i have a 96 x 48 x 24 acrylic and my tank MFG told me to put 1/2 foam insulation the pink stuff from home depot. if it is glass you dont need anything
What to put between aquarium and stand?
- Thread starter The-Almighty-Zugs
- Start date
exactly.
its easy to cut with sturdy scissors or razor knife.
not if the piece of plywood/stand is nice and level front to back and side to side. also if you use screws to attach the plywood to the stand then those can become contact points overtime so a bit of foam will help with that too.
you need something between the plywood and tank for an acrylic tank. especially if it is a wood stand because it will settle over time. you need the foam to take up the gaps. my stand is metal and the tank MFG still told me i had to use the foam. it is $15 why not use it definitely wont hurt anything
obviously metal wont settle. what the manufacturer is worried about is the stand not being level and the foam can take that slack up a little. I've had a few large tanks that didn't have foam under them just plywood and no issues. the 150g has been up and running for close to 10 years with no foam but i did recently put foam under it too.
Had a 110g acrylic tank with no foam, just a full piece of wood underneath it for 13 years and no issues.
it is $15 why not and metal dose not settle but is dose deflect. it will only take a small amount of deflection to put stress on the seams also will help where the plywood has knots too . not a risk i am willing to take if it is my tank and house i will put foam every time. for acrylic only. i know people that did not quarantine there fish for years and then they got a sick one destroyed there tank had to start over and now they quarantine ever time other people still dont quarantine there fish. just because you got away with something for years dont make it right.
So I though I read on here that foam under acrylic tanks is a bad idea and it can cause stress the seams of the tank. When the foam compresses the bottom of the tank can bow and pop a seam. I will be building my stand very soon for my 450 and would like to know this as well.
Lepisosteus
maybe you could shed some lite on this I thought I remember a issue with someone’s tank and you chimed in.
Lepisosteus
maybe you could shed some lite on this I thought I remember a issue with someone’s tank and you chimed in.How does the bottom of an acrylic tank bow with a full sheet of plywood or wood underneath that is not bowing?
they do that's why they have deflation calculate like this one. my tank is just about 210 PSF. and wood will settle after time too.
ENGINEERING.com | Beam Deflection Calculators
ENGINEERING.com's Beam Deflection Calculators.
www.engineering.com
can you post a link to that? it is ez for me like i said the tank MFG told me i had to or they would not warranty the tank. i dont get how it would put more stress on the seems. maybe if it was cut smaller then the tank?So I though I read on here that foam under acrylic tanks is a bad idea and it can cause stress the seams of the tank. When the foam compresses the bottom of the tank can bow and pop a seam. I will be building my stand very soon for my 450 and would like to know this as well.
