DIY Stand Advice?

[Brhino]

I'm working on the design for the stand I need to build for my 300 gal tank (8'x2' footprint). I've seen some pretty good designs around but nothing quite my size, so I'll be upscaling whatever design I borrow. The first question on my mind relates to the vertical supports. How do I know how many I need? There will be a sump tank (4' x 18" footprint) in the stand, so either I'll need a nearly 4' gap between vertical supports on the front side of the stand (would that be safe?) or I'll have to slide the sump in from one of the sides (which would mean I'd have to leave at least 4' of clearance to the side of the stand if I ever want to be able to get the sump back out).

Any input from folks with experience?

[Cliff]

I modeled the stand for my 180 off of two stands from fellow hobbiest here in town. All of them were made of 2 X 4s and had support about every 24 to 32 inches. I spaced mine out at ~24 inches and I cross braced the supports at the back and the sides.

You also have to keep in mind, my sump is going to be placed in another room so I could make the stand lower than what is typical



I hope this helps to give you a few ideas

[Brhino]

looks like you doubled up the 2x4s in a lot of places, huh? That's even more solid than most of what I've seen. From where you're coming from, a 4' gap in the vertical supports would be a bad idea, huh? So that just leaves me with side access, unless you or anyone else has a better idea.

[Cliff]

You don't need to double up the 2 X 4s like I did. That is certainly over built which I typically do. All of the wood stands that I have seen for 4 and 6 foot tanks around here have side access for the sump. I built the one for my 120 gallon tank that way

The only stands that I have seen for larger tanks (180 gallons) that have a wider space were made of metal.

You should be able to space it out further by using a 2 X 6 or 2 X 8 for the top horizontle beam. I'm not sure how much further tho and that would add to the over all hight as well

[Trillianne]

When I was trying to figure out weight bearing needs for one of my tanks, I came across this site: http://www.fishandtips.com/index.php

However... googling some dimensions for a 300 gallon, it looks like it won't auto-generate on that size. Perhaps you can have it generate on half length and then extend it to twice as long?

[Brhino]

I saw that site, Trillianne. I had a good laugh when put my tank in and it said gave me an error because it was too big.

I think I might use a base of 4x4s, 4x4 columns, and then 4x4 center braces with a 2x4 perimeter. I'll make a drawing tomorrow when I have visio at work.

[Brhino]

well, hmm. Just realized a problem. If you have a 24" wide stand with an 18" sump tank inside it, that leaves only 3" of clearance in front of and behind the sump... not enough for a 4"x4" or doubled up 2"x4s" or anything else. Neither your design nor the similar one I've been looking at on monsterfishkeepers would accommodate an 18" wide sump. Furthermore, I need to avoid having a front-to-back support dead center because that's where the drilled holes are, hence that's where the plumbing will be.

back to the drawing board!

[Rocksor]

Have you considered a cinder block stand? Here is one nicely setup and tiled:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-12/totm/index.php

[Brhino]

that's a very nice tank... room for a sump that way, though (or, in his case, his sump's all the way in the basement).

[Cliff]

What is the spacing between the edge of the tank and the drilled holes in the overflow ?