styrofoam layer under tanks
- Thread starter esoxlucius
- Start date
Styrofoam often does not compress evenly which and cause twisting. If the top of a stand is that close it should just be sanded a bit to get it perfectly flat.
I don't know who came up with the idea insulation sheet under a tank. Its ridiculous. I had tanks all my life glass and acrylic. I never put that crap under my tanks. Acrylic tanks get a layer of ply-wood under the tank. (As seen on Tanked and Fish Tank Kings) This idea probably came up with the acrylic tanks that are under sized. Thinner acrylic. The ones that bow when you fill them up. If metal stands are made right (square and true) the tank should lay flat with no rocking. Save the insulation for your home to save money on heating and air conditioning. Thats where its supposed to be used. LOL You will be fine. Good Luck
geez again, card board or thin layer of foam on a none rimed tank is not to fill gaps, its to protect against small bumps, a screw head that come up under pressure to prevent a small pressure point on the glass. nothing more. do it, don,nt do it what ever, your tanks your house. I personally always will on a rimless tank, just not that big of a deal not to.
I believe all tanks on "Tanked" are acrylic. I think most of the suggestions to use Styrofoam has been for rimless GLASS (ie, ones without the black plastic trim around the top and bottom of tanks).
Anyway, it's good to share opinions and experiences here. People can decide what they want to do. For me, I'm going to go with what the guy that built my tank said to do. He's likely built thousands of 1/2" glass tanks, and this is always his recommendation. I'm not going to try to prove him wrong by going against his guidance.
Well, after all that debate and deliberation i have took on board all of your valid points and i am absolutely firm in my mind now that......my brain's gonna explode, i need a beer!
I'll answer your second question, yes you can paint the plywood under that tank rather than the tank itself. Be sure the paint is fully dry and cured though or the tank will stick to the paint.
Another option if you don't want paint is to use vinyl flooring remnant in your preferred color choice. I did this on my racks of tanks and am pleased with it even though I do use substrate in my tanks.
Did you ever confirm whether the tank has plastic trim or is rimless?
Another option if you don't want paint is to use vinyl flooring remnant in your preferred color choice. I did this on my racks of tanks and am pleased with it even though I do use substrate in my tanks.
Did you ever confirm whether the tank has plastic trim or is rimless?
Cheers for that, the tank dosen't have any plastic trim on it (though it is braced at the top). When attaching the plywood to my stand for the tank to sit on is it better to just screw the screws in and make sure the heads aren't protruding or is it better to countersink them to be doubly sure. And about the paint, specialised black glass paint for the back of my tank and bog standard black paint for the ply? But saying that i could paint both the bottom and back of my tank with glass paint i suppose, same effect and i'm just using one paint that way.
