sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
So I started up a frag tank to put my corals to try and get ahead of any aiptasia damage, and well long story short I only had one partial piece of egg crate (white) available and it just wasn't enough though. So curious struck me and I wondered how much black stuff was, now I know it'd be a lot more expensive, and the reality is it doesn't really matter the color but I didn't feel like going to Home Depot and just let the USPS (or other service) deliver to me. So BRS has a 2'x2' piece for like $16 which is really expensive compared to white stuff, but whatever in the grand scheme of things it's not that much money, but also came across some stuff on saltwateraquarium.com of modular stuff that is effectively 6" x 12" pieces that have tabs to snap together to make any size you want.
www.saltwateraquarium.com
This modular design was very intriguing because the frag tank was only 18" wide* (actually closer 17.5" inside) so I'd have to chop up that 2' x 2' piece, and while I don't know if the BRS is made of the same material as the white stuff solid as "light diffusers" that stuff is quite brittle so there could very well be some waste from cutting as well as rando pieces... so yeah... unfortunately the modular stuff is $4 PER PIECE, which ends up being twice the BRS price when you count total area. Now unfortunately my cheap-gene did kick in at that price, because I figure I'd get a lot of pieces. But I figured this is probably some cheap overseas (I don't have to name the country) manufacturing plant stuff so checked on Amazon and sure enough like most of the crap there that just has a different name but is exactly the same crap I found quite a few vendors selling it and one for half the price ... I just had to buy 4 pieces ($8 total, although quickly looking it again it now cost $9)
And being as the Amazon stuff had free one day shipping (Prime) I decided to just get a couple packages for $16 total (plus tax), and that gave me 8- 6" x 12" pieces (the reality is it's 30mm x 15mm which is 5.91" x 11.81") but it was something to play around with.
Quick Review
The Good: Having smaller pieces to work in a tank makes for convenient creation of a frag rack that fits any size you want without having jagged edges. Plastic is not fragile like white "light diffuser" material making for easy and clean cutting if necessary (and it was)
The Bad: The connection points aren't perfectly symmetrical with placement, and while you can put a short sides on long sides making an L shape, you can't stagger the pieces (think brick work look) for added strength.
The Ugly: This may be a case of "there's a reason why the ones I paid for were half the cost" but the tolerances for the connection points are absolutely horrible, pieces did not fit together at all and required a bit of extra work to actually make them fit. Do note I'm not sure if the saltwateraquarium.com ones are any better.
Long Review
So initially I was a bit bummed that I couldn't put 3 wide in the tank,well not without them bowing (I did try
) but then I started thinking and decided having space on the sides was actually useful as it would allow me to clean the glass as necessary this frag tank is done with a 40g breeder and a canopy was put over the top so any viewing would be from the side which means I will want room to clean glass.
So the connection is done with a wedged key/hole system like so, with 2 sides (one long one short) with keys, and 2 sides with holes.
Now this did not initially work requiring some extra effort on my hand to make it work since the holes were not all uniform size and the keys were also a little too big. Like I said maybe this was why these were so cheap, injection mold toss rejects? The upside though is using a utility knife cut through the stuff very smoothly, I'm not sure what type of plastic this is made of as it only says "100% food grade plastic" but it has a feel more of a cutting board material than the relatively hard light diffuser stuff (if you've cut that you know what I mean). Do noted I'm not sure what the BRS panel is made out of, or if this is standard for the black stuff, but it is what it is.
One other thing you can note is that the pieces are not flush, this happened when I tried to maneuver it around in the tank I got some separation here, and probably am going to just use some black zip ties to hold it together, it seems only on one side this is an issue though, probably something to do with the mentioned tolerances in injection molding.
You can see on the left side it's tilted upward, while the right side is relatively even, this is 3 pieces with legs under the end two pieces and the middle piece just "floating", this had more to do with me moving it in the tank (one of the legs got moved and I had to move it back which ended up applying a torque). It seems to hold up against the weight of the frag plugs just fine. Now would I trust it with a big honking piece of rock on it? Eh... maybe not, but I'm not worried about it being flimsy as a frag rack, with frags and frag plugs on it.
Here's a piece that's on the bottom, it's only 2 pieces wide and each piece has 2 legs under it and it holds up fine, with no deflection.
Here's another bottom piece that's 3 wide, but the middle one does have a single leg centered under it for support. I didn't want to them on the other one because it's an elevated piece and I wanted the free space beneath it.
You can also see one of my ceramic squares, covers 3x3 holes, does fit over the seam part (I could push it down more if I wanted) however it is tight and that's because the outside edge square walls are just as thick as the inside square walls, so there are 2 "walls" along the point where two pieces are connected. This is probably one of the reasons why I couldn't stagger them like a brick pattern to give added strength by staggering the seams.
And here's the "final" product, some PVC with an "X" cut in the top so that there's a good friction fit with the egg crate work as legs. The idea was to have multiple levels, some will be overlapped for lower light corals, however the square ceramic plates that block a lot of light will be moved, I just started chucking all sorts of usused frag plugs in here to give them some surface for bacteria to start colonizing. But this is a review thread not a tank build thread
Final Verdict
I think this is a decent enough product for what it's intended for. I know many people want to put a very small frag rack in their display tank for temporary corals and you can easily cut it with a razor blade (utility knife) to make it whatever size you want, or perhaps want to DIY a magnetic rack without paying $30-40 for a small one, or maybe you just have a smaller frag tank and want to do something a bit different like me. Now if you had a larger frag tank where a 2'x2' piece would fit and that's the size you want then I probably would go that direction rather than piecing together smaller pieces, but for my purposes I think this is fine.
Final note, I'm sure "local" fish stores like Neptune sell black egg crate if that's what you need, and perhaps the cost is comparable, so please support them. For me it's about convenience, almost 2 hours of driving there and back plus about $8 in gas hardly makes a store like that "local" to me.
Modular Black Egg Crate For Aquariums (ONE PIECE, 6" x 12" Rectangle) - Generic
Shop The Best Saltwater Aquarium Equipment & Supplies at Saltwater Aquarium. We Carry Everything you will Need for your Fish Tank.
www.saltwateraquarium.com
This modular design was very intriguing because the frag tank was only 18" wide* (actually closer 17.5" inside) so I'd have to chop up that 2' x 2' piece, and while I don't know if the BRS is made of the same material as the white stuff solid as "light diffusers" that stuff is quite brittle so there could very well be some waste from cutting as well as rando pieces... so yeah... unfortunately the modular stuff is $4 PER PIECE, which ends up being twice the BRS price when you count total area. Now unfortunately my cheap-gene did kick in at that price, because I figure I'd get a lot of pieces. But I figured this is probably some cheap overseas (I don't have to name the country) manufacturing plant stuff so checked on Amazon and sure enough like most of the crap there that just has a different name but is exactly the same crap I found quite a few vendors selling it and one for half the price ... I just had to buy 4 pieces ($8 total, although quickly looking it again it now cost $9)
Amazon.com : Pomeat 4Pcs Aquarium Fish Tank Bottom Isolation, Black Grid Divider Tray Egg Crate Louvre for Mixed Breeding : Pet Supplies
Amazon.com : Pomeat 4Pcs Aquarium Fish Tank Bottom Isolation, Black Grid Divider Tray Egg Crate Louvre for Mixed Breeding : Pet Supplies
www.amazon.com
And being as the Amazon stuff had free one day shipping (Prime) I decided to just get a couple packages for $16 total (plus tax), and that gave me 8- 6" x 12" pieces (the reality is it's 30mm x 15mm which is 5.91" x 11.81") but it was something to play around with.
Quick Review
The Good: Having smaller pieces to work in a tank makes for convenient creation of a frag rack that fits any size you want without having jagged edges. Plastic is not fragile like white "light diffuser" material making for easy and clean cutting if necessary (and it was)
The Bad: The connection points aren't perfectly symmetrical with placement, and while you can put a short sides on long sides making an L shape, you can't stagger the pieces (think brick work look) for added strength.
The Ugly: This may be a case of "there's a reason why the ones I paid for were half the cost" but the tolerances for the connection points are absolutely horrible, pieces did not fit together at all and required a bit of extra work to actually make them fit. Do note I'm not sure if the saltwateraquarium.com ones are any better.
Long Review
So initially I was a bit bummed that I couldn't put 3 wide in the tank,well not without them bowing (I did try
) but then I started thinking and decided having space on the sides was actually useful as it would allow me to clean the glass as necessary this frag tank is done with a 40g breeder and a canopy was put over the top so any viewing would be from the side which means I will want room to clean glass.So the connection is done with a wedged key/hole system like so, with 2 sides (one long one short) with keys, and 2 sides with holes.
Now this did not initially work requiring some extra effort on my hand to make it work since the holes were not all uniform size and the keys were also a little too big. Like I said maybe this was why these were so cheap, injection mold toss rejects? The upside though is using a utility knife cut through the stuff very smoothly, I'm not sure what type of plastic this is made of as it only says "100% food grade plastic" but it has a feel more of a cutting board material than the relatively hard light diffuser stuff (if you've cut that you know what I mean). Do noted I'm not sure what the BRS panel is made out of, or if this is standard for the black stuff, but it is what it is.
One other thing you can note is that the pieces are not flush, this happened when I tried to maneuver it around in the tank I got some separation here, and probably am going to just use some black zip ties to hold it together, it seems only on one side this is an issue though, probably something to do with the mentioned tolerances in injection molding.
You can see on the left side it's tilted upward, while the right side is relatively even, this is 3 pieces with legs under the end two pieces and the middle piece just "floating", this had more to do with me moving it in the tank (one of the legs got moved and I had to move it back which ended up applying a torque). It seems to hold up against the weight of the frag plugs just fine. Now would I trust it with a big honking piece of rock on it? Eh... maybe not, but I'm not worried about it being flimsy as a frag rack, with frags and frag plugs on it.
Here's a piece that's on the bottom, it's only 2 pieces wide and each piece has 2 legs under it and it holds up fine, with no deflection.
Here's another bottom piece that's 3 wide, but the middle one does have a single leg centered under it for support. I didn't want to them on the other one because it's an elevated piece and I wanted the free space beneath it.
You can also see one of my ceramic squares, covers 3x3 holes, does fit over the seam part (I could push it down more if I wanted) however it is tight and that's because the outside edge square walls are just as thick as the inside square walls, so there are 2 "walls" along the point where two pieces are connected. This is probably one of the reasons why I couldn't stagger them like a brick pattern to give added strength by staggering the seams.
And here's the "final" product, some PVC with an "X" cut in the top so that there's a good friction fit with the egg crate work as legs. The idea was to have multiple levels, some will be overlapped for lower light corals, however the square ceramic plates that block a lot of light will be moved, I just started chucking all sorts of usused frag plugs in here to give them some surface for bacteria to start colonizing. But this is a review thread not a tank build thread
Final Verdict
I think this is a decent enough product for what it's intended for. I know many people want to put a very small frag rack in their display tank for temporary corals and you can easily cut it with a razor blade (utility knife) to make it whatever size you want, or perhaps want to DIY a magnetic rack without paying $30-40 for a small one, or maybe you just have a smaller frag tank and want to do something a bit different like me
. Now if you had a larger frag tank where a 2'x2' piece would fit and that's the size you want then I probably would go that direction rather than piecing together smaller pieces, but for my purposes I think this is fine.Final note, I'm sure "local" fish stores like Neptune sell black egg crate if that's what you need, and perhaps the cost is comparable, so please support them. For me it's about convenience, almost 2 hours of driving there and back plus about $8 in gas hardly makes a store like that "local" to me.