Hello everyone , I am building my own stand for a 75g i got for cheap. At my lfs the guy told me " If you build your stand yourself, you better put a sheet of styrofoam insulation under your tank." The guy was triing to sell me a stand. When i told him I was building it he got kinda peed off and became ignorant. I did'nt ask further questions. What is the use of the styrofoam? I'd like to get your opinion on it should I get the foam or not ? I'm almost finished whit my stand ,all I have to do now is to paint it I was planning on doing that today but now I have a new concern......styro or not styro......Please enlighten me.......
aquarium on styrofoam???
- Thread starter Brass sliver
- Start date
I'm rather a newbie so I present this information with that in mind. When I was setting up my tank I came across at least 2 sites using a Google search that recommended placing a 1/4" peice of styrofoam under the tank. The primary reason given was to adjust for any irregularities for the stand so as not to place stress along the seams of the tank. The secondary reason given was for the insulation value in order to avoid temperature swings as the result of heat loss.
Insulating the bottom of the tank is useless--heat disperses upwards, not downwards. Commonly, styrofoam is used to help level a stand or the floor it rests on. However--every single tank in my house is on a DIY stand, including the 120's. The stands are level--this way checked suring construction--the floor is level--the tank is level. Styrofoam will help, but is not required if you take care when building and positioning the stand.
Ahhhhh. I get it. The guy at the lfs underestimated my crafsmanship. my stand is strait plum and square.2x4 frame ,1" plywood top and 1/2" mdf sqirt.
I do like the R rating on thermal changes. Cool thanx.
I do like the R rating on thermal changes. Cool thanx.
I agree that heat dissapates upwards OG, but take into account that many stands support only the sides of the tank and not the entire bottom. Thus, the bottom being exposed to room temperature air would cool faster than if insulated and this temperature change would be conducted to the tank. It's probably of minimal impact but I was just passing along the information I had found while researching things. BTW, I have read many, many of your posts and have learned quite a lot from your experience and wisdom.
I put it under both my 75 and 90 just for the leveling balance factor. Insulation never occured to me as I would have assumed the gravel would act as a temperature buffer anyhow.
Brass, good on you that you got it perfect. Just remember to check it again when you get it in place. Both my big tanks are in my basement which has a slope towards the drain. Couple of shims solved that little problem.
Phil
Brass, good on you that you got it perfect. Just remember to check it again when you get it in place. Both my big tanks are in my basement which has a slope towards the drain. Couple of shims solved that little problem.
Phil
I have several enclosed stands. Those with sumps and heaters in them are warm, those without a sump are the same temp as the room, indicating little if any heat coming out the bottom and being trapped inside the stand. The point is that any heat lost through the bottom of the tank is going to be minimal--if you want to insulate to retain heat, start where the most heat loss occurs. Spend dollars to save dollars--this won't. :shrugs: No biggie.
And as always, glad if I'm able to help out in anyway!
And as always, glad if I'm able to help out in anyway!
The styrofoam is to decrease the pressure applied by any irregularities in the construction of the stand. I've never heard of it being used for insulation. Nail heads can work out funny or just knots in the wood. It's more important with a glass tank and really only when you get up above 100 gallons. Maybe if you had a really cr#$%^y top piece of plywood on your diy stand. Easy answer use a good flat piece of wood and use coated outdoor screws.
Being a newbie, I placed a layer of cardboard cut to fit from the box my new stand came in and placed it under my tank to provide a layer of cushion between it and the surface of the stand. I cut it to fit flush with the footprint of the tank so it doesn't show. I had a read a few threads about this and decided to do it just in case it was something important. Much easier to do it BEFORE filling the tank I thought.
Sounds like I didn't really need to do it but it won't cause any harm either. I can relate to a previous post about the floor being unlevel though. My 55 gal. is in my lower level office and the floor slopes slightly toward the floor drain in another room. I used some shims to make sure I had a level playing field before setting up the tank. I came sooooo close to learning that lesson the HARD WAY.
Sounds like I didn't really need to do it but it won't cause any harm either. I can relate to a previous post about the floor being unlevel though. My 55 gal. is in my lower level office and the floor slopes slightly toward the floor drain in another room. I used some shims to make sure I had a level playing field before setting up the tank. I came sooooo close to learning that lesson the HARD WAY.