1 inch thick Styrofoam under tank?
- Thread starter Aquatic-Obsession
- Start date
well i know that around here it comes in blue and green the blue is a higher density then the green i believe the brand name is styrofoam and styrospan not 100% sure on that
would an open cell foam work like wrestling mats or memory foam mattreses?
would an open cell foam work like wrestling mats or memory foam mattreses?
It is not the thickness that matters as much as the density. The foam should compress about 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch when the tank is first filled up. If it doesn't compress, the foam is too stiff and won't protect your tank from the twisting force caused by a stand (or sagging floor) that has one corner slightly higher than the others. You must also use closed cell foam so it doesn't "deflate" over time.
I use a 1/2" exercise matt under my 75G and that has compressed over 50% on the one high corner (concrete basement floor has raised area around a support beam). If the foam didn't compress, the tank would be under considerable twisting force. I used the pink 1" foam under my other 75G. That is way too stiff as I can slide my PetPerks card under a few spots between the tank and stand.
I have the softer 1/2" blue/white foam under my 150G tall. Even that foam is a little too stiff as it has barely compressed after a year.
An flat bottom acrylic tank needs that super soft white foam as the lbs/sq inch under the tank is very small. It hard to believe that such a soft foam can support a 200G+ tank.
Force per inch of frame (or square inch of bottom on an acrylic tank) is very easy to calculate. I tested a few different foams by matching the weight per inch of frame and measuring the amount of compression. The pink foam is the worse in terms of stiffness and linear compression. Once the surface of pink foam breaks, it compresses way too easily.
When I break down my 75G, I'm going to replace the pink foam with 1/2" exercise matt or 1" wide foam weather stripping.
I use a 1/2" exercise matt under my 75G and that has compressed over 50% on the one high corner (concrete basement floor has raised area around a support beam). If the foam didn't compress, the tank would be under considerable twisting force. I used the pink 1" foam under my other 75G. That is way too stiff as I can slide my PetPerks card under a few spots between the tank and stand.
I have the softer 1/2" blue/white foam under my 150G tall. Even that foam is a little too stiff as it has barely compressed after a year.
An flat bottom acrylic tank needs that super soft white foam as the lbs/sq inch under the tank is very small. It hard to believe that such a soft foam can support a 200G+ tank.
Force per inch of frame (or square inch of bottom on an acrylic tank) is very easy to calculate. I tested a few different foams by matching the weight per inch of frame and measuring the amount of compression. The pink foam is the worse in terms of stiffness and linear compression. Once the surface of pink foam breaks, it compresses way too easily.
When I break down my 75G, I'm going to replace the pink foam with 1/2" exercise matt or 1" wide foam weather stripping.
