Help with my stand

[2manyideas]

I have this beautiful 110 stand that was custom made by an old carpenter. You can tell that a lot of work was put into it and this thing is super sturdy and high quality. My only problem is because it was made for an arowana tank, I cannot fit a sump in there. All the panels have been screwed and wood glued so taking them off is not an option. That leaves me with a final option… cutting it. The back is one solid panel and I figure if I cut a square out I should be able to fit the sump in. However I want to know if this is the best option because I really don’t want to ruin the craftsmanship of this stand.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I would remove the front panel entirely. Then rebuild the support in the front with 4040 t-slot. Then use a magnetic closure to put the whole face back in, doors and all. This will give you the ability to pull the face and access compartments within your sump that are unreachable. Also, because 4040 is modular, if need be you can lower the water level to near nothing, reduce the load, pull supports remove the sump/swap, then put everything back together exactly as it were before.

Inside the stand I'd look for pocket screws holding the face frame in place. If it's glued/dado'ed/etc, the same effect could be achieved by cutting the face out and using trim to hide the cuts on reassembly.

 

[19Mateo83]

If the tank is empty can you cut a hole under it so that it hides the hole after the sump is put in and tank back on it? I’m a carpenter and this is how I would go about it. With the tank only being supported by the perimeter you should have some room to pop a decent sized hole in it.

Also what @Townes_Van_Camp said above. His idea is maximum accessibility.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

If the tank is empty can you cut a hole under it so that it hides the hole after the sump is put in and tank back on it? I’m a carpenter and this is how I would go about it. With the tank only being supported by the perimeter you should have some room to pop a decent sized hole in it.

Also what @Townes_Van_Camp said above. His idea is maximum accessibility.

Clever. I forgot. Like a redneck at a tractor pull. Rimmed tanks only need the edge of their seat.

 

[2manyideas]

If the tank is empty can you cut a hole under it so that it hides the hole after the sump is put in and tank back on it? I’m a carpenter and this is how I would go about it. With the tank only being supported by the perimeter you should have some room to pop a decent sized hole in it.

Also what @Townes_Van_Camp said above. His idea is maximum accessibility.

This is not a bad idea! Cut a hole in the top of the stand so when I put sand in the tank it covers the hole?