Cool, I have a 40b QT and have thought it was a very nice sized tank for a small reef. Here's my QT set up with DIY stand. Its made with scrap wood that was laying around in the shop. You may want to add extra support on the legs...
Yes as for the stand I've been contemplating some designs. Fortunately, I work at Lowe's so acquiring everything I need in both supplies and knowledge is quite easy and relatively cheap. Here is a picture of a bathroom cabinet at my store which has an aesthetic feel I'm going for.
The stand is going to have to fit into this area pictured below. My "roommates" lol have confined my reef operations to this area on the 2nd floor. I just simply don't like how much unused space there is with my current tank not to mention the lack of functionality with my current stand which is blame for the electrical hazard on my floor there. SO for this build I'm trying to utilize as much space as possible here. Please try not to judge the cleanliness of my tank to harshly I have been neglecting it slightly due to the fact that I'm going to be dismantling the tank soon. lol
Here is a photo of a frame I put together a week or two ago. Failing to adhere to the "measure twice cut once rule" I ended up changing my design after putting this frame together for added functionality. Resulting in a need for a larger frame and me scrapping this frame before I added any supports, paneling, or trim.
Because I have the two large IKEA lockers on either side of where the tank will be I will only have access to the front of the tank without moving things. I want to isolate my electronics inside the cabinet and have them accessible through the front of the stand. While browsing this thread (
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/show-me-your-equipment-cabinets.194534/page-8) I found this design with a drawer style equipment cabinet which I'm going to attempt to pull off. I also want to do a peg board on the back of the inside of the cabinet to hang equipment on and I am going to try and cram a shelf in somewhere as well.
Here I've drawn up roughly how I'd like it to look. I apologize for my drawing skills in advance and I'll save you my unreadable measurements and schematics. The 40g on top plumbed to the 20g sump/refuge down below via PVC and PVC braided hose next to the roll out electrical cabinet.
I was able to grab this scrap hand-made wooden table top before it was burned by a relative. A few cuts, stain, and some sanding will make quite a nice top to the stand.
All my ply, premium stud lumber, and table top laid out ready to be cut and assembled.
