Foam under tank??

[TRLR-PRK]

I can speak from experience !

I had a Tenecor 240 setting on a custom cabinet, This tank was as level as you have ever seen one. After filling, 350 lbs of LR and three weeks the stress fractures in the corners of the acrylic were more than obvious.
Things settle when you add an undetermined amountof weight, I will 100% definatley be using foam padding under my next acrylic. I can testify the cost is worth it!

 

[jdhanover]

Does the type of foam matter for under the acryllic? What thickness? I will be getting a 135g. I have some 1/2 inch thick styrofoam. But at Home Depot the pink hard foam was only in 1" (or maybe 1-1/2" thick pieces). Does it matter if it is that thick? Or is the styrofoam enough?

 

[a4twenty]

you want something that's going to stay together. i would stay away from the the white stuff with all the 'little balls'. on mine i used 1/2" but was looking for 3/4" or 1". my only other option was to go to 1 1/2". my FW tank has been up for years with no problems ( knock on wood ) like this.

 

[Rjukan]

I dont have as large of a setup as the ones you all are describing, but I use the padding thats used under floating tile or pergo floors between my tank and stand. I felt there was a need for something to absorbe the slight pressure on the corners and edges, but the pink foam seemed way too thick. I had extra of this laying around and thought it would be a good idea to use under the tank, and so far it seems to be working well.

 

[RonD]

We just edged it with some wood trim to take up/ cover the height difference and it keeps the foam protected when cleaning around the tank. If you do go this route, paint around the edges of the foam before you put the trim on.. that way you don't see it at all once the trim is in place. You will want to give the foam about an 1/8th of an inch space between it and the trim. We looked at the pink/blue but thought it may be too thick for the look we wanted.. thus the white stuff was used.