Where did you get your diy stand plans?

[NinnJinn]

I have had my tank sitting on the floor for a week now stressing over plans to build a stand for it. I have searched high and low on Google I cannot find actual blueprints or plans with actual lengths of two by fours and two by sixes Etc for the actual corners.

When I went to pick up my tank it came with a stand but it was 40in high and pretty much putting my tank halfway up my living room bay window so I left the stand behind.

if the stand is 24 in tall the tank will be right below the window. I don't mind it being a little bit above the base of the window but I don't want it covering the entire window.

My refugium is 17in high. My plan is to have a door at the end of the stand to where I can slide my refugium in. And have two possibly three doors on the front of the stand to access everything.

I'm sure I'm making all of this more difficult than what it really is. But I just don't want to make a wimpy stand.

 

[chefjpaul]

Make sure you can fit, pull, and work on a skimmer if you plan on running one.

 

[WWIII]

https://cflas.org/2014/03/03/build-your-own-aquarium-stand/

 

[cracker]

Make sure You can fit the sump You want Don't forget height also

 

[NinnJinn]

Make sure you can fit, pull, and work on a skimmer if you plan on running one.

There was a brand new skimmer in with the package deal that I got with the used tank but there's no pump for it so it's all Greek To Me

 

[NinnJinn]

Make sure You can fit the sump You want Don't forget height also

Sump is approximately 17 inches high how much space above that do you suggest that I have?

 

[chefjpaul]

There was a brand new skimmer in with the package deal that I got with the used tank but there's no pump for it so it's all Greek To Me

How tall is the skimmer

 

[NinnJinn]

How tall is the skimmer

12.5in

 

[NinnJinn]

It was just in a plain white box there's no tags or anything saying what kind it is and there is no instruction manual inside it was part of the used tank deal

 

[Jesterrace]

I have had my tank sitting on the floor for a week now stressing over plans to build a stand for it. I have searched high and low on Google I cannot find actual blueprints or plans with actual lengths of two by fours and two by sixes Etc for the actual corners.

When I went to pick up my tank it came with a stand but it was 40in high and pretty much putting my tank halfway up my living room bay window so I left the stand behind.

if the stand is 24 in tall the tank will be right below the window. I don't mind it being a little bit above the base of the window but I don't want it covering the entire window.

My refugium is 17in high. My plan is to have a door at the end of the stand to where I can slide my refugium in. And have two possibly three doors on the front of the stand to access everything.

I'm sure I'm making all of this more difficult than what it really is. But I just don't want to make a wimpy stand.

You are over thinking this. I don't know what size your tank is but for my 36 gallon, I built it out of 2x4 and 2x6 construction with a piece of 1/2 inch MDF serving as the platform that the tank sat on. I got my source material from my parent's new subdivision and they had all kinds of scrap they were throwing out. We did luck out and found some 1/2 inch MDF that worked perfectly as the platform and then mounted them . Depending on the size and weight of the tank some 1/2"-3So my Dad and I assembled it for the cost of a couple of hours of our time and a box of screws. We put the 2x6 pieces as the main front and back legs and then fastened identical measurement 2x4 pieces to them at a 90 degree angel and that formed each of the 4 corners. We also ran 2x6 side braces along the sides and back. I then got some rubber mat material to put over the top of the MDF platform and that stand was super solid.

 

[jimo12]

There was a brand new skimmer in with the package deal that I got with the used tank but there's no pump for it so it's all Greek To Me

sorry but i found this very funny, we in Greece say its all Chinese to me

 

[CJS80]

Sump is approximately 17 inches high how much space above that do you suggest that I have?

It depends on the size of skimmer. When you make your stand if you enclose it and can't pull the sump out of it you will need enough room above the 17" to remove the skimmer to clean/maintenance it. The skimmer you have pictured you will probably replace soon, so start looking at ones you might replace it with to get sizes.

 

[andrewkw]

If you follow Rocket Engineer's plans you just decide the height and follow all the colour codded cuts

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/stand-build-help.107067/ the image seems to be a photobucket causality but if you google it lots will come up. The original thread is many many years old on RC, not sure if he is on R2R as well.

Following this design will leave you with a very overbuild stand like all 2x designs but really anyone, of any skillset can build this. It also doesn't have any unnecessary supports in the front, so you can remove sump or anything else under the tank with ease. One thing I will mention is you said 24" tall, unless you are exclusively going to view the tank sitting down AND have a very short skimmer this height level is probably not going to work. There are a few threads talking about 38-40" heights which may be too tall for you but something in the middle probably will work best.

 

[redfishbluefish]

The plans I used came for RocketEngineer over on RC....years ago. It's a tried and true plan that I beleive is over built....but because of that, you can sleep soundly. The general rule is tanks up to four feet long, all 2 x 4's......Over 4 foot, the top frame is 2 x 6's....no center brace needed. I'd also highly recommend topping the stand with 3/4 plywood to help level/smooth out the imperfections in the dimensional lumber. Also, you either have to skin this stand or add bracing so that it doesn't rack. Here's the plan from RocketEngineer:

And here's the actual frame for my 5 foot tank:

 

[Will Milberger]

https://www.reef2reef.com/posts/4101398/

This is where I got my ideas. Should have cutout list also.

 

[albyone]

Check out pintrest