styrofoam in saltwater

[ai[k²]wan]

guys,

haha does styrofoam melts or have any bad effects in salt water for long periodS?

am going to try a risky thing. 3ft 6mm wo....

ok heres what im going to do, one piece of styrofoam in the main tank at the bototm, another one blow the tank. weight would be rested more on styrofoam, rather a lot more.

if i were to put rocks, no rocks on the glass on the sides, thats the rule.

from my understanding there would be very little pressure on the bottom glass as its absorbed pretty much by the styrofoam in the tank itself.

i got more confidence when i remembered reading my book saying if u have large pieces of rocks, its best to put a piece of foam below the rock.

btw i have not done any of hte above

[Achilles Tang]

Styrofoam is inert in saltwater.

However, technically, it's almost an impossible to use styrofoam as a base for your liverock because it's extremely buoyant!

Do you have a very thin glass bottom for your tank? If you have thick glass, you can jump up and down on it and it won't even break.

[ai[k²]wan]

i tihnk with 20kg of sand over it .. very unlikely?

[killfire]

wan,Oct 13 2003, 12:01 PM]

from my understanding there would be very little pressure on the bottom glass as its absorbed pretty much by the styrofoam in the tank itself.

The glass base will still be loaded by the weight of all the stuff you have inside the tank. The foam will only distribute the weight of the rocks and prevent any point contact (high pressure regions) between sharp edges of the rock and the glass base, which might chip or crack the glass.

Sorry, have no idea if styrofoam will degrade with prolonged submersion in saltwater.

[ai[k²]wan]

if not maybe can try rubber..

[ai[k²]wan]

now it seems like a stupid questoin

[Achilles Tang]

hmmm... yeah.... but if you want to do this... you have to place the foam in... then the sand, then the liverock.. BEFORE adding water. Once water is in... it'll be a difficult thing to force a foam board down inside water and make it behave!

Actually, if you have a DSB, your LR is quite cushioned already.

[ai[k²]wan]

hmm.. now thinking of it, if i put a foam inside right, lets said the sand bed is disturbed, wah piang one side fly out..

[Achilles Tang]

If you use a thick foam board, potentially, the whole piece can fly out!

Remember going to the pool and trying to force down a styrofoam board by standing on it? Shift your weight a little and the board can shoot out like a Polaris missle!

[ai[k²]wan]

haha dat was what i was thinking leh.. lol.. but if the size is jsut right, i think there is very little chance of that. haha i would put a net over it to secure the sand. what did u all use to prevent disturbance when u all started har?