Polystyrene Under Tank?

[silverrabbit]

I'm hearing different things about this. whenever i've seen warranties, they always seem to state that if you put polystyrene under your tank, on top of the stand, your warranty is worth nothing.

Then I read that putting a layer of it under bigger tanks is good to even out the pressure...

The proper stand for my large tank was damaged (luckily the tank has no inhabitants at present, and is currently living on the floor), and so i'm going to put the tank on a solid pine dresser - the wood is about 2.5-3" thick, and i'm going to get my friend to help me strengthen it some more. As it is at the moment it takes about 300kg, so once strengthened should be better.

Because i'm not using the proper stand, is it wise for me to put a sheet of polystyrene between the tank and wood?

Hope this was the right place to ask..

 

[CBBP]

It is also good to make sure it is level.

But yes.

I once had a 55 gallon that was level but the stand warped a bit. it soon began leaking, so I repaired it and formed it. ever since i have used foam and never had problems.

 

[Schmill]

My 300L AquaOne tank actually came with a sheet of polystyrene to go between the tank and the stand and stated that if you DIDN'T use it the warranty was void.
Personally I would always use a thin sheet of faom / poly to even out any slight irregularities in the surface.
Worst case, you have a small tiny piece of gravel in the middle of the base and you put your tank on top without foam. The gravel will create a high point and the weight of the tank will likely cause the tank bottom to eventually split. With foam / poly the gravel will embed into the poly rather than pushing against the glass and all will be well, (presuming your foam / poly is thicker than the gravel anyway )

 

[mike os]

generally speaking if the tank has a base frame you dont need poly & usually invalidate warranty if you use, otherwise they should be places on poly or similar

 

[silverrabbit]

Thanks guys!!

Well this tank has quite a deep plastic frame around it - so the glass does not touch the surface etc, only the frame does. So i'm thinking that I shouldn't put anything under it then?

 

[Rooster]

Why does using poly invalidate warantee ?

I would NEVER fill a tank without it...

 

[rabbut]

If the tank is floating based, i.e. it has a plastic rim around the base, adding polystyrene underneath leads to added pressure on the edges of the tank, potentially fracturing the base or splitting the sides If the tank isn't floating based, not using polystyrene will lead to pressure differences in the base and again a split. it is all down to tank design

If the tank is floating based, never use polystyrene under the tank

If the tank isn't floating based, always use polystyrene under the tank

Silverrabbit, it sounds as though you don't want anything other than a good firm base under your's

HTH
Rabbut

 

[silverrabbit]

Thank you!!!