Styrofoam?

[philg3]

So this week I finally finished painting the stand and got it into the house. next week I have vinegar baths and lots and lots of saltwater to make, but before that i had a question about styrofoam between the tank and stand.

Does everyone do this? Even with trimmed floating bottom tanks? My tank is one of the older Oceanic tanks, I've torn the trim off the top of the tank and DIY'd a euro brace, but I left the bottom trim and was going to paint it black to match the stand. I just got lost on wetwebmedia reading article after article about leveling stands, but they only rarely mention styrofoam and never directly address it and when to use, when not to etc.

Could someone please shed a little light over here?

[unclesalty]

In all my freshwater tanks I owned over the years I have never ever used styrofoam and never had a problem. Some tank manufactures warranty will even be voided if styrofoam is used. On my build I will not be using styrofoam or plywood.

[philg3]

Yeaaaa... the warranty on this tank is long gone, its been drilled and notches have been cut, but I'll take that as one vote for no foam.

[unclesalty]

I have found there is tons of different opinions on this topic but if manufactures tell you not to use it that kind of says something right there IMO.

[whatcaneyedo]

If your aquarium isn't that large and your floor and stand are perfect I'm sure you'd be fine... However I always think back to the big broken Bow Valley tank sitting on Total Pet's show room floor with the incredibly wavy looking steel stand underneath it. Yup they filled it up without foam to better disperse the weight and the bottom cracked immediately. 200gal terrarium anyone?

[Aquattro]

I've used foam of some sort on every tank I've had...

[monocus]

i put plywood with 1/8 flooring foam at my voids under my 240 gal tank.there was 3 3/8 voids and i filled them just enough to touch the glass

[Cade]

I used 1/2" rigid Styrofoam below my tank and sump. I could only find it at home depot unfortunately.

[philg3]

Tank is only a 58 gallon (36x18x22ish) so I think I will be fine.

I did a lot more reading and came to the conclusion that with the framed tanks (mine) the weight should be distributed around the edges. As long as there arent any pressure points or gaps where the trim sits on the stand I shouldnt need any styrofoam.

I also read that on the trimmed tanks if the styrofoam is too thick and compresses then it can come into contact with the bottom glass and create pressure which can lead to a huge mess all by itself.

I think I'll skip the foam on this tank

Thanks for the input team, always appreciated.

[unclesalty]

Originally Posted by philg3

Tank is only a 58 gallon (36x18x22ish) so I think I will be fine.

I did a lot more reading and came to the conclusion that with the framed tanks (mine) the weight should be distributed around the edges. As long as there arent any pressure points or gaps where the trim sits on the stand I shouldnt need any styrofoam.

I also read that on the trimmed tanks if the styrofoam is too thick and compresses then it can come into contact with the bottom glass and create pressure which can lead to a huge mess all by itself.

I think I'll skip the foam on this tank

Thanks for the input team, always appreciated.

That sounds very similar to what I have read!