How many centimetre of styrofoam do you need to ensure that a tank

1580 (L) X 480 (W) x 600 (H) is level. The base maybe 1 - 3 centimetres off. My own thoughts are at least 10 thick and better around 20-25 centimetres.

Any thoughts?? Or are there engineers or physicists with a formula??

Thanks for your time,

Janet G.

1-3 centimetres sounds like a far bit. If it was me I would work on getting the base as level as possible before thinking about styro. Even if you use a thick piece of styro, if your base is that far off with a tank that big, its going to give you grief. The use of styro is generally only used to even out small local areas where the base is uneven (such as small lumps etc) to avoid over stressing the base glass at that point, not to correct for completely uneven bases. If the base is fairly level you should only need 2-3 cm of foam.

Hi Janet,

Welcome to the forum. Always nice to see new members.

Nice size tank you have there...

What do you intend to put in it ?

Regards,

Bill (Pegasus)

I would level off the base, not try to use polystyrene to even it up - especially by that amount. Is it the stand that is so far off plumb or the floor?

Polystyrene gives overall support, it is not used to level off bases.

Hello Janet,

Polystyrene does not level the base of the tank stand at all. This is VERY important. The base must be level on its own. The easiesy way to level a tank base is the get another piece of wood the same size as the original unlevel one. Get some 'no more nails'. Using a glue gun, apply the glue in a regular patern over the entire base. Fit the new piece of wood. Fit 10-15mm polystyrene and then place the tank on top. The weight of the tank will squish the glue out and level the base. Any gaps will be filled by the glue. Let the glue fully set (about 1 week) and then you can fill the tank.

Don't take shortcuts with big tanks, or you will get a big mess on your floor.

The reason the polystyrene does not level the base of a tank is because there is virtually no force on it. The total weight of the tank divided by the surface area is not much. Eg; My 8 foot tank weighs in at about 2000kg. It is 2400 long and 820mm wide. Lets work it out in cm. So thats 240cm x 82cm = 19680cm². If the total weight is 2000kg, then on the polystyrene we have 2000kg/19680 kg/cm² = 0.101626kg per square centimeter, or 101.626 grams per square centimeter. Go get something that weighs this much and has a surface on it 1cm x 1cm. Put the full weight on the 1x1cm surface onto the polystyrene. There will be no change in the thickness of the poly and it will not deform at all (not that you can see anyway). The actual deformation will be approx 0.1-0.2mm, - not nearly enough to correct unlevel tank bases. This represents a force of approximatley 1N per square cm which is nothing.

All the poly does is stop small bits of grit or very small bumps in the base from breaking the tank bottom due to point loading.

Hope this helps.

Just a little tip for anyone setting up a tank that doesn't have a spirit level of a decent size.

Get a long length of clear air tube and fill with water.

Attach one end to one end of your stand or tank (use selotape or a peg)

Take the other end to any other point around the base.

Hold it at the same level of the tank or stand.

The two water levels in the tube should match.

They use this method to level decks and patio's up.

Regards,

Bill (Pegasus)

Hi Janet G.

The idea of styrofoam is not to level the tank but as Midas and Warren said, to stop the floor from cracking. And 10mm is all you need for most tanks. A perfect level tank is not necessary, it only looks better. So however level your stand might be, styrofoam is an absolute must. If you have a metalstand, then then a bit of protruding weld is all you need to crack a heavy tank. So listen to Midas and Warren. (even though Warrens explanation was really intended for a civil engineer or a nuclear scientist, a slight overkill )

John

Janet did say...Any thoughts?? Or are there engineers or physicists with a formula??

Ask and ye shall receive (hopefully)

Yip!