# Egg Crate for a bow front



## chefkevin (Apr 6, 2008)

What is the best way to cut egg crate for a bowfront aquarium or is their something more suitable for the curved shape, to disperse the weight of rocks ?

-Kevin


----------



## eyezak (Feb 22, 2008)

I'm pretty sure your not going to put rocks in the front,Right? If not you won't have to worry about putting egg crate at the curve.


----------



## chefkevin (Apr 6, 2008)

*eyezak*

I suppose that makes sense; no I will not be placing rock at the front, but I thought placing egg crate is just as much about distributing weight to the _whole_ bottom of the aquarium as it is keeping the rock from contacting it directly

-Kevin


----------



## CDMOK (Mar 28, 2008)

It is, Chef. I still had to put two sheets in my 125, so that point was lost :lol:

All I can t think of is, depending upon the size of the tank and the arc of the bow, you may be able to increase the width by each little grid or half-grid with the same tool you cut the other sides with. Does this make sense?

Forgive the absolutely horrific illustration :










That would be, of course, over a greater length and with even grids :lol: But does it make sense? The kind of plastic eggcrate it made of, you should be able to cut anywhere on the grid if you have some basic wire cutters to get the widths you need. :thumb:


----------



## nick a (Apr 9, 2004)

> thought placing egg crate is just as much about distributing weight to the whole bottom of the aquarium


Lighting diffuser AKA egg crate is not a structural member as it does not "distribute" enough weight to make it worth mentioning. Place some 2x4s on the floor in a rough outline of a four foot tank. Put a piece of plastic light diffuser on top of the 2x's. While you watch the plastic light diffuser, have someone step on the middle of it. See how much it bends? It's not carrying load--it is transfering it directly to the bottom glass (which is rigid enough to transfer it directly to the perimeter on most glass tanks--which is where all the weight is actually transfered to your stand).



> as it is keeping the rock from contacting it directly


This is the correct concept to understand for why to choose to add it to your tank--to prevent scratching and pitting if you drag or drop your rocks etc.....

Hope that makes sense.


----------



## eyezak (Feb 22, 2008)

The egg crate is used IMO so the rocks do not pit/scratch the glass bottom and to keep the rocks at an even level.Sand/gravel keeps moving especially when you have cichlids digging/sifting around the rock,so the egg crate will keep the rocks from becoming uneven so they don't fall.As nick a pointed out egg crate doesn't distribute weight all that great. I'm a poet and didn't even no it


----------



## teqvet (Mar 24, 2008)

eyezak said:


> The egg crate is used IMO so the rocks do not pit/scratch the glass bottom and to keep the rocks at an even level.Sand/gravel keeps moving especially when you have cichlids digging/sifting around the rock,so the egg crate will keep the rocks from becoming uneven so they don't fall.As nick a pointed out egg crate doesn't distribute weight all that great. I'm a poet and didn't even no it


That is correct! It's not about proper weight dispersement, but keeping large rocks from focusing 1 point with their full load and the load of the others. By placing them on the eggcrate, this is dispersed throughout an area of the tank, and risk of damaging the bottom is lessened a good amount.


----------



## chefkevin (Apr 6, 2008)

teqvet said:


> That is correct! *It's not about proper weight disbursement*


So, do you realize you just completely contradicted yourself right? What part of;


> keeping large rocks from focusing 1 point with their full load and the load of the others. By placing them on the eggcrate, *this is dispersed throughout an area of the tank* and risk of damaging the bottom is lessened a good amount.


 isn't weight disbursement? You even used the word disbursed to describe what it does...

-Kevin


----------



## teqvet (Mar 24, 2008)

?? No, I did not. I said it doesn't disperse weight properly. The area is still focused to a small area, but it's not nearly as small as it is with just one point of a rock resting on it. This is usually a problem with angled rocks where you have one corner resting on the glass bottom. The egg crate disperses that wait to a slightly larger area, but not enough to say it's been properly dispersed. If you have too many rocks in one area resting their focal points, then - quite unlikely, you could cause the eggcrate to shatter, though you would need some massive rocks to do so. Now if you layered the eggcrate and put 2-3 rows down, maybe this could disperse it better so as to not have that fear/possibility.


----------

