YHSublime July 30, 2013 Share July 30, 2013 So after much battling with myself, I've decided that I'm going to build my own stand. Part of what the non reefer in the family likes is the stand and hood, which means my craftsmanship will have to match the caliber of the current stand... and hood. Talk about pressure.I've never built my own stand before, and it's not the frame that concerns me, but the trim. Is that usually just board over the frame with molding attached? The frame that it is on now is nothing special. As a matter of fact, it's worrisome!I found this site that pretty much gives you a mock up of what you need and plans, and estimated cost, does it seem about right? Scroll through tabs 1, 2, and 3, in order to see all 3 stages. I put the height in at 40" which will leave me with 22" of play in my sump. Thoughts before I probably start this tonight? Anybody have a 72.5 x 18.5 x 28.5 stand lying around? Anybody want to build it for me real nice like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der ABT July 30, 2013 Share July 30, 2013 (edited) Look up rocket engineer reefcentral on google, its a very easy and nice stand edit here you go http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1567110 Edited July 30, 2013 by Der ABT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der ABT July 30, 2013 Share July 30, 2013 oh yeh and dont forget about the overall height of the tank and access to teh top, very easy to forget that you have to reach in and reach the bottom (aka may require your entire body above the tank on a tall tank) i made my 90 a little to high and its a PAIN to reach the back corner of it even with a step ladder because of the proximity to the ceiling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime July 30, 2013 Author Share July 30, 2013 Thanks! Very helpful. Thanks for the heads up about the ceiling. I think I will have enough room, at least in current location, to maneuver with a 40" tall stand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM July 30, 2013 Share July 30, 2013 I love my stand I built. It has about as much room as it is possible to get into a stand the size of the tank, and no bigger. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2269811 Mine is 42 inches tall and holding 75g and very sturdy. Yours would probably be three sheets of $50 plywood and done (unfinished). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM July 30, 2013 Share July 30, 2013 I looked at your step 1,2,3. Is your sump footprint bigger than 18.7x 10.5? If so, you arent getting it in that stand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime July 30, 2013 Author Share July 30, 2013 I love my stand I built. It has about as much room as it is possible to get into a stand the size of the tank, and no bigger. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2269811 Mine is 42 inches tall and holding 75g and very sturdy. Yours would probably be three sheets of $50 plywood and done (unfinished). I looked at your step 1,2,3. Is your sump footprint bigger than 18.7x 10.5? If so, you arent getting it in that stand. Alan, good call. I forgot to subtract the 2x4's out from the 18.5". My sump is 36L x 16W x 18H. My current stand would be perfect if it wasn't so freaking low. The sump fits perfectly inside (I mean, sans the whole, it's not coming out unless the tank comes off first) but it only gives me 6" of room to work in it, which isn't enough to take my skimmer cup out, unless I pull it out from the side and out the other door. And it doesn't make sense, if the skimmer ever malfunctioned, I couldn't even pull it out without draining the tank, emptying the contents, lifting it up, and them getting the skimmer, or any other piece of equipment out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM July 31, 2013 Share July 31, 2013 Maybe a crazy question, but could you add 10 inches of height to your currrent stand? Like a square box of plywood set on top of the stand and held in place with some trim until you get water in the tank, at which time the 2000 pounds above it would hold it nice n tight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime July 31, 2013 Author Share July 31, 2013 Maybe a crazy question, but could you add 10 inches of height to your currrent stand? Like a square box of plywood set on top of the stand and held in place with some trim until you get water in the tank, at which time the 2000 pounds above it would hold it nice n tight. Maybe not so crazy. The stand is already amazingly... thin. We were all surprised as to the amount of weight it was built to handle. If I took the trim off the stand right now, I could, in crazy theory, put the tank up on 10" square blocks of plywood, and match up some trim. The only thing I can think of that would get in the way of that, is the overflow holes drilled in the bottom on the back of both sides of the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howaboutme July 31, 2013 Share July 31, 2013 Maybe a crazy question, but could you add 10 inches of height to your currrent stand? Like a square box of plywood set on top of the stand and held in place with some trim until you get water in the tank, at which time the 2000 pounds above it would hold it nice n tight. Good point here...but you'll have to get rid of the top board for this to make sense so you actually gain 10" inside the cabinet. If it's board/plywood of some kind, you may be able to jig saw openings from edge of the wood members to edge of the wood members to get your heights. Then you can build a new top and sit it along the edges. Tie them together from the inside and add a thick "ledge" or trim to cover the seems. This is assuming you don't re-skin the entire stand. After typing that, I realize it sounds like way too much effort for not much gain. You'll save a few $$$ in materials but not much in time since you'll be making close to the same amount of cuts as if you made a new stand...I think...??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime July 31, 2013 Author Share July 31, 2013 Outside: Inside, from the right hand door, down through to the left hand side, just to give you an idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattiejay6 July 31, 2013 Share July 31, 2013 (edited) Have you thought of an external skimmer? Seems like plenty of room for that to be plumbed into your current sump. Edited July 31, 2013 by Mattiejay6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime July 31, 2013 Author Share July 31, 2013 Have you thought of an external skimmer? Seems like plenty of room for that to be plumbed into your current sump. I have, and there is. Just more money. And also, my current sump is garbage without more play room inside the stand. I have 6" (realistically 5") of room in between the top of the sump and the bottom of the tank. Alan, that idea about raising it was good, but still leaves me with that tight gap, which really doesn't solve the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der ABT July 31, 2013 Share July 31, 2013 If you need more room just make the stand bigger and use I nice flat piece of wood for a top I used a 3/4 in piece for my frag tanks stand ...its bigger for a sump and equip not to mention you get a lip/shelf to put food frag plugs COLD BEERS etc. Just a though t I made mine 6 inches sides and front and just made sure I added an extra support where the tank would sit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattiejay6 July 31, 2013 Share July 31, 2013 Well.. I can tell you that when I sat down and hit the drawing board for me.. I took in all the trials and tribulations of everyone on the board here from their DIY and build threads and a stand built by me seemed like the only way to go.. And man oh man I tell you what did it give me a huge sense of accomplishment after it was all done.. I felt like I created art.... I made the stand 40 inches high.. Low enough that I can gaze from my couch and high enough when I stand up I'm not bending over to stare in it... It gave me a tremendous amount of play room on the inside... There is some thing I will do differently when I go to upgrade in the future and build a new stand.. Alan"s design with using no 2x4"s scares me... But I love it! Really keeps the stand a lot more open .... .. After reading all of your posts I think building a stand is your best bet! I think you will really treasure your accomplishment and add to your enthusiasm...:-) I would say the biggest thing is just makin sure that bad boy is level... I sat down and drew everything out multiple times with all my measurements.. I used the drawing from Roni"s build as a good inner structure guideline... And picture to kinda visualize with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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