OK, so my Africans have been in a 30 gallon for the past 7 months. I got them all at 1 1/2". I knew someday I would need to upgrade to a 55 when they got bigger. Well, bigger they are so its time! YAY! :dancing:

I can only afford the tank and hood at the moment, so am planing on setting it up on the floor until I can afford to get a nice stand. My kids are grown and I live alone so am not worried about kids breaking it, or a lot of traffic around the tank. I will use all I have in the 30 for it. The filter I have in the 30 is actually made for a 75 because they are such pigs! LOL

My question is: if its on the floor do I still need to put egg crate in it? I know the egg crate is to help distribute the rock weight, but if its on solid ground instead of on a stand can it handle it without? I only have about 20 pounds of lava rock right now. I know I will need to get some when I finally get a stand. I will have just enough money to get the tank and a couple extra stuff. Is there anything cheaper I can use? The egg create here is expensive for a small piece. :(

It wont make a difference wether its on the stand or its on the ground. The floor wont do anything to distribute weight that the stand wont.

I dont even use egg crate in my 75g tank, and I have like 50lbs of rock(more rock now than in my pic). Though I would be more worried if I was keeping larger fish like haps as they are actually strong enough to knock over rocks. I have had large rocks fall from the top of a stack without causing any damage, the sand seemed to obsorb all the weight.

If you are planning on using egg crate in your tank I'd put it in when you set the tank up, that way you dont have to remove substrate later.

I know this is probably a stupid question but... Whats egg crate???

Egg crate is plastic grid looking stuff found in the lighting department of home depot....its used as a lighting cover for shop lights.