foam no foam

by nelsonpush Wed Jun 17, 2015 8:29 am

Buying a 300 gallon tank putting it on a steel stand. Foam no foam

by **Sbenson11** Wed Jun 17, 2015 8:57 am

I would suggest just putting it right on the stand,

You are talking about over 3,000LBS of tank and water so it needs to be good and solid. It goes without saying the floor has to be able to hold that weight as well. I'm assuming this is going on a concrete floor in you basement?

Hope you start a tank journal, sounds like a cool project.

Steve

by **Biulu** Wed Jun 17, 2015 9:16 am

Ensuring the tank is level and the frame of the tank well supported is more important than the foam. I doubt foam can do much to remedy this with such a large volume.

by alexmtl Wed Jun 17, 2015 9:17 am

Great to see you invest in a serious tank like the 300. Aside from being the battle cry of Spartans, the 300 can house some serious large fish.

Foam? Not sure what you in mind as to the purpose of using foam. As a beer cooler this would make for some awesome beer bucket. As a fish aquarium, unless you are looking at temperate fish, not sure what you are hoping to achieve. Just use the stand.

by nelsonpush Wed Jun 17, 2015 9:22 am

Not going in my basement but will be putting a good base under the stand

by alexmtl Wed Jun 17, 2015 9:30 am

Yup. The base needs to be levelled out first. Don't fill the aquarium just yet. Set up the stand and use a floor level on all angles to ensure that it is exactly level on length and width.
You can use wood shims or slivers to ensure that all sides are good.
What are you planning to stock the 300 with? What type of lighting are you going to use? Have you set yourself up with a filtration system?

by nelsonpush Wed Jun 17, 2015 9:52 am

Planted and discus some little fish too, T5 lights and 2- FX6 filters. First tank in 20 yrs, last tank was 180. So big learning curve this size and plants. I have 1/2" thick rectangular tubing to put stand on and spread weight out.Any advise is helpful thank you very much.

by **Biulu** Wed Jun 17, 2015 10:10 am

An extra trick is once you leveled the tank, fill it up to about 1/3 and let it sit a while. Then check whether it is still level.

With large weights we may find that the material we are using for leveling can 'dent' or 'compact' under the weight and if you used different amounts at the sides, then you will find the tank is no longer level once there is more weight.

by nelsonpush Wed Jun 17, 2015 10:32 am

Thank you

by alexmtl Fri Jun 19, 2015 3:04 pm

nelsonpush wrote:Planted and discus some little fish too, T5 lights and 2- FX6 filters. First tank in 20 yrs, last tank was 180. So big learning curve this size and plants. I have 1/2" thick rectangular tubing to put stand on and spread weight out.Any advise is helpful thank you very much.

Impressive setup. T5 lighting and good set of filters. I am sure some of the planted tank guys here may have some praise for an injector system. Very nice Nelson.

by nelsonpush Fri Jun 19, 2015 6:49 pm

Hope it works out just trying to figure out the injector system now and dont want to do DIY stuff.

by Suprd71 Sat Jun 20, 2015 4:20 am

My 6 and 7ft tanks are made by Marineland, and they actually state that putting foam under will void the warranty. I use 5/8 dense styro anyways. Miracles in Toronto recommends foam under all big tanks that they manufacture. I find it does help with leveling, but obviously wont compensate much more than 1/4 in. When filling big tanks, do in thirds over a 24hr period. The tank itself will flex ever so slightly, and needs some settle in time itself.