Maximum polystyrene thickness?

[CODzilla]

I am setting up my 72l x 24h x 18.5w tank and I want to set it on polystyrene because it is going on a home made stand and I want some insulation on it because my flat is very cold in the winter.

I have some polystyrene at work but it is about 1-2 inches thick, obviously it will get compressed but is there any reason that I shouldn't use it that thick? The polystyrene will be sat on the plywood top of the stand.

 

[CODzilla]

 

[cichlid2006]

I don't really know a maximum but it does not compress as much as you would imagine it would. I used 10mm because of the conditions of the guarantee on my tank and with 150g+ sitting on top of it, it is still 9mm thick.
It probably wouldn't do anything detrimental to the tank but at 1" thick it probably wouldn't look so good.

 

[CODzilla]

Thanks for the reply! The poly is an inch and a half thick.

A mate just popped around and help me get the tank on the newly completed stand!

Only problem is is that i'm not convinced the polystyrene isn't too thick:

In theory it will squash down evenly and be no worse than the wood it was sat on before but have I made it unstable, what if one end compresses and the other doesn't for some reason? Am I just over thinking it?

My other options are sitting it on to the plywood top of the stand, fabric or carpet tiles.

 

[Liquidplants]

I personally don't see the need for Styro, It will not keep your tank warmer, Its not sitting on the ground. That being said I don't think it will hurt or compress much at all so if you have it in place .. keep it. I don't like the look of the white foam either, but that's a personal opinion. Good Luck

 

[CODzilla]

Thanks!

I'm going to cut some board that will hide the top of the stand and the base of the tank to go around the edges.