Tiles as a substrate

[Slough Shark]

I was just wondering, has anyone tried using tiles as a substrate in the aquarium? Or heard of it working out?

I was thinking about doing that, then filling the cracks in with some sand for my river tank that is in planning.

[snaggle]

I have seen this before and remember reading that they have to be natural stone or clay tiles with a high quality finish. I think I saw it on cichlid forum but am not 100% sure.

[Vallisneria]

I saw it on Cichlid-forum. I would think it would be fine, you'd just have to watch that a bunch of crap doesn't get stuck underneath the tiles and cause water issues.

[sharuq1]

I saw someone use tiles in a reef tank, so I don't see why you couldn't.

[Slough Shark]

Great, thanks guys!

[kem]

I used dark gray slate tiles in my African cichlids tank. It works great. Cleaning the tank is a breeze and the fish were showing great colors.

[Slough Shark]

Yeah I figured it would make maintenance a bit easier, good thanks!

[Slough Shark]

So would ceramic tiles be ok?

[jvision]

Ceramic is fine - you can silicon the gaps if you don't want anything getting between/under them

[Sam Chicklets]

Ceramic is fine - you can silicon the gaps if you don't want anything getting between/under them

I would cut them to fit and silicone them to the sides of the tank as well.

[Slough Shark]

Ceramic is fine - you can silicon the gaps if you don't want anything getting between/under them

I would cut them to fit and silicone them to the sides of the tank as well.

I would use them for the sides too, but the look of the gaps siliconed shut isn't natural enough. I guess I could stick some sand in when the silicone is still wet, but it seems too permanent a thing to do.

I am probably going to lay down some sand first, then the tiles because I want a small area that is just sand that will allow me to add a few plants. I wont be adding any burrowing fish because I'm sure they would get themselves stuck under the tiles and cause a lovely ammonia spike. I doubt I will be able to put anything in the tank with the dwarf snakehead, maybe some dwarf rasboras when he is full grown and well fed on larger things.

Thanks guys,

Taylor

[jvision]

If you're going to do some sand, build a box; otherwise, the tiles will shift if there's sand under them. If you want plants and a tile bottom, put the plants in some clay pots, or stick w. plants that adhere to driftwood (Java fern, Anubias, Crypts).

[Slough Shark]

I was planning on just keeping Java Fern and Java Moss anyhow, so that won't be a problem. Do you think the tiles would still shift if I put gravel under them? I will fill in the cracks a bit with sand. I would prefer the tiles to be raised off the bottom a bit for photography reasons.

[jvision]

Take the black trim off your tank. If you try to raise up the tiles you'll develop pockets of noxious gas - if one of those burp, you can lose everything in the tank.

[nyb440]

Could a second layer of tiles be used instead of gravel to raise them up a bit? If the two layers were offset, that would minimize detritus going down past the first layer. I suppose you could even glue two tiles together to make "one" thicker tile, if you wanted.