72"x18"x42" Stand for future 125

[Alittlefishy]

This is a near future upgrade for my 55. I'm going to a 125/135 and keep my 55 as a sump underneath. My idea is for a stand that is completely open in the front framing wise. I'm thinking a 2x6 bottom frame with 2x6 vertical supports and a 2x8 top frame with a double 2x8 beam over the front for support. I'm downloading sketchup now so I can put a drawing out there, but if this makes sense so far feel free to comment or, better yet, post pics of anything I could copy.

[OneDummHikk]

Is the open front to get the sump in and out? I hate every stand I own that has a divider in the door openings. It makes it impossible to get any size sump into the stand and limits access to the sump. You could always design it to slide the sump in from the end but I totally agree with you on the open front.

With the stand being 42" tall, a double 2x8 will leave you a door opening of roughly 34" to the top of the opening. Depending on how tall the bottom rail on the framing is, it cuts down on the door opening. I think what you will find is that a 55 is going to be awkward trying to reach in/out of with it in the stand. I would try to find someone that was interested in the 55 and get a 33 Long for the sump. The 33L has the same footprint as the 55 but isn't as tall. Fat Tony has a 33L under his 135. If the shorter tank doesn't give you enough water depth by the time you get to the return pump, split it in half. Instead of draining water into one end and pumping it out the other end of the sump, you would drain water to both ends of the sump tank, have it all drain to the middle and the return pump would be in the middle of the sump. That would also help alleviate any issues with a potential divider in the stand is that the only major thing behind it would be the return pump.

Not sure how far you are from Fat Tony but try to take a look at his setup. Its a 135 with a 33 long under it for a sump.

[Alittlefishy]

The 33L sounds better, since the 55 is so tall. I though about leaving the end open, but it would be really nice to be able to completely access the entire sump area. I saw a stand on RC that was a frame with a removable facia that covered the front and both sides. I liked that idea since I could build the stand very sturdy, and have complete access by removing the facia. Funny you mention Tony, I think we live about 10 miles from each other, but I missed the meeting that he held at his house a while back. The sketchup is not going so well, I'm too dumb to do it right now, so visual aids will have to wait, but Randy seems to get it.

[OneDummHikk]

I remember the thread on RC you are talking about. It was a metal stand with a wooden skin on it. That is a possibility as well. Building a metal stand would also alleviate the issues with the 8" of dead space from the double 2x8. You could build the metal stand out of 2" box tubing (providing you can weld). I just hate blocking off access to the sump area by using the double 2x8. The end could simply be a door that only gets used to put the sump in/out. The suggestion was made to me earlier today for a planned build of my own to put my sump on wheels to roll it out of the stand to be able to maintain it. If you have room, that is a possibility as well.

Tony's setup is almost identical to what you are describing. I don't remember if his stand has the divider in the middle or not. If its only 10 miles, shoot him a PM and drive over there to look at it.

I wish Tony (or anyone else) would teach me SketchUp. I can draw a box in it but thats about all.

[Alittlefishy]

I can weld, but I would have to wait until I move so that I would have a place to weld...I can't do too much construction stuff at these apartments. I may just move my 55 to the new townhomes and set it up temp until I can get everything straight for the 125/135. I will try to get in touch with Tony this week...I've also been wanting to see this ATO/WC setup he is constructing. As far a sketchup goes, I got the box, but then realized that I am just too lazy to learn another program...I have autocad, and can make simple things in that, so I don't think that I will be learning this google stuff.

[Fat Tony]

Adam, you are welcome to come by anytime . My stand does have the divider in the middle and I had to put the sump in from the top. I would suggest that you use a divider but have three doors on the front with the divider offset to one side to hold the third door, it would make life alot easier getting the sump in you can use 2x6's for the top and 2x4's for the corners, but I would still put some sort of support on the front if going with wood. IMO, the 33 long makes a perfect sump, CHuck has them for $60 and will drill them if you need him to...

HTH

[Doug1]

When I built the stand for my old 75, I made it 52x25 thinking that I might up it to a 120 at some point. I had 2" slots in the back to pass plumbing thru and both end panels were quickly removed via 4 screws allowing the sump to come out either end. The sump was my old non standard 55g, it was 48x15wx16or so high

[Fat Tony]

Doug... I would have loved to have that on mine...but the stand was already built and matching the stain and wood would have been a task

Hopefully this will be the last tank I do for quite a while. I'm going to let it grow in and see how it turns out

[OneDummHikk]

Doug, the deeper stand is the way I built the stand for my 90. It will accept a 120 but it has the slot along the back for plumbing/electrical with a ledge across the front as well. The ledge was going to be the home to a scale of the Golden Gate Bridge built out of Legos. My back put those plans (almost all my tank plans) on hold for a while but that is still the plan although I may end up building a new stand for my 120 and building the bridge on it instead of the 90. I got rid of the tank itself but still have the stand for it.

[Jadinop]

I built a stand like the one you described for my 110 long frag tank. I used 2x4's on edge for the crossbeams and have not noticed any deflection or movement. The legs are also 2x4 placed in a T fashion with one inside the top frame and one under for support. My stand wasn't built for looks but that could be easily changed. The shims were added due to the garage floor being uneven.




Just noticed the 42" height you are going for. A beefier design would be required for a stand that much taller.

[Alittlefishy]

Jadinop, I could modify that design using 2x6's in the T fashon for the legs and cross supports. I am starting to consider building the stand so that the sump could be removed from the side, but I still want the front to be as open as possible for easy access. I also still want to do the removable facia, just because I think it is cool. As much as I like the idea of a steel stand, I don't have a torch any longer, so that would be another cost to factor in. Going back to the wood, I could use a double 2x6 to make a 4x6 "beam" and support the beam on the ends and in the center. That would only be spanning 3' and would be open enough for me to mess around in. I also thought that I could widen the stand to 24" or so for easy removal of the sump if it ever became necessary, and it would give me a ledge to set things on when I'm working in the tank. I think the facia would be made from 1/4" plywood that sits on the floor and is held up by magnets or some sort of latch. Maybe like a cabinet door latch? The facia will be in 3 pieces...a front and 2 sides. Not sure if I will be tiled, covered in brushed aluminum, or something else...that will come. So now we're up to 72"x24"x42" built with 2x6s and a single 2x6 center brace holding up a double 2x6 beam for support in the front. The back will be 2x6s spaced 12" oc and the corner legs will be 2x6 T's. This is coming along nicely. I really want to reuse my current 55, but the clearance above the rim of the 55 would be 16" or less. I think that will be too tall. The 33 long would give me about 23" or so. I guess 6" CAN make a difference. I may even go up to 48", and use a stool to get in the tank for cleaning. Anyone have any facia design ideas?

[OneDummHikk]

Just remember that the long runs need to be directly under the tank. So that if you make the stand deeper than the tank, you have 3 "beams" to run. One at the front, one at the back, and one under the front edge of the tank. Something to think about and consider when building the stand larger than the tank.

As for fascia, make it as light as possible for easy removal. I wouldn't attach it with magnets though. Some kind of more secure way of securing it so that if a magnet fails, the fascia doesn't fall off, hit my chihauaha in the head and kill my dog

As for the torches, using torches to cut metal actually weakens the metal. For building a stand the size you are talking about, get one of those black fiber blades from Home Depot for your circular saw and cut it off. Same kind of blade they use in a chop saw. Don't let a torch be your excuse

[Alittlefishy]

The torch was going to be for welding...Oxy/Ace with a 6011 rod works pretty well. I suppose I could get a harbor freight mig, or a small oxy/ace setup pretty cheap. We'll see what happens after the move.

[OneDummHikk]

Ahhh, I have a mig welder and have totally forgotten anything I ever knew about oxy/ace welding.