Styrofoam Under Tank Questions

J

jcahow

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Jan 9, 2010
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I am setting up a new 125 gallon glass tank and I read about cutting a piece of panel styrofoam to place under the tank to prevent heat loss.

This makes sense but I have some questions:

1) I do not have my new tank yet and it is hard to see the bottom on display tanks in stores so I am unclear how much vertical room there is under the tank.

I presume the styrofoam should be thin enough so when it is cut it fits up under the tank and the tank actually sets flat on the normal bottom with no pressure on the glass base.

How much vertical room is under the tank (what thickness styrofoam should be used)?

2) I am concerned that smalll amounts of water may get under the tank when doing maintenance and that it might effect the styrofoam.

Since once the tank is setup it would be hard to ever access the styrofoam again I was wondering if the styrofoam should be treated with something before it is placed under the tank.

Should it be sprayed with some kind of water preventative (like what) or is the styrofoam not really effected by water?

3) Styrofoam is cheap but do you really think it makes any difference.

I was interested because I live in a northern climate and the room in the winter can drop 15 degrees below normal tank temperature at night so I plan to have two 300W heaters on the tank and I thought the styrofoam might retain heat better.

Any thoughts on using styrofoam under your tanks...................
 
I've never heard of this before and wouldn't even bother with it.

I have seen foam placed under unlevel tanks to try and accomodate for not being level, but personally I wouldnt do that either.

Most tanks are made to be supported aroound the perimeter of the tank, not by supporting the entire bottom of the tank. By putting styrofoam under the tank I think you would put uneven pressure on the bottom pane of glass, risking damage.

I would also think that the insulating value of the foam wouldnt be considerable enough to consider.
 
I think it is just to level out a surface in case of small imperfections that could crack the tank, I used some under my 50G since I was using chipboard on steel supports
 
Check out what the tank manufacturers instructions state for installation. Some actually require it to validate the warranty.
 
When I set up my 125, I noticed a slight gap(maybe 1/16-1/8") under the tank in the center and outward toward each edge. I know that when I built my stand I was very careful in making sure that it was level and that the top was flat. I was confident that the weight when water was added would settle it, but to ease my mind, I called All Glass. The tech told me that it was normal, and that as long as the 4 corners and edges sat down, it would be fine. What I wound up doing was using some thin(1/8") laminate flooring underlayment around the edges to take up any possible discrepancies, which many do anyway as a precaution. I did a test fill and it was fine and has been for months.
 
People who put foam under the tank do it so that the entire tank sit on top of it. don't try to cut a foam to put on the inside of the tank trim. Since your tank is a 125gal, I assume it's the standard 72"x18" tank. You would want to have a piece of foam that is about 73"x19"x.
 
I talked to the LFS and they highly recommended it not only for leveling but for insulation purposes. Styrofoam R values are 1/2" - R3, 3/4" - R4, 1" - R5, 2" - R9.

I am not sure how thick a piece to use as it seems that the tank would sink into the Styrofoam quite abit with all that weight and I would not want to pressure the bottom pane of glass. I am thinking 1/2" is probably as thick as I dare go on the bottom, especially as the local building store only carries 1/2", 1", and 2" sizes.

You have to remember that where I live the temperature can go -30 F in the winter and I set my thermostat back to +60 F at night for the entire house. Anything that helps retain heat in the tank and uses the heaters less the better.

If the power were to go out in a snow storm the house temperature will start to drop, especially if it is really cold outside. I was reading about storing some extra pre cut sheets of Styrofoam to tape all around the tank in that case to hold the heat in the tank as long as possible. I could use 2" Styrofoam in that case for the higher R rating.

I figure if I am not going to see it under the tank and it does not hurt anything why not go ahead and use it for what ever advantange it gives.
 
jcahow said:
I am not sure how thick a piece to use as it seems that the tank would sink into the Styrofoam quite abit with all that weight and I would not want to pressure the bottom pane of glass. I am thinking 1/2" is probably as thick as I dare go on the bottom, especially as the local building store only carries 1/2", 1", and 2" sizes.

....

I figure if I am not going to see it under the tank and it does not hurt anything why not go ahead and use it for what ever advantange it gives.
Click to expand...

From what I've read, styrofoam doesn't compress very much even under a heavy load. I don't think you'll have any problem at all with it causing pressure on the glass. I would be much more concerned about uneven pressure on the walls/seams of the tank if you don't use the styrofoam, and the tank ends up not sitting level due to the stand or floor.

Actually, done right, the styrofoam should be visible. As others have pointed out previously, it needs to be cut to fit under the entire tank, including the frame. You can paint the edge of the foam before positioning everything so it blends in with the frame or stand.
 
jcahow said:
I talked to the LFS and they highly recommended it not only for leveling but for insulation purposes. Styrofoam R values are 1/2" - R3, 3/4" - R4, 1" - R5, 2" - R9.

I am not sure how thick a piece to use as it seems that the tank would sink into the Styrofoam quite abit with all that weight and I would not want to pressure the bottom pane of glass. I am thinking 1/2" is probably as thick as I dare go on the bottom, especially as the local building store only carries 1/2", 1", and 2" sizes.

You have to remember that where I live the temperature can go -30 F in the winter and I set my thermostat back to +60 F at night for the entire house. Anything that helps retain heat in the tank and uses the heaters less the better.

If the power were to go out in a snow storm the house temperature will start to drop, especially if it is really cold outside. I was reading about storing some extra pre cut sheets of Styrofoam to tape all around the tank in that case to hold the heat in the tank as long as possible. I could use 2" Styrofoam in that case for the higher R rating.

I figure if I am not going to see it under the tank and it does not hurt anything why not go ahead and use it for what ever advantange it gives.
Click to expand...


This is what I actually use for my Discus tanks in the basement. http://www.homedepot.com/Building-M...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Not only do I use it on the bottom. I have it on the side and back as well. My room temp is about 70 and I need to keep the tanks at 84. It's a cheap way to reduce heat loss. They don't compress that much. I used it use it on my 180gal

It's a much better way to paint the foam then to paint the tank if you want to have a color background. In my case, I wanted to color the 3 sides and bottom.
 
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