Aquarium Stand and Styrofoam Help

Haven't been on here in a few years since having the aquarium, but have moved since and finally getting to setting the tank back up.

I've been building a stand for it and I was wanting to put some styrofoam underneath the tank to help even it out a little bit because the stand is a little off. While building this I learned that most of the wood from Home Depot isn't straight and warped a little bit, I'm putting a shim underneath the stand between the floor to make it even.

I was going to put a piece of plywood over the top of the stand and then the styrofoam over that for the tank to sit on but I'm thinking of just not putting the plywood. The only thing I'm thinking of is that the middle of the styrofoam won't be supported since no plywood but would that even matter since the weight of the tank would be on the edges of the foam and into the 2x4s? It's a 58 gallon glass tank.

 

Bump!

 

I believe the general consensus is to not use foam under glass tanks, only acrylic. The concern is the rim of the tank compacts the foam placing pressure on the bottom glass possibly causing a crack since it is not meant to support the tank.

That being said, if you do not use plywood then even if the foam compacts under the pressure from the rim the center portion of the foam should not put pressure on the bottom pane.

I actually did what you are thinking and put a sheet of plywood then foam when I set up my 180 before I found out I should not have. Been about 5 years no issues. Your other option may be just cut out the center of the foam since the support is only being placed on the outer rim.

 

I would do as stated above, cut out foam to go around the perimeter. Good luck I'm sure either way will be fine.

 

I've used styrofoam on all my glass tanks and always recommend some sort of pliable underlayment to "straighten" out the stand.
I have used plywood and no plywood.When not using plywood I would usually just cut strips of styrofoam or insulation and place them on the edges.
I always felt more comfortable with plywood.

 

Alright thanks for the advice everyone, gonna try the foam strips and see how that looks.

I was really trying to avoid the plywood cause I don't have a saw that I can cut out space for the drain/return holes on the underside of the tank. I didn't want to just cut out the space in the the plywood with a circular saw cause I thought having that piece of the plywood missing on the edge would ruin the balance on that side.