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Styrofoam under tank


OttoReese

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I am setting up my 120. I am going to place a 3/4 inch board and styrofoam under the tank bottom. Trouble is, I am not sure which should go under which. I was going to do the board, then the styrofoam, then the tank. But the tank is constructed so that the sides are siliconed to the sides of the bottom glass, not where the sides rest on top of the bottom glass. Will that place unnecessary stress on the bottom if it is sitting on styrofoam, seeing as it is a little more forgiving than wood? Any experience and advice would be much appreciated.

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I've always thought that the styrofoam layer should be in contact with the tank so that any irregularities do not cause pressure points on the glass or acrylic. With mine, I used self-leveling cement over the wood stand, then the styrofoam, then the tank.

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The best stuff to use is Neoprene, I either use that, or nothing. I've had pretty much every foam that ive tried give up after a few years, and deteriorate from the edges in, which will cause more problems than no foam. If its a steel stand, its best to have a layer of sanded hardwood ply in between the tank and stand, weather you use foam, neoprene, or nothing at all. :)

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I am setting up a tank as well. My tank will be setting on a piece of granite and the granite will be on a powder coated steel stand. Should I use anything between tank-granite-stand??? Or nothing at all, the top of the stand is very level and well built. Also little worried about the stand sitting on my wood floors should I put something under that to??

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Granite is another fun one, I usually use 45mil rubber between the stand and granite, and the neoprene between the tank and granite. Usually the granite is pretty flat, but the steel stands might not be as flat, once the weight of tank and water are in, the granite can crack if there are high spots, the rubber helps spread that load out to protect the granite. The main reason I run the neoprene over granite is to insulate the granite from the tank, it can act as somewhat of a heat sink, requiring more energy to heat the tank.

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