Foam sheet under tank

[blub]

Hi,
was wondering how many people actually use a foam sheet under the glass of their tank?


thanks for voting

Blub

[dan-the-man]

AFAIK everyone does. Polystyrene is cheap and I'd rather use it than have a single grain of sand between wood and a tank that weighs nearly a tonne! :laugh:

[Nikolai]

yep ive got a bit of foam under the tank

[Lost Boys]

Use it not only to keep the heat in but to also protect and level the base.

:)

[davethefish]

yes, i used a 25mm polystyrene sheet from wickes, about 8'x2' £3.99 iirc

[Kev s]

You don't need it if you have a floating base (the sides are not on top of the base), but it can't hurt!

I've only ever used ceiling tiles I don't like having a thick layer under the tank.

Kev

[Stephen G]

il be using it, im not gonna take any chances wen i get the tank set-up

[Will]

You don't need it if you have a floating base (the sides are not on top of the base), but it can't hurt!

I've only ever used ceiling tiles I don't like having a thick layer under the tank.

Kev

you should only use a thin layer imo people say that over 25mm can hide imperfections and allow for to much movement and be worse than none at all.

i have used ceiling tiles on well over 3' deep tanks and they are fine, and still dont compress that much anyway :thumbsup:

[Only Jap]

Definately IMO a must.

[wrightylad]

not worth not doing imo, so cheap and you have piece of mind that there are no foreign bodies in between glass and base that could cause the ultimate disaster!!

[Ocean Corals]

Ooops!! i dont, dint realy think of it tbh. But my tank has been going for almost a year now so i think it'l be ok!

[Marineboy1010]

Not using on at present as my current tank has a floating base but when I upgrade soon I will be doing

[willjay]

i do on my wave nano i do as the base glass is flat against the surface of my desk.

On my new orca/tl550 the tank has a frame edge around the bottom and so the glass isn't anywhere near the surface its rested on (in my case the standard stand it came with) so i didn't use anything on this tank
which i think is ok/correct me if wrong please

[VampUK]

Oh poo, I just filled my tank last night. Never thought about putting foam under it. Oh well it'll either be fine or my new floor gets a soaking. :laugh:

[MrFish]

I use a 5mm layer of foam on my non floating base.

Here is an old post from a sponsor on this subject that clarifies -

1/ The poly is there to get rid of pressure points. Like that nail you didn't hammer in well or the sticky up screw head or that bit of grit you dragged in from outside with the tank.

2/ It will compress visibly over the pressure points ONLY not over the whole base. It's a PSI thing. Take a 6 x 2 x 2, say it has 150 gallons of saltwater in it at 11 lbs per gallon. The base is 72" x 24" so 1728 square inches with 1650lbs of water on it, that's under 1lb per square inch. No way will that compress poly. ASTM C578 lays down a compressive strength of 10-60 psi for construction poly. But a 1/4 inch square screw head with 1650lbs resting on it will sink in nicely.

3/ Floating bases: A true floating base is one where the lowest points of the aquarium are the sides. In other words the bottom edge of the side panes touches the ground, the base plate is set higher up. A tank of this nature MUST be supported at the edges ONLY. If you support the whole base the edges can sink in and the middle of the base could break away from the sides-messy! This is only normal on small aquariums.

4/ Framed bases: Like Effectline, Juwel, Rena. These guys use a frame around the base plate. The tank rests on the rim of this frame and is not normally supported in the middle, on smaller aquariums. Although Rena do this on big tanks with an additional support pad in the centre of the base. These tanks support themselves and don't need poly. This design is often called a floating base but often it isn't actually a real floating base.

5/ Normal bases: A big flat lump 'o glass forms the bottom plate of the tank. By convention the sides are built on top of this plate but not always.

On a double based tank a second base plate is dropped inside the tank or slapped on the outside over the first base. This can give extra strength without the need for thick (expensive) glass.

A cheaper option often seen on 6x2x2's is a "train track" base. Two runners of glass a few inches wide are stuck to the inside front and back of the base of the tank.

This strengthening is mainly to resist flexing of the base and doesn't really have much to do with the pressure of the water.

All these tanks (5) are best with poly over the whole base. Unless you are 100% certain that the tank and stand are 100% clean and that the stand is 100% level and has no high points at all. I've seen Seabray do their tanks on their stands with no poly. This scares me as you only need one little piece of gravel under it and you need a new tank.

If a base of this type (5) is thick (strong) enough then it can go on a metal frame which supports it around the edges only. It would be usual practice to use poly on this frame in case of weld splatter or other high points.

1" thick poly is fine. If the sheet isn't big enough just use lots of sheets. As someone said tape the sheets together or they go everywhere when you try to put the tank on them. Gaps are fine as the base of the tank will not be touching any potential high points. Even a rubbish joiner would have a job leaving a nail sticking out more than an inch! If you don't like the white poly showing get some wide black gaffer tape and go round the edges first.

[willjay]

excellent mr fish very informative, thanks from a reassured frame base and normal base owner! :worship:

[SMARKHAM]

Mine has a floating base so not got any under mine

[JAMESSRICH]

i use a camping foam mat!

[Fungia]

I used a 5mm thick foam sheet for my Chromis. I'm very surprised at the number of people who voted no!!! Like others have said, I cant see any reason to not add one, unless everyone who didnt was new to the hobby and didnt consider it, like above ^?


Jeff.

[ptdborth]

Don't use one on my chromis..didn't see the need really, unless its an all glass tank then i dont see the point..I know its better to be safe than sorry, but hey, whats fishkeeping without a wet carpet!?
Paul