FOAM? Yes or no?

[STONEDFISH]

240 long will be here 3pm on saturday. I'm building my stand and need to know about the foam. I've talked to a few LFS with huge tanks set up and they haven't heard of the foam. They, however, were using oceanic stands. I got to do this right cause I can't deal with my tank blowing and all my fish on the floor! Whats the deal?
STONEDFISH

 

[WyldFya]

The foam will be a good addition. It can be purchased at many local hardware stores. I prefer the high density blue impact foam myself.

 

[Wolf3101]

I don't use it personally...If the stand is strong and true then you shouldn't need it. Plenty of other people in the hobby use it and are very happy with it so it's really up to you. If it gives you peace of mind then go for it.

 

[vfc]

I put foam under all my tanks. I have a 75G set up for 2 years. The stand sagged a bit in the center and the foam did exactly as planned; it compressed about 50% on the ends and stayed about 90% in the middle.

The key is using the correct type and density foam. On my two large tanks, I calculated the weight for every inch of bottom frame (tank weight, water weight, & X lbs of gravel & rock). Then I cut a piece of wood an inch long and the same width as the plastic trim on the bottom of the tank. The weight per inch was around 7 -10lbs. I placed matching weight over the wood to test the compression of different foams. If your foam is too stiff, it will be no different than placing the tank on a hard surface. You need it to compress a little when the tank is first filled. My foam compressed about 10-20% at first. Worse case, if the stand is twisted corner to corner, the foam will adjust and distribute the weight as if the stand was perfectly square.

 

[Wolf3101]

I prefur the tank to sit on a solid serface rather than a movable one. This is the way glass tanks are designed. Acryllic is a differant story. They flex a great deal.

 

[gunn111]

I'm just guessin here but if the foam were required for a proper installation, wouldn't the manufacture inform the purchaser of this? Does using foam void any warrenties?

 

[JD_MAN]

I didn't use any on my 150 or 180 glass tanks, but I made sure that the stands that I built were square and level.

On my acrylic 220, I went ahead and used foam even though the stand was completely level. The acrylic won't give at all, just explode, from what I was told.

 

[qumqats]

Even if you build the stand true and level it, how do you know the floor is true and not warped? I've been using foam on my tanks just to get rid of that uncertainty of things beyond my control that might be putting stress on the tank.

Every time I see a topic here with pictures of a busted/blown up glass tank I wonder what caused it. "Hey! that broken glass looks like a stress fracture to me. Did you use any foam under it?"

 

[soggysandwich]

Even if you build the stand true and level it, how do you know the floor is true and not warped? I've been using foam on my tanks just to get rid of that uncertainty of things beyond my control that might be putting stress on the tank.

Every time I see a topic here with pictures of a busted/blown up glass tank I wonder what caused it. "Hey! that broken glass looks like a stress fracture to me. Did you use any foam under it?"

what kind of foam do you use, and where would i get it from

 

[Danh]

You can get it at home depot or lowes. It's insulation foam. I have it under my 450g. No matter how well a WOOD and SCREW stand is made, it still may sag... and the floor may not be perfect either. That's what it's for. Imperfections... which are EVERYWHERE.