Room for electronics / cube stand

[IWuzADuck]

So my cube is 24x24.
After my fantasies about building my stand out of 80/20 from Grainger a 1/2 mile from me, I've decided to go with what I know...wood.
My first inclination is to make the stand's footprint the same as the tank.
That will be limiting the sump size.
So I figure I'll build out the stand a few inches on each side, keeping front and back relatively flush to the tank.
I anticipate using a neptune system and was wondering if I want to separate it from the rest of the underneath, how much space should I allot for.
I'm guessing a wall sealing it off and then some major wire-management to look nice.

 

[IWuzADuck]

So tonight I find out that my wife wants it do it in aluminum and open to see everything. What did I do to deserve this?

 

[thediscobandit]

What sump do you have in mind for it? One thing i always hear is to give yourself 6" of clearance over your sump, but after i made my first stand with 6", ive since designed all my other stands with at least 10-12" clearance because 6" just doesnt cut it for me.

I'll be using wood for my diy 30x24 and a 24x24 sump im working on now. Basically, im gonna join two slabs of mahogany 30"x25"x1.5" with a few lengths of 4x4 and some plywood across the top for my stand.

 

[ChuckTownReefer]

Any update on this build?

 

[W1ngz]

Would be fun to see. This is a month old thread, hopefully it's not abandoned. A few thoughts:

-Open aluminium channel stands look great (if they fit the decor), and should encourage you to keep a tidy sump. They don't contain light from a refugium if that's where you end up going down the road. Not so bad late at night when you're asleep, but in the mid to later evening you might not appreciate having an offensively bright pink/magenta light in the room.

-On my cube, the stand holds the tank on one end and I built out the stand to one side to allow for a slightly longer sump and leave space for electrical without cluttering the sump area. From the side view you get to keep the pillar look you'd get with a cube atop an identical foot print stand, and makes a nice little work surface for fragging, feeding and testing.