FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Just wondering if it's ok to put a 20 gal tank on a piece of foam, which has a small section broken in the corner? I'm not sure if it's dangerous to do this or not. Would it be a good idea to put something to fill the space (such as a small piece of foam)

You don't need to fill this space with anything, it's not neccessary. Some tank mfg's will actually void their warranty if you use foam.

Fallout, the section broken off is about 5cm squared, do you still think it's not neccesary?

Actually, when I think about it, I don't even know what the point of the foam is. I thought it was to keep the tank 'stable' and to evenly distribute the weight...

Anyway I went a head and filled it up and all seems fine. Thanks

Last edited by guppy01 at 02-Nov-2005 20:41

It is to evenly distribute the weight.

In the US they seem to have far more metal and manufactuers stands. We have pine held together with nail brads, and they are rarely even.

If you have a shop tank or a dalbarb, you would be best off with styro underneath. Especially if its a dalbarb as their glass appears thinner than a lot of the shop tanks.

Have a look at your tank stand, and see what it is held together with, and see if there are actual joins between the pieces of wood, or if they are just butted up against one another and nailed.
I don't know why, but the amount of badly made stands out there is scary scary! Why the manufacturers think that nails will support the weight of a tank I'll never know!

The point i'm getting at is that the stand is likely to shift and move and this will put uneven pressure on the underside of the tank.

I have a piece of styro around here somewhere from my 2', and the pressure is so dreadfully uneven, some sides are compressed, others are compressed in parts, and some look perfectly fine I dread to think what would happen if i didn't have the extra bulk of the styro on that tank.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

The tank is actually not on a stand, but a table and it is a shop tank - the glass is of reasonable thickness.
My concern is the tank might crack due to having no foam in one corner? Would it be better to have no foam at all, or to leave the foam with the piece broken off?

I really don't want to buy another piece of foam, but if it's considerably safer then I might have to becuase the tank is going to be set up for a long time.

if its a choice between broken foam and no foam, go with no foam

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

callayta i would have said put the foam under the edges and leave a gap somewhere else, please correct me with details if i am wrong

OH TOLEEDY!

Its not so much to evenly ditribute the weight as it is to create a stable place for the tank to sit. What I mean is, the foam will conform to the tank's bottom and to whatever it is sitting on. Imagine your tank is sitting on a stand. The stand's top is made from plywood, or from other boards put together or whatever. The surface of the stand may have imperfections; voids, knot holes, seams or something that will make it not perfectly flat. The foam will act as a gasket, kinda, and even out those imperfections. One book I have, a beginners book I forget the name, suggests that if not using a manufactured stand (always recommended) to place a 3/4 inch thick plywood under the tank and a 1/2 inch foam on top of that for just that very purpose.
After all that I do not advocate the use for or against the foam, but would like to say to not fill the area directly under the tank's bottom. it's hollow for a reason and putting foam under there may cause damage, and may as suggested void warrantees.

if you wanted to you could put it under the edges and leave the gap elsewhere, but that may involve glue, or a whole bunch of balancing glass tanks. if its doable, it shuld be fine, but it is probably tricky. you'd need at leadt 4 hands

And Diver is right, bad description on my part, thats precisely what it does.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett