Styrofoam - Is it safe? Advice please!

[Paul Dussault]

Greetings,

I've recently moved my 77 gal. (24"x20"x16") from the 1st floor to the
basement. The tank is all glass, on a plywood/melamine stand.
I've often been advised to put a styrofoam board between the tank and the
stand, to help reduce the stress on the bottom glass pane.
When moving the tank (which was in place for four years), I've noticed that
the plywood of the stand had swollen a little in a corner, due to small
water spills; so I thought it would be a good idea to put styrofoam.
I was told that the styrofoam board should be 1/4" or 1/2" thick.
Unfortunately, none of the hardware "megastores" around here keeps styrofoam
under 1" thick, and they wouldn't cut it to 1/2" either.
So I decided to go with 1". This styrofoam is quite hard and doesn't
"crumble" easily.

So now the tank is in place, with gravel, rockwork and water. No fish yet.
It is almost perfectly level and the foam seems to bear it pretty well (no
sinking).

But some questions are beginning to make me nervous:

- Is a styrofoam this thick will be safe over time? (ie is it possible for
the tank to slowly sink in the styrofoam unevenly (due, for example, to
rockwork), causing stress to the bottom glass pane?
- Could the styrofoam eventually break or become damaged by occasional small
water spills?

Should I empty the tank (again!) and remove the styrofoam, or can I forget
about it and enjoy my mbunas?

Do some of you have any experience with styrofoam under your tanks?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance,

Paul Dussault

[Roger Sleet]

In article >,
(Paul Dussault) wrote:

> Greetings,
>
> I've recently moved my 77 gal. (24"x20"x16") from the 1st floor to the
> basement. The tank is all glass, on a plywood/melamine stand.
> I've often been advised to put a styrofoam board between the tank and
> the
> stand, to help reduce the stress on the bottom glass pane.
> When moving the tank (which was in place for four years), I've noticed
> that
> the plywood of the stand had swollen a little in a corner, due to small
> water spills; so I thought it would be a good idea to put styrofoam.
> I was told that the styrofoam board should be 1/4" or 1/2" thick.
> Unfortunately, none of the hardware "megastores" around here keeps
> styrofoam
> under 1" thick, and they wouldn't cut it to 1/2" either.
> So I decided to go with 1". This styrofoam is quite hard and doesn't
> "crumble" easily.
>
> So now the tank is in place, with gravel, rockwork and water. No fish
> yet.
> It is almost perfectly level and the foam seems to bear it pretty well
> (no
> sinking).
>
> But some questions are beginning to make me nervous:
>
> - Is a styrofoam this thick will be safe over time? (ie is it possible
> for
> the tank to slowly sink in the styrofoam unevenly (due, for example, to
> rockwork), causing stress to the bottom glass pane?
> - Could the styrofoam eventually break or become damaged by occasional
> small
> water spills?
>
> Should I empty the tank (again!) and remove the styrofoam, or can I
> forget
> about it and enjoy my mbunas?
>
> Do some of you have any experience with styrofoam under your tanks?

It is possible to crack the base of a tank if there is a bit of grit under
it. The thickness doesn't matter, so long as it is thick enough - I've
used everything from insulation tiles 3/8 at most, up to over 1". I
wouldn't worry about it.

Roger Sleet
Roger's Aquatic Pages http://www.sleet.plus.com

[NetMax]

"Paul Dussault" > wrote in message
...
> Greetings,
>
> I've recently moved my 77 gal. (24"x20"x16") from the 1st floor to the
> basement. The tank is all glass, on a plywood/melamine stand.
> I've often been advised to put a styrofoam board between the tank and
the
> stand, to help reduce the stress on the bottom glass pane.
> When moving the tank (which was in place for four years), I've noticed
that
> the plywood of the stand had swollen a little in a corner, due to small
> water spills; so I thought it would be a good idea to put styrofoam.
> I was told that the styrofoam board should be 1/4" or 1/2" thick.
> Unfortunately, none of the hardware "megastores" around here keeps
styrofoam
> under 1" thick, and they wouldn't cut it to 1/2" either.
> So I decided to go with 1". This styrofoam is quite hard and doesn't
> "crumble" easily.
>
> So now the tank is in place, with gravel, rockwork and water. No fish
yet.
> It is almost perfectly level and the foam seems to bear it pretty well
(no
> sinking).
>
> But some questions are beginning to make me nervous:
>
> - Is a styrofoam this thick will be safe over time? (ie is it possible
for
> the tank to slowly sink in the styrofoam unevenly (due, for example, to
> rockwork), causing stress to the bottom glass pane?
> - Could the styrofoam eventually break or become damaged by occasional
small
> water spills?
>
> Should I empty the tank (again!) and remove the styrofoam, or can I
forget
> about it and enjoy my mbunas?
>
> Do some of you have any experience with styrofoam under your tanks?
>
> Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Paul Dussault

Either your tank bottom is flat, or the bottom is higher and the tank
rests on it's sides. If the tank is sitting on the sides, these will
slowly sink into the styrofoam, perhaps as far as allowing the glass
bottom to contact the styrofoam. In either case, the weight will be
distributed very uniformly. Your concern about the rocks is
theoretically valid (causing the back to sink in deeper), but IMO, this
does not happen in any significant way. For example, if your 50 lbs of
rocks displaces 3 gallons of water (which weighs 25 lbs), then your rocks
are really only adding 25 lbs to that end of the tank. If the styrofoam
contacts the bottom glass, this will make it less likely for any glass
damage to occur from rockwork. Polystyrene (styrofoam) breaks down
(melts) very quickly from various chemicals, and slowly from UV exposure,
but in your application, styrofoam is IMO basically impervious to water
spills.

NetMax

[Bob K.]

Experience? In over ... more years of setting up tanks than most of your
ages --
I have never placed all 4 sides of a tank on any stand or surface.
When I was a kid, my father taught me to place two pieces of wood &
leave
an air gap under the tank. Those were generally on a flat surface.
(BTW, not leaving that space - will allow spills to take a very long time
to dry out if it's a flat surface. The tanks will effectively close it
up and
prevent it from drying out, but open enough to draw water under)

Since then, in about 4 different fish rooms I've built, I've placed
numerous
tanks with only two sides resting on it's stand. Either front & back or
both
sides. All the tanks, old & new, have edges that lift the bottom glass
from resting directly on any surface.

I've NEVER had a problem with a newer (silicone glued) tanks, and only
minor leaks from the older (metal & tar) tanks.

my 2 cents:
I understand the concern of those putting tanks on a flat surface, but you
can generally satisfy yourself by trying to rock the tank (while it's
empty)
and if there's ANY movement, you do need to put something under the tank
to prevent those stresses on it when it is filled. But if that's the
case, I don't
think styrofoam will hold up over time. You need to eliminate that wobble
with somthing solid, try supporting just 2 ends (or front & back) as I
have.

Bob

>I've recently moved my 77 gal. (24"x20"x16") from the 1st floor to the
>basement. The tank is all glass, on a plywood/melamine stand.
>I've often been advised to put a styrofoam board between the tank and the
>stand, to help reduce the stress on the bottom glass pane.
>When moving the tank (which was in place for four years), I've noticed that
>the plywood of the stand had swollen a little in a corner, due to small
>water spills; so I thought it would be a good idea to put styrofoam.
>I was told that the styrofoam board should be 1/4" or 1/2" thick.
>Unfortunately, none of the hardware "megastores" around here keeps styrofoam
>under 1" thick, and they wouldn't cut it to 1/2" either.
>So I decided to go with 1". This styrofoam is quite hard and doesn't
>"crumble" easily.
>
>So now the tank is in place, with gravel, rockwork and water. No fish yet.
>It is almost perfectly level and the foam seems to bear it pretty well (no
>sinking).
>
>But some questions are beginning to make me nervous:
>
>- Is a styrofoam this thick will be safe over time? (ie is it possible for
>the tank to slowly sink in the styrofoam unevenly (due, for example, to
>rockwork), causing stress to the bottom glass pane?
>- Could the styrofoam eventually break or become damaged by occasional small
>water spills?
>
>Should I empty the tank (again!) and remove the styrofoam, or can I forget
>about it and enjoy my mbunas?
>
>Do some of you have any experience with styrofoam under your tanks?
>
>Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
>Thanks in advance,

[Jimmy]

There really is not that much weight per square inch on the styrofoam. It
should hold up well as long as it is uniformly supported underneath. Ive
used styrofoam to smooth out uneven table surfaces before placing an
aquarium on it. Also about the plywood getting wet. Use a little varnish to
seal bare wood that wiil be subjected to water.

"Paul Dussault" > wrote in message
...
> Greetings,
>
> I've recently moved my 77 gal. (24"x20"x16") from the 1st floor to the
> basement. The tank is all glass, on a plywood/melamine stand.
> I've often been advised to put a styrofoam board between the tank and the
> stand, to help reduce the stress on the bottom glass pane.
> When moving the tank (which was in place for four years), I've noticed
that
> the plywood of the stand had swollen a little in a corner, due to small
> water spills; so I thought it would be a good idea to put styrofoam.
> I was told that the styrofoam board should be 1/4" or 1/2" thick.
> Unfortunately, none of the hardware "megastores" around here keeps
styrofoam
> under 1" thick, and they wouldn't cut it to 1/2" either.
> So I decided to go with 1". This styrofoam is quite hard and doesn't
> "crumble" easily.
>
> So now the tank is in place, with gravel, rockwork and water. No fish yet.
> It is almost perfectly level and the foam seems to bear it pretty well (no
> sinking).
>
> But some questions are beginning to make me nervous:
>
> - Is a styrofoam this thick will be safe over time? (ie is it possible for
> the tank to slowly sink in the styrofoam unevenly (due, for example, to
> rockwork), causing stress to the bottom glass pane?
> - Could the styrofoam eventually break or become damaged by occasional
small
> water spills?
>
> Should I empty the tank (again!) and remove the styrofoam, or can I
forget
> about it and enjoy my mbunas?
>
> Do some of you have any experience with styrofoam under your tanks?
>
> Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Paul Dussault
>
>

[Paul Dussault]

Thank you all for your quick and precise answers. Exactly what I wanted to
hear!

I did try to rock the tank when empty and it didn't budge.
So I guess you guys gave me enough data to consider my setup safe -

Thanks again,

Paul Dussault