Seam failure?

[UncommonSense]

The biggest pain is trying to lift these tanks. They are so heavy

I recommend looking into a set of 8” diameter lifting suction cups! (Some tool rental places rent them, too!)

Do you think even with the tank in top of foam it will shift?

It depends on the foam!

Something like a EVA foam or neoprene will resist sliding… polystyrene/polyethylene foam, on the other hand, might be a bit slippery!

 

[UncommonSense]

Do you think even with the tank in top of foam it will shift? Cause that's not good.

@UncommonSense So I found some stainless steel corner brackets online with some 1 inch L brackets. I can put the corner brackets at each corner, then one L bracket on each side. Then the mat is sticky on one side the tank will be on that foam. Is this OK or should I go track down cabinet grade plywood. I am 100% in your debt for this info.

Interesting, R2R didn’t notify me of the mention in the post edit!

I don’t think you’ll need the perimeter lip or corner brackets unless you live in an area where earthquakes are a thing!

— The primary concern here is usually using a sheet made of a slippery plastic material, in conjunction with a rimmed glass/acrylic, or rimless acrylic tank directly on it! (Plastic on plastic tank:stand interface; very slippery!)

— unless the foam being used is also of a slippery (low surface energy) variety, such as those listed above; you should get a good amount of “stick” from a rubberized closed-cell foam, even on a plastic stand top! (Solid neoprene or similar is also great, only 1/8” thick needed there… go a bit thicker [~1/4” - 3/8”] if using a foam vs. solid mat material!)

— of note is double checking that stand top for flat (plane)! Run a straight edge like a yardstick, level, etc across the flat stand top to look for spots where the straight edge has light shining under it, indicating a low point, or spots where the straight edge “see saws” on a high point! (Just like plywood, plastic sheet isn’t guaranteed to be flat to the thousandth of an inch! This means you may have slight defects, but should not have massive high or low points! [note that your main goal here isn’t getting the tank perfectly level, that is secondary to getting a flat, well supported platform to set your rimless tank on!]


If you are in an area of high seismic activity, the corner brackets would work, but should definitely have proper shear rated lag bolts or similar holding them onto the stand, and should have some sort of shimming between each bracket and the tank corner with a padded surface at the glass interface (rimless tank, no plastic bottom rim to protect the glass if the tank moves into a stainless steel stop)… the shimming is there to prevent the tank from sliding independently from the stand in a big earthquake… if the ~1,000lb tank starts sliding around much at all, it will have a LOT of inertia when it hits the perimeter lip or corner guards!



I hope this elaboration helps?

(the last 24hrs were very long over here, I’m finally finding the energy to get thoughts into text fluently… apologies for the abridged version prior!)

 

[FishLvR]

Do you think even with the tank in top of foam it will shift? Cause that's not good.

@UncommonSense So I found some stainless steel corner brackets online with some 1 inch L brackets. I can put the corner brackets at each corner, then one L bracket on each side. Then the mat is sticky on one side the tank will be on that foam. Is this OK or should I go track down cabinet grade plywood. I am 100% in your debt for this info.

Interesting, R2R didn’t notify me of the mention in the post edit!

I don’t think you’ll need the perimeter lip or corner brackets unless you live in an area where earthquakes are a thing!

— The primary concern here is usually using a sheet made of a slippery plastic material, in conjunction with a rimmed glass/acrylic, or rimless acrylic tank directly on it! (Plastic on plastic tank:stand interface; very slippery!)

— unless the foam being used is also of a slippery (low surface energy) variety, such as those listed above; you should get a good amount of “stick” from a rubberized closed-cell foam, even on a plastic stand top! (Solid neoprene or similar is also great, only 1/8” thick needed there… go a bit thicker [~1/4” - 3/8”] if using a foam vs. solid mat material!)

— of note is double checking that stand top for flat (plane)! Run a straight edge like a yardstick, level, etc across the flat stand top to look for spots where the straight edge has light shining under it, indicating a low point, or spots where the straight edge “see saws” on a high point! (Just like plywood, plastic sheet isn’t guaranteed to be flat to the thousandth of an inch! This means you may have slight defects, but should not have massive high or low points! [note that your main goal here isn’t getting the tank perfectly level, that is secondary to getting a flat, well supported platform to set your rimless tank on!]


If you are in an area of high seismic activity, the corner brackets would work, but should definitely have proper shear rated lag bolts or similar holding them onto the stand, and should have some sort of shimming between each bracket and the tank corner with a padded surface at the glass interface (rimless tank, no plastic bottom rim to protect the glass if the tank moves into a stainless steel stop)… the shimming is there to prevent the tank from sliding independently from the stand in a big earthquake… if the ~1,000lb tank starts sliding around much at all, it will have a LOT of inertia when it hits the perimeter lip or corner guards!



I hope this elaboration helps?

(the last 24hrs were very long over here, I’m finally finding the energy to get thoughts into text fluently… apologies for the abridged version prior!)

Thank you. I feel much more confident. I'll be laid up all next week and the following week surgeries suck. Having to deal with this sucks. Good luck to you and thank you so much.