Pink insulation foam compression

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dp1416

What is acceptable. I have been looking at my tank and i notice about a 1/16 to 3/32 gap at one corner and when i look at the overflow it is abou 1/16 off. My question is if the pink foam will compress allowing the areas to be filled in.
 
Yes it will. It is a very good choice when trying to fully support a tank.
 
I have been reading all night about the debates on RC and i can tell you that it makes me wonder about the compression ratio of this stuff. The best view i recieved was if you step on it, it does not depress because the weight/distribution is all over....however if you push your finger in it, it will dent easily. My fear is that the weight will not give enough in the middle to compensate for the corner.....if the glass flexes, we know it will crack.

I have went back and double measured everything so it has to be something with the wood that i put on the stand 3/4 ply that is throwing it out of wack. I am thinking of taking the tank off and trying to see what the problem is....hate to, but not sure i want to chance the pressure points with a tank this big.
 
@dp1416 wrote:
I have been reading all night about the debates on RC and i can tell you that it makes me wonder about the compression ratio of this stuff. The best view i recieved was if you step on it said:
I do know glass is actually flexible to a point but you are right about not taking any chances. The pink foam is pretty strong stuff, I don't see mine compressing at all.
Click to expand...
 
I have it under my sump which is completely flat on the bottom. I think if you have a tank with a completely flat bottom you'd be okay since the pressure would be fully on the surface and even. If it had a lip on it, I would be concerned that the lip would depress more around the edges and the foam would actually push up against the bottom edges, it would form fit the bottom. Depending on the size of the tank and its weight with water and all, that could be substantial up pressure when it form fits the bottom.
 
I put some of the pink foam on my 45 gallon and this thread got me to thinking about it so, I did a comparison and it seems that it did compress slightly. (sorry for the fuzzy picture)
 
I think the general concesus with this is that if you have a tank with bottom trim (edge supported), you don't need the foam. If you have issues with gaps and such, something needs to be done to correct the problem, not put a band-aid on it.

If you have a tank that is trimless and the entire bottom has to be fully supported, the foam is useful in absorbing stresses from the stand to the tank. The tank, hopefully, is the correct one.
 
Yes, i should have said the tank is a flat bottom tank. The manufacture recommends putting the foam under the tank and i think i know what is going on. The silicone is not the best as we all know and it is seeped out the bottom of the tank causing the tank to be unlevel. Small imperfections like this will sink into the foam and yes, i agree the pink foam will distribute the weight across the flat bottom. There is no trim on the bottom of the tank.

After looking at it more, i am comfortable with putting water in it...if sanjay can do it, so can i :lol:
 
Well i talked to the manufacture and they were very willing to help me and gave some pretty good advice. they asked what type of stand i was putting it on, what type of construction it was, how many braces it had and what was the top material. Once they got that out of the way they instructed me to take the tank off (yeah right) and then put the tank on the stand without the foam. Using floor tiles (vinyl) shim the perimiter of the tank until it was solid all the way around. Once you have that done, put the pink foam on and then the filler up. This does make a lot of sense especially since i read all of the info on reef central yesterday.

There are two sides to the story and they use a combo of both.

One - tank with a trim ring
The reason to not use it is because you dont want to put anything on the bottom pain that will cause a pressure point..this will cause the tank bottom to break. If you use the foam the weight distribution is on the bottom lip and will sink in since it carries the weight of the tank and the bottom will rest on the foam, not good since it carries the load of the tank.

If you try to use the foam to cover up any mistakes in the stand, unlevel, gaps wracking or anything like that, the foam will not compress enough to fill those voids. If it DOES, then the tank is lible to sit on the bottom since the perimiter foam has compress causing the bottom to take some of the load...no good, possible water on the floor.

Two - flat bottom tank.
Since the majority of the weight is designed to sit on the bottom of the tank the foam distributes the weight equally and covers any pressure points, it absorbls the load.

Id the stand is not perfect (or the tank is not perfect) then the foam will only cover so far, causing the bottom to flex...not good.

My tank - the tank is built like a tank (no pun intended) but there are some areas where the outer glass might stick below the bottom trim 1/16, causing some areas to not be flush. Well if i correct these gaps then the bottom is not fully supported without foam. By using the foam and correcting the gaps, the compression ratio on the outside of the tank (any high spots) will compress the foam until the bottom of the tank levels out the main foam....equal balance of trim or no trim.

In my mind this makes sense and i have to follow the manufacture on this one. Once i get it in place and get the stand level to the floor, i will shim it up per thier directions. Once this is done i will fill it up.

On interesting point they gave me was people actually call them and complain because thier tank bottom cracked because of this and that. He said they send pics and the corners are not even touching , some by 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch......now wonder it cracks! I told him my gaps were only about 1/16 to 3/32nd and he said...that is nothing...but shim it to be on the safe side. I feel a lot better now.

Lesson learned........between shims and ducktape....there is nothing that can not be fixed. :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
interesting...i would definately get what they say in writing, ask them to shoot you an email or something...but i think what they say is spot on and you shouldnt have any problems...
 
If i could, i would. I am pretty sure now it is you got the tank, now deal with it. i am okay with it. We shall see :lol:
 
i have a rimmed tank and everyone told me to put the foam and I'm pretty sure this is common but before i fill mine up i would like to know.
 
Nazrac,
First off i would contact the manufacture. You will notice the only people doing this really are doing it for the flat bottom tanks. I WOULD NOT put a layer of foam under the tank as the tank with a rim is designed to carry the weight of the tank on the outer perimiter, not the bottom. You will notice that most tank builders who supply stands have open tops to them, no middle support needed. My 210 was that way and i was suprised to see no support whatsoever on my tank.

Now, if you have a DIY stand and the stand does not match the bottom of the tank 100%, you will need to shim the tank to match the stand. The foam could (notice i said could as i am not an expert but spent about 7hrs reading about this stuff on various sites and it was debated with numbers and figures and examples showing PSI for each scenario), cause the bottom of the tank (which is designed to float above the stand) to encounter preassure points...not good.

If it was me, i would take the foam out and see if there are any gaps around the front, back and sides. No gaps, you are good to go. Gaps will need to be shimmed.......

But most importantly you need to contact the manufactur and get thier recommendation.


With that said if you feel the need to put foam under the tank, simply cut out the center section of the foam so it can not touch the bottom of the tank. There will be alot of weight on the perimiter of the tank and alot of compression will take place.
 
I recently set up my acrylic 150 (5'x2'x2') and ran with a 3/16" foam that is not as rigid as the pink (or Blue) foams out there. the drawback is that it's only 6" wide so it required several strips to cover the entire top of the stand. I had a maximum deviation of less than 1/8" over the entire surface of the stand so foam was a requirement, but I went with it anyways. with all the tanks I've had (several years of saltwater and 20+ years of freshwater) I have never had a leak or crack caused by pressure pinches. a quick reference, Years ago my family in NY was a breeder distributor of multiple types of freshwater fishes with 1/2 our basement filled with fish tanks. All tanks have had foam under them.
That being said, the manufacturer of the tank has the final say. they built the tank, they carry the warranty on it, they make the rules on it.
 
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