Gluing Substrate to Bottom of Tank

[darb]

I want to glue the substrate to the bottom of my marbled cray breeder tank to aid in maintenance. I was considering a thin layer of silicone and pressing the substrate into the silicone.

Anyone tried anything similar?

[Keri]

I haven't tried it but what about slate tiles? looks better than BB and heavy enough you wouldn't have to glue?

[hgi]

Sounds like one heck of a mess if you decided you wanted to take it out, how about silicone the gravel it to a sheet of thin plastic then lay the plastic on the bottom of the tank?

[darb]

I haven't tried it but what about slate tiles? looks better than BB and heavy enough you wouldn't have to glue?

yes but it really wouldn't be textured enough for the crayfish.

Sounds like one heck of a mess if you decided you wanted to take it out, how about silicone the gravel it to a sheet of thin plastic then lay the plastic on the bottom of the tank?

it would be a mess to remove, but they are used 33s which are my dedicated feeder breeder tanks and semi-disposable anyways.

[rgrling]

not sure if you want a bare-bottom tank, but one option is a "fake sand" paint job: Fishy Review - Aquarium Reviews and How-tos

[tang daddy]

This is common with the reef tanks that need lots of flow but don't want to lay sand and crushed coral thick as it gets blown around and you're left with areas bearing the glass.

You will have to work fairly fast but basically spread a thin layer of aquarium safe silicone with a plastic putty knife. Have the sand and whatever you plan on gluing down, the reason for sand is some of the rocks are bigger so the sand fills the gaps... Pour it over the whole area, don't worry about access. Once dry you can turn the tank to the side and rinse the access out. I would also allow it to cure for a few days then leave it filled for another week so incase it leaches anything out!

[oakley1984]

yes it will work fantastic, DO NOT spread the layer of silicone more than 3/8" thick! otherwise it will take MONTHS to cure. and as tang daddy said, after you have spread the silicone out into a layer accross the bottom of the tank just take a large bag of sand and just dump it on top, it will do the work for you... pushing into it will make a large mess that you dont want to deal with, so as stated just dump the sand on and let the pressure of the sand work the sand into the silicone. make sure your sand is EXTREMELY dry when doing this, if you use damp sand when you put it on the wet silicone on the bottom youll just screw yourself, as even 1% moisture will prevent the silicone from bonding and will cause the fresh silicone to skin instantly!

[darb]

great, thanks for the tips!