I have a deep blue professional 75g rimless cube. My question is about putting foam under tge tank. Should I use some 1/4"-1/2" under it to make up for any inperfections in the stand? If I cut the foam to the outside dimensions of the tank then there will be a gap betweem the bottom glass and the foam due to the bottom brace around the tank. So, should I cut the foam to fit inside the bottom frame supporting the glass? I'm just curious if its safe to stack up 150lbs of rock on an unsupported piece of glass.I checked out their website and they don't have any info on installation.
question about foam under the tank
- Thread starter john08007
- Start date
woodnaquanut
Active member
I've always used foam under tanks. That doesn't mean you should!
Contact the builder!! They list a contact email:
info@deepblueprofessional.com
Contact the builder!! They list a contact email:
info@deepblueprofessional.com
I also used foam under my last tank, my question really is, do you cut it to the outside dimension or just to support the glass causing the bottom frame to sit off the stand slightly, or try to cut a groove around the edge of the foam to support both the frame and the glass
JMorris271
New member
I've heard that too but man does that make me leary about putting 200 lbs of rock and sand in the middle .:worried:
woodnaquanut
Active member
200 lbs of rock and sand?
You putting any water in there?
Seems like lots of sand/rock.
Tanks are designed to handle the weight. The weight with water, sand and rock is not significantly higher than water alone (assuming normal rock/sand not something lead/uranium based). Rock+sand displace water equal to their volume. So if a rock that is 12lbs displaces one gallon of water (picked random vol and weight) it will only seem to weigh about 3.5lbs under water.
No one here can really answer your question about foam. It really matters what the manufacturer says. If you do something else, you will most likely void any warranty.
You putting any water in there?
Seems like lots of sand/rock.Tanks are designed to handle the weight. The weight with water, sand and rock is not significantly higher than water alone (assuming normal rock/sand not something lead/uranium based). Rock+sand displace water equal to their volume. So if a rock that is 12lbs displaces one gallon of water (picked random vol and weight) it will only seem to weigh about 3.5lbs under water.
No one here can really answer your question about foam. It really matters what the manufacturer says. If you do something else, you will most likely void any warranty.
200 lbs was an approximation, 1 1/2-2 lb/gal is 150 lbs of rock, figure a bag of sand is 40 lbs, I probably wont use that much of the rock or sand. After I have spent the day reading many many posts online it seems like the general rule of thumb is no foam, sounds like there was only one manufacturer that ever suggested foam. they shipped their tanks with the foam and they have since gone out of business. It also seems like a few people have said here that the tank is designed to support the tank with the trim piece at the bottom. Sounds like a few people have had repeated failures that they contributed to the foam. I imagine if it is thick and does not compress evenly it could tweak the tank some and cause a failure. I just find it had to believe that a little piece of 1/2" thick tempered glass is strong enough to support all of the weight. Thank you everyone for your help!
davocean
Active member
Glass has amazing strength, I have seen rookies on the jobsite try to break glass door panels by wailing on the center of the panel and sometimes they could not break it, big guys even w/ steel framing hammers(The trick is to hit it on the edge)
Even knowing this I am not real crazy about pointy rock on glass either, but I do pillars on acrylic rod holders, and I use flat acrylic as a base, and the rock sits on that.
I know I don't REALLY need that, but it does just sit on me better.
I have read comments of too thick of foam actually causing a reverse pressure on tank bottoms and causing failures.
I have never personally seen this or known anyone to have this happen, but I figure tank manufacturers know what their tanks were designed to do, best to go by their recommendations based on their design.
Even knowing this I am not real crazy about pointy rock on glass either, but I do pillars on acrylic rod holders, and I use flat acrylic as a base, and the rock sits on that.
I know I don't REALLY need that, but it does just sit on me better.
I have read comments of too thick of foam actually causing a reverse pressure on tank bottoms and causing failures.
I have never personally seen this or known anyone to have this happen, but I figure tank manufacturers know what their tanks were designed to do, best to go by their recommendations based on their design.
sleepydoc
Team RC
+1 to most of the comments above. Not sure exactly what kind of tank the OP has. S/he says rimless, then mentions a bottom brace.
In general, don't put foam under rimmed tanks. Unnecessary at best and potentially causes problems. Under rimless tanks you should put foam to limit point-loading by bits of sand, imperfections, etc that can lead to stress fractures in the glass. I'm with Aquanut, though - ask the manufacturer.
Regarding the glass strength, the bottom is almost certainly tempered and if you think about it, you are putting 600 pounds of water in the tank and you don't blink about it supporting that.
To shield the bottom, acrylic or HDPE/Starboard is probably getter than egg crate. It doesn't trap detritus as much (and isn't as obvious when the critters move the sand away!)
In general, don't put foam under rimmed tanks. Unnecessary at best and potentially causes problems. Under rimless tanks you should put foam to limit point-loading by bits of sand, imperfections, etc that can lead to stress fractures in the glass. I'm with Aquanut, though - ask the manufacturer.
Regarding the glass strength, the bottom is almost certainly tempered and if you think about it, you are putting 600 pounds of water in the tank and you don't blink about it supporting that.
To shield the bottom, acrylic or HDPE/Starboard is probably getter than egg crate. It doesn't trap detritus as much (and isn't as obvious when the critters move the sand away!)
