “Artificial Bottom” Clarification

Post by Scarletfire » Sun Sep 22, 2019 8:45 pm

An artificial bottom, in theory, could prevent a flood from creating a bacterial bloom. The problem is that if there is a flood, you will need to do a tank teardown anyways; the bottom allows you to catch the issue faster.

Second problem: the system break down causes a lot more problems than not, which makes it hard to fix. When it doesn't work, you'll need to do a tank teardown anyways.

Third problem: crabs have known to get stuck in the false bottoms, and passing away.

I've heard of people drilling a hole at the bottom of the tank, but that hasn't been discussed in a long time. Someone else with more experience can talk about it.

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aussieJJDude
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Re: “Artificial Bottom” Clarification

Post by aussieJJDude » Sun Sep 22, 2019 9:22 pm

While a false bottom does reduce the likelyhood of bacterial bloom due to anaerobic conditions, it does not completely minimize the risk. Substrate can retain a lot of water before becoming completely saturated, and from that, anaerobic regions can form.


They a good thing to have, but can be a little time consuming to set it up correctly - as mentioned above, crabs have been known to tear through them. And the substrate can also fall through if you dont have a fine enough mesh - but not too fine that it traps water.


If you want one for peace of mind, then I would reccomend getting a false bottom. But if for whatever reason you dont really want one, theres no harm in not setting one up.

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Topic author
KrankyKrab
Posts: 109
Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2019 6:03 am
Location: Staten Island NY

Re: “Artificial Bottom” Clarification

Post by KrankyKrab » Mon Sep 23, 2019 8:11 pm

Scarletfire wrote: Third problem: crabs have known to get stuck in the false bottoms, and passing away.

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GASP!!!!

Ok thanks guys, I’ll definitely research more.



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