what do you think about my stand design?

[6speedchevelle]

going to start building my stand frame for my new 75G tonight....

here are the plans.

what do you guys think?

Be honest...I can take it

[OneDummHikk]

I would turn all the 2x4'es flat to the front/back to allow as much room as possible front to back. Then, make the stand about 3" larger than what it is, to be able to get a 33L or similar tank in it for a sump. Leave a door on the end to put the sump in and possibly remove it. Double band the top to get the tank back on the band for support but it leaves the extra 3" inside the stand to get a 48" long tank in there for a sump.

Make sure the top band that the tank sits on sits on top of all the legs to distribute the weight, and the same on the bottom where the legs sit between the top/bottom of the stand.

Good luck with it.

[6speedchevelle]

I would prefer to not use the 33 long...
it would take up the entire floor of the stand.
my plan was to use a standard 30g (30x12)
so I could have room for any other additions, supplies, etc....

disastrous plan?

here is the plan for my DIY sump


how am i doing so far?

[Loverotties]

I'd use bigger then 2x4s.

[OneDummHikk]

Looks good the way you have it drawn. Do you already have the 30 or will you have to buy it? I would look harder at a 30 breeder than the 30 tall unless you already have the tank. At that height (17") its going to make it odd trying to reach in the sump tank to do anything in it. The 30 breeder, at 36 3/16 x 18 1/4 x 12 15/16, fits almost perfectly front to back with a little planing, and gives you a good height to get into the sump. Leaves you a place at the end of it that is approx 12x18 for external equipment.

[6speedchevelle]

I see your point....but im 6'6" tall with long arms to match , I should not have any problem in reaching the bottom of a 16" deep sump

i'm using 2x4's cause they are cheap and to save space inside the stand
there are 17 vertical supports for this stand...(I think that should be sufficient)

[OneDummHikk]

Just make sure the verticals sit on top of the bottom horizontals and below the top horizontals.

Before I settled on the 29G tank, I would mock up something with the top over it to mimick trying to reach in the tank with the stand over it. I know haveing longer arms helps but its a little different trying to reach through the stand. I am only 6' tall but I should easily be able to reach into the sump under a 75G but I can't. The height of it combined with the stand make it difficult to reach in it and manuever.

Good luck with it and look forward to progess pics as you build it.

[SteveK]

What is the center section of the sump going to be used for?

[6speedchevelle]

is going to be a fuge...

[Jadinop]

6ft 110 gal long sitting on 2x4's for a few months with no problems at all. Have you ever seen how thin the wood commercial stands are made of? Many DIY stands are extremely overbuilt to the point where lack of space and accesibility become an issue.

Here is a pic of mine empty so you can see the interlocking stand design.

[Alittlefishy]

jadinop, I love that stand design. Can I steal it?

6speedchevelle, your stand looks fine. I assume you username means that you have a chevelle...can we see it?

[6speedchevelle]

hey Jadinop
what type of fasteners did you use?
how did you attached the top of the diagonal supports?


Here is the Car.... (doesnt look like this anymore, was stolen and stripped a few years ago)

[OneDummHikk]

I have seen that stand and I didn't even pay attention to it. And that's usually one thing I DO pay attention to is how things are built and put together. My only excuse would be the super awesome frag tank that is behind/beside you if you stand wehre that picture was taken from.

[Jadinop]

Steal away. If you look hard at the pic, all of the pieces interlock with each other. First, I built the top frame to hold the tank. The long supports run the whole length of the tank and 4 crossbraces join it together. This is important because the outer leg ends up supporting both long and short sides of the top frame at the corner. The legs are "T" shaped, this helps eliminate any movement and adds support directly under the frame. The first part of legs are the ones that attach to the inside of the frame and are even with the top. They are like the bottom of a "T". The outer leg or top of the "T" sits under the top frame to add support. The diagonal supports attach to the front of the leg and the bottom of the top frame, it lines up perfectly and I just screwed them in. The legs were an afterthought and didn't add much strength. There is also a short brace joining the front and rear leg together. The thought behind adding the braces was to prevent the legs from moving, not to add support for the top frame. It would probably look better to just use some 2x2 to frame along the bottom and lock all of the legs together.

All I used to put the whole thing together was wood screws. I put 3 screws at every junction in a triangle pattern.

[6speedchevelle]

Frame work is done....not exactly what I drew up, but this thing is a tank! (no pun intended)

9 2x4's x 1.59 each = $14.31 invested so far....

next, got to find the plywood to cover it (going to cover all six sides with 3/8" to give it extra support), and trim to make it look pretty.






whattayathink??