Put an end to some myths

[Egon]

Thanks for the science fair idea. Seriously, I'm gonna do that next year.

I was thinking about the same thing? Two 55's with convicts, at least the young could be used as feeders later. Same type of heater same amount of food, filter, even get the fish from the same tank at the store increasing the chance they are related? 20% water changes per week one straight from the tap and one with aged water and prime or something similar? Hell, I might do a third tank with just RO water? How many times can convicts breed in a year?

 

[SpeshulEd]

Myth 2) Is styrofoam or some other soft material between a fish tank and stand necessary, does it even make sense? - personally I think it's worse and I would absolutely not recommend it, yet I see this suggested all the time. Almost like it's a given to use the stuff!
I have never used this method for my stands and I never had a tank crack. I have seen one very large glass tank (300+ gallons) crack and it was sitting on styrofoam. The guy said it cracked when he was filling it? I just don't think the styrofoam is a good idea. I want a strong, flat, firm surface and if I questioned the surface I wouldn't put a fish tank on it. If there's a concern at all I wouldn't just put foam on it and say "okay we are good" "the foam should over come any imperfections".

I'm testing this one out with my 450g on a metal stand. The stand is square and the tank is square...the floor wasn't, so I put (a lot!) of foam padding on the bottom. I was always told to shim the stand, not the tank.

 

[12 Volt Man]

re styrofoam:

there was a post over on cichlid forum where someone emailed Aqueon directly about putting styro between the tank and stand and they did NOT recommended it for their tanks (which have a 'floating bottom' where the tank glass never contacts the stand but rather rests in a frame where the edges contact the tank stand only).

they say it can lead to an 'uneven edge' which can cause the tank to crack.

given that my 150g is an Aqueon, it sits directly on my steel tube stand.

 

[jcardona1]

i think styrofoam is more intended for acrylic tanks, since they have a flat bottom and need to be perfectly level to prevent stress on the panels, thats where the styrofoam helps.

there was a guy on here a while back that filled up an acrylic tank on his lawn. as it was filling up, BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM the tank busts, all because of the uneven pressure on the acyrlic panels

 

[12 Volt Man]

^

I remember that thread.

 

[TTTT]

I was thinking about the same thing? Two 55's with convicts, at least the young could be used as feeders later. Same type of heater same amount of food, filter, even get the fish from the same tank at the store increasing the chance they are related? 20% water changes per week one straight from the tap and one with aged water and prime or something similar? Hell, I might do a third tank with just RO water? How many times can convicts breed in a year?

I was thinking of raising two oscars (since they're such fast growers) in seperate tanks, same food, heater, filter, except one would have treated water, one tap. They'd even be the same type of oscar. (Red or bumblebee) Only problem is gonna be getting 2 75s empty and available.

 

[Bderick67]

Regarding styrofoam;

Glasscages seems to think the styrofoam is important, as they will not warrant their tanks unless placed on 3/4" styrofoam.

When I asked about styro under my acrylic tank. Tenecor said it was unnecessary and not recommended

 

[12 Volt Man]

^

it could be because of the type of bottom they have. as far as I know, they do not have the 'floating bottom' type that Aqueon (and Marineland) use.

like this (the bottom of my 150g) for reference - I took this pic for a previous discussion on the use of stryo:

you can see that the bottom pane of glass actually rests about 1/4" or so above the stand itself, hence the 'floating bottom' term.

their tanks probably just use trim peices such that the bottom glass is in direct contact with the stand, hence their insistance on stryo.

 

[golcondorus]

just throwing this out there, you dont actually NEED an airstone, i find the bubbles horriblly ugly, its not the bubbles that put O2 into the water, its the surface movement they create, easilly done with filter return lines, no bubbles, and, one less piece of equipment

 

[Egon]

just throwing this out there, you dont actually NEED an airstone, i find the bubbles horriblly ugly, its not the bubbles that put O2 into the water, its the surface movement they create, easilly done with filter return lines, no bubbles, and, one less piece of equipment

I agree. O2 is exchanged at the surface of the tank. The more water movement there the better. You can also get O2 in the water with a wet dry system falling down through the bio media, but the actual air stone is not putting air into the water it's just creating movement at the surface which increases the O2 absorption.