High Tide Aquatics

Foam mat under acrylic aquarium?

Thank you all. It seems like they’re experienced people on both sides. I will ask John was his recommendation is and just do based off of that. From the look of some of his builds, it doesn’t seem like he used any foam underneath
 
MarcosDelgado0 said:
Thank you all. It seems like they’re experienced people on both sides. I will ask John was his recommendation is and just do based off of that. From the look of some of his builds, it doesn’t seem like he used any foam underneath
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When there are experienced people on both sides of something that’s usually a good sign that you’ll be perfectly fine with either option.
 
derek_SR said:
When there are experienced people on both sides of something that’s usually a good sign that you’ll be perfectly fine with either option.
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The part that worries me is some people in the forums I’ve read said that a foam mat would actually make an acrylic aquarium more likely to fail. I know Tenecor says that acrylic aquarium’s do not need a foam mat and as far as their knowledge on the subject, I trust them so that’s where I’m leaning towards. I think the more important thing is that the surface is flat.
 
MarcosDelgado0 said:
The part that worries me is some people in the forums I’ve read said that a foam mat would actually make an acrylic aquarium more likely to fail. I know Tenecor says that acrylic aquarium’s do not need a foam mat and as far as their knowledge on the subject, I trust them so that’s where I’m leaning towards. I think the more important thing is that the surface is flat.
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Yeah when I was setting up my tank I did extensive research on this topic and my conclusion was not to use one. It also just doesn’t make any logical sense to use one…and it’s cheaper and easier not to use one.

Easy choice!
 
I imagine the answer depends on how flat and smooth your stand is. I'd contact the aquarium maker and see that they say.

To me it doesn't make any sense that a foam layer would be detrimental. Once it compresses, it'd be functionally equivalent to a piece of wood. Said differently, at some point things can't compress any further. For wood it's pretty much instantly at that point. For foam it'll take more weight. What's the difference at that point?

Maybe the difference is if you don't get a consistent piece of foam you could get hot spots. That'd be about to same in my mind as getting some home depot lumber which is never perfectly flat.

My understanding is the case where it does matter is when you're using a framed/rimmed aquarium or when you have a tank with a floating front panel. For framed/rimmed, it's bad because you only should put pressure on the frame. Putting pressure on the bottom glass panel, which it's not designed for, can cause issues. For floating panels, you don't want the foam putting upwards pressure on that floating panel. That's why the Red Sea tanks don't extend the foam to the edge (I wonder how many red sea failures are tanks where someone puts the tank on the stand wrong).

None of that would apply to an acrylic tank though. Again, I am not an expert, just restating my previous research. I'd only trust the aquarium maker's opinion.
 
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richiev said:
I imagine the answer depends on how flat and smooth your stand is. I'd contact the aquarium maker and see that they say.

To me it doesn't make any sense that a foam layer would be detrimental. Once it compresses, it'd be functionally equivalent to a piece of wood. Said differently, at some point things can't compress any further. For wood it's pretty much instantly at that point. For foam it'll take more weight. What's the difference at that point?

Maybe the difference is if you don't get a consistent piece of foam you could get hot spots with more weigh. That'd be about to same in my mind as getting some home depot lumber which is never perfectly flat.

My understanding is the case where it does matter is when you're using a framed/rimmed aquarium or when you have a tank with a floating front panel. For framed/rimmed, it's bad because you only should put pressure on the frame. Putting pressure on the bottom glass panel, which it's not designed for, can cause issues. For floating panels, you don't want the foam putting upwards pressure on that floating panel. That's why the Red Sea tanks don't extend the foam to the edge (I wonder how many red sea failures are tanks where someone puts the tank on the stand wrong).

None of that would apply to an acrylic tank though. Again, I am not an expert, just restating my previous research. I'd only trust the aquarium maker's opinion.
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Not that it really matters for this discussion, but the front panel on Red Sea tanks hangs in space above the doors, to achieve the flush front look. You can’t really put the tank on wrong, especially given the bulkheads extend down into the stand in the rear…
 
richiev said:
I imagine the answer depends on how flat and smooth your stand is. I'd contact the aquarium maker and see that they say.

To me it doesn't make any sense that a foam layer would be detrimental. Once it compresses, it'd be functionally equivalent to a piece of wood. Said differently, at some point things can't compress any further. For wood it's pretty much instantly at that point. For foam it'll take more weight. What's the difference at that point?

Maybe the difference is if you don't get a consistent piece of foam you could get hot spots. That'd be about to same in my mind as getting some home depot lumber which is never perfectly flat.

My understanding is the case where it does matter is when you're using a framed/rimmed aquarium or when you have a tank with a floating front panel. For framed/rimmed, it's bad because you only should put pressure on the frame. Putting pressure on the bottom glass panel, which it's not designed for, can cause issues. For floating panels, you don't want the foam putting upwards pressure on that floating panel. That's why the Red Sea tanks don't extend the foam to the edge (I wonder how many red sea failures are tanks where someone puts the tank on the stand wrong).

None of that would apply to an acrylic tank though. Again, I am not an expert, just restating my previous research. I'd only trust the aquarium maker's opinion.
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I've actually seen acrylic aquariums bow more with foam vs without.
 
when I need to move the next tank going to go with a printed yoga mat or something . Especially since I run bare bottom now but if your sand is always blowing around exposing the bottom glass the printed mat would look cool.. Better then seeing wood underneath or down to the sump on aluminum stands ..Them paper background films may work also on the bottom some are water resistant..Just a thought
 

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PjFish said:
when I need to move the next tank going to go with a printed yoga mat or something . Especially since I run bare bottom now but if your sand is always blowing around exposing the bottom glass the printed mat would look cool.. Better then seeing wood underneath or down to the sump on aluminum stands ..Them paper background films may work also on the bottom some are water resistant..Just a thought
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Both tanks have black acrylic bottoms so that wouldn’t work with my build unfortunately. But really cool idea!
 
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