Building a stand and sump

[Be102]

This should be fun. I was sitting around thinking all day about building a stand for my 65 gallon tank, considering my current stand doesn't have enough room as I would like for a sump underneath. I originally was thinking of doing a 20l underneath but now that I was looking at dimensions.. I think I am going to make it so it can hold a 40b underneath the tank. I know a 65 gallon tank might look a little funny on a larger stand.. But I have an evil master plan that I think will work.

After realizing that a 40b, 75g and 120 gallon are all fairly similar in size, I decided to make the stand large enough for the 40gallon sump, and then in the future, if and when I can be convincing enough to need an upgrade, it will literally be as simple as removing stuff from the tank into buckets, taking the tank off the stand and putting the new tank on top of it. So realistically it will just be a physically larger tank, rather than a larger footprint/setup in general.

I would like to make this stand out of 2x4s with some sort of plywood as the siding. I am thinking about leaving the siding as removable sides, or possibly adding some doors. But I think the removable sides will be best for maintenance and accessibility in the long run. I am not too handy at these sort of things, and actually this will be my very first time trying this out.. it doesn't look too difficult however and I feel it will be very rewarding to say that I built it myself.

I am envisioning a standard tank built by 2x4's with some sort of shelving right below the tank itself. As of now, I have this tank (http://www.petsmart.com/fish/suppli...aqueon-65-gallon-aquarium-ensemble-16714.html) and it is really nice to have a shelf to put stuff on. I just am unable to do much underneath the tank itself, and it would be really hard to fit a sump under here with a parts that need to be removed. I just need more space. I don't really have any sort of specific plans or requirements exactly, other than being sturdy enough to be able to withstand a larger tank, if I do decide to get one in the future.

Will a 40b be too much of an overkill underneath the tank? Is there such thing as too large of a sump? I guess we can turn this thread into one large thread with both the stand and sump all into one. I am thinking of having some filter socks in the sump, along with a refugium, protein skimming section and a return pump.. Possibly even a frag rack if it would be possible? I guess my tank is just an awkward size so I can't really get too much space out of it right now. I need an area to put my large live rocks and all other fun stuff. I guess I havent really learned much about reactors, so I don't really have a set requirement for that really. I would like to however create some sort of manifold as others have that will allow me to just attach a reactor right to that. Also today I learned about having a quick connect for a hose to allow an easy drainage of the sump for water changes. This would be great, I have a porch off the back of the tank basically which I usually drain the water anyways. A hose attachment would be amazing.

Sorry for all the words.. Just a lot on my mind as of now. I guess I just want to know what you guys think about my ideas, and what you can recommend for advice whilst building the stand. I would like to start as soon as I can as well. So technically I need a stand capable of holding a 120 gallon tank. That is the end goal.

 

[Bluefish9]

Good choice on going with the 40b for a sump. No such thing as too much water volume. Plus you will gain a lot of space should you choose to employee additional filtration, reactors or even a larger skimmer when you upgrade etc.

As for the stand, I have a 150 tall on a 2x4 stand that I skinned in eastern red cedar planks. Its really not to difficult except that your cuts need to be true and everything needs to be extremely level.
On your vertical supports on the inside of the frame, there should be several 2x4's that extend all the way from the top to the floor. This transfers load from the tank to the floor itself and takes some weight off the horizontal frame work.

Also for whatever its worth, I chose to use stainless steel construction screws and also liquid nails glued all my connections. You could park a truck on my stand... literally
I excessively over-built mine but thats just how I am.

 

[Be102]

Good choice on going with the 40b for a sump. No such thing as too much water volume. Plus you will gain a lot of space should you choose to employee additional filtration, reactors or even a larger skimmer when you upgrade etc.

As for the stand, I have a 150 tall on a 2x4 stand that I skinned in eastern red cedar planks. Its really not to difficult except that your cuts need to be true and everything needs to be extremely level.
On your vertical supports on the inside of the frame, there should be several 2x4's that extend all the way from the top to the floor. This transfers load from the tank to the floor itself and takes some weight off the horizontal frame work.

Also for whatever its worth, I chose to use stainless steel construction screws and also liquid nails glued all my connections. You could park a truck on my stand... literally
I excessively over-built mine but thats just how I am.

I have never heard of liquid nails, but they sound pretty cool . I guess at the end of the day i can't really have too large of a stand considering it is just sitting in the corner of my room anyways. My biggest concern originally was the weight, of both my stand capacity, and flooring.. But I think I should be fine with both, my floor has withstood a water bed so the tank shouldn't really be too problematic itself.

Did you happen to have a diagram of what your stand was built following? I counted around 20 planks. I am thinking about just basically trying to figure out the dimensions, and then from there just going to my local hardware store and have them cut all the planks for me. I have the tools at my house if need be, just as I said I rather the ease of someone cutting them rather than worrying my cuts are not even/ un-straight. Does your tank have those cut outs for the plumbing? Now that I just scrolled back up I realized they existed.. my next question was if your stand top has a plank or something across of it. I guess this will be really an interesting experience considering my tank is already filled and I hope to be able to just lift it onto the new stand.
Now that I bring that up... Will that be a problem itself? Say my new stand is a little higher than what I currently have... I am thinking about removing all the rocks and a decent amount of water and attempt to lift the tank itself.. Is that a bad idea?

 

[Bluefish9]

I think you will struggle trying to lift a 65 with contents in it. Empty, no prob.

 

[Bluefish9]

I wouldn't have the store cut your pieces honestly. If you have a decent miter saw you're good to go. If not, Im sure you can prob rent one from a HD or tool supply store.

As far as how much lumber you need, each stud is 8' so just add up all your pieces and divide by 92". ALWAYS purchase 15% overage. If you need 8 studs, buy 11.

 

[Be102]

I think you will struggle trying to lift a 65 with contents in it. Empty, no prob.

By saying empty, what exactly do you mean? I am thinking about removing the water easily 75% if not more. Along with almost all the rocks.. (some have worms ands stuff, will that be a problem at all whilst they are in a bucket waiting?) I guess I just am a little overwhelmed with the thought of taking everything out of my tank and re-adding it considering I have never done it before.. and whenever I have to do some aquascaping its worse than pulling teeth . I have such an awkward selection of rocks and some are not as the same shape and size and they aren't really connected by anything other than luck lol.

I do have a miter saw, and would not really have any problems probably cutting the planks after doing it once or twice. Is there a reason why to not have them done somewhere? Will they be off that badly?

 

[Bluefish9]

They just dont usually cut as carefully. As little as an 1/8" could cause a crack in the tank.

As for weight, 25% water remaining is 16 gallons which = 134lbs plus whatever rock, plus the tank itself.

 

[Be102]

They just dont usually cut as carefully. As little as an 1/8" could cause a crack in the tank.

As for weight, 25% water remaining is 16 gallons which = 134lbs plus whatever rock, plus the tank itself.

The thought of 1/8th of an inch causing a crack begins to worry me.. Is there some sort of calculator I can use to figure out the sizing I will need for everything? It seems that almost all guides tend to have very different instructions from glues to the actual setup's themselves. Like I would hope I would be able to build a stand out of some wood .. but who knows.

 

[HeadStrongGrafx]

Looks great!! Similar to mine

 

[jsker]

Great stands. One suggestion is if you are going to use glue, use titebond outdoor glue, or polyseal. Liguid nails tends to fail over time

 

[singleshot]

The thought of 1/8th of an inch causing a crack begins to worry me.. Is there some sort of calculator I can use to figure out the sizing I will need for everything? It seems that almost all guides tend to have very different instructions from glues to the actual setup's themselves. Like I would hope I would be able to build a stand out of some wood .. but who knows.

I got this off google which was from reef central. I just copied and pasted, hope this helps.


a template for a relatively simple DIY stand design. This design is a compilation of several designs into one place and includes the calculations needed to generate a cut list for any custom design.



The basic principle of the design is two box frames connected by four legs. The upper one supports the tank and transfers the load to the legs. The legs are made of several pieces of 2X4 to assist in construction and sheething the stand in plywood for strength and cosmetics. The bottom frame transmits the load of the tank into the floor.

Design notes:
*The plan for this stand consists of 21 pieces. Like color pieces are the same length and of the same board size.
*The box frames are screwed together first, then the legs are built off the bottom frame, the top frame is then placed on top and secured to the legs.
*The green pieces are screw strips. These provide limited load strength but serve to make assembly easier and help keep the stand square.
*The blue piece between the upper rails (red) works to keep the upper rails from twisting.

Ok, now to the cut list:
First off: The calculations below are based off of a stand that is "W" inches wide X "D" inches front-to-back X "H" inches high.

(2) Red - Upper Rails: Length = W
These will be sized according to length: 2X4 for 48" or less for smaller tanks (Rule of thumb is 75g-90g); 2X6 up to 72" with 125g-150g being acceptable; For longer spans and larger tanks 2X8s are recommended.

(2) Yellow - Upper Ends: Length = D-3"
Theses will be made of the same material as the upper rails.

(4) Green - Screw Strips: Length = H-2"
These 2X4s are shorter then the tank is tall.

(8) Purple - Uprights: Length varies:
- 2X4 Upper Rails: Length = H -7"
- 2X6 Upper Rails: Length = H-9"
- 2X8 Upper Rails: Length = H-10.75"
These 2X4s support the weight of the tank. The ones on the short sides of the stand provide a flat surface for attaching a plywood facing and while they do provide some strength, they are optional.

(2) Orange - Bottom Rails: Length = W
These 2X4s act to spread the weight of the tank over a larger area.

(3) Blue - Bottom Ends: Length = D-3"

Covering the sides of the stand with plywood will help to stiffen the stand against twisting and shifting. Doors can be mounted to the legs as desired.

So there it is. 21 pieces in 6 lenghts equals a tank stand that should fit the bill for most people. There are other plans out there but this is a simple design using simple tools and common wood sizes. It may not suit everyone's application but it should fit the bill for most common size tanks.

 

[Bluefish9]

Yep. Thats a good start

 

[Be102]

I got this off google which was from reef central. I just copied and pasted, hope this helps.


a template for a relatively simple DIY stand design. This design is a compilation of several designs into one place and includes the calculations needed to generate a cut list for any custom design.



The basic principle of the design is two box frames connected by four legs. The upper one supports the tank and transfers the load to the legs. The legs are made of several pieces of 2X4 to assist in construction and sheething the stand in plywood for strength and cosmetics. The bottom frame transmits the load of the tank into the floor.

Design notes:
*The plan for this stand consists of 21 pieces. Like color pieces are the same length and of the same board size.
*The box frames are screwed together first, then the legs are built off the bottom frame, the top frame is then placed on top and secured to the legs.
*The green pieces are screw strips. These provide limited load strength but serve to make assembly easier and help keep the stand square.
*The blue piece between the upper rails (red) works to keep the upper rails from twisting.

Ok, now to the cut list:
First off: The calculations below are based off of a stand that is "W" inches wide X "D" inches front-to-back X "H" inches high.

(2) Red - Upper Rails: Length = W
These will be sized according to length: 2X4 for 48" or less for smaller tanks (Rule of thumb is 75g-90g); 2X6 up to 72" with 125g-150g being acceptable; For longer spans and larger tanks 2X8s are recommended.

(2) Yellow - Upper Ends: Length = D-3"
Theses will be made of the same material as the upper rails.

(4) Green - Screw Strips: Length = H-2"
These 2X4s are shorter then the tank is tall.

(8) Purple - Uprights: Length varies:
- 2X4 Upper Rails: Length = H -7"
- 2X6 Upper Rails: Length = H-9"
- 2X8 Upper Rails: Length = H-10.75"
These 2X4s support the weight of the tank. The ones on the short sides of the stand provide a flat surface for attaching a plywood facing and while they do provide some strength, they are optional.

(2) Orange - Bottom Rails: Length = W
These 2X4s act to spread the weight of the tank over a larger area.

(3) Blue - Bottom Ends: Length = D-3"

Covering the sides of the stand with plywood will help to stiffen the stand against twisting and shifting. Doors can be mounted to the legs as desired.

So there it is. 21 pieces in 6 lenghts equals a tank stand that should fit the bill for most people. There are other plans out there but this is a simple design using simple tools and common wood sizes. It may not suit everyone's application but it should fit the bill for most common size tanks.

Great, thanks for this I will check it out.

 

[JerSaint]

Good choice on going with the 40b for a sump. No such thing as too much water volume. Plus you will gain a lot of space should you choose to employee additional filtration, reactors or even a larger skimmer when you upgrade etc.

As for the stand, I have a 150 tall on a 2x4 stand that I skinned in eastern red cedar planks. Its really not to difficult except that your cuts need to be true and everything needs to be extremely level.
On your vertical supports on the inside of the frame, there should be several 2x4's that extend all the way from the top to the floor. This transfers load from the tank to the floor itself and takes some weight off the horizontal frame work.

Also for whatever its worth, I chose to use stainless steel construction screws and also liquid nails glued all my connections. You could park a truck on my stand... literally
I excessively over-built mine but thats just how I am.

Amazing Setup you have there!! Do you have a build thread?

 

[Be102]

I am thinking about making my stand about 30 inches high, with a 2 2x6 going across the top for some extra support Sorry if this is confusing to anyone.. just trying to figure out what I will need for sizing. I guess its really kind of difficult doing this unless someone has an exact size build. I guess this is somewhat a rough idea of a sketch so far..? Sorry for marking your picture up @Bluefish9

 

[JoshH]

are those measurements what you are looking to do with your stand? And the reason you shouldn't have someone cut the pieces for you is if you do it at Lowes or HD they only go to within 1/8" of accuracy of your dimensions. and as stated above if that happens and is not fixed odds are you're looking at a really quick way of draining your tank

 

[JoshH]

Looking at your measurements you also need to take into account finished cut sizes. A 2x4 is actually 1.5"x3.5", 2x8 is actually 1.5"x 7 1/4" as an example so you have to take that into account as well

 

[Be102]

are those measurements what you are looking to do with your stand? And the reason you shouldn't have someone cut the pieces for you is if you do it at Lowes or HD they only go to within 1/8" of accuracy of your dimensions. and as stated above if that happens and is not fixed odds are you're looking at a really quick way of draining your tank

I dont really mean to sound naive, but where exactly on the wood would those dimensions cause the problems? are you saying overall for example if one of my legs was 1/8 in shorter? OR in general? But yeah honestly I am only sure with the following dimensions.

48 length, 24 width, 30 height would be nice I think.. Thats what I have currently for my 65 gallon. Do you think that 30 inches as a height would allow me to have access to the 40b along with a skimmer? I was looking and they seem to be around 22-27 inches high i think.

 

[Be102]

Looking at your measurements you also need to take into account finished cut sizes. A 2x4 is actually 1.5"x3.5", 2x8 is actually 1.5"x 7 1/4" as an example so you have to take that into account as well

See, Quite honestly I didn't even know about this. Thanks for that. Do the other numbers look somewhat correct at least? I read on some thread that there is a calculator out there that helps figure out dimensions and stuff but I can't seem to find it.

 

[JoshH]

Lumber Dimensions
2x4s are not actually 2 inches by 4 inches. When the board is first rough sawn from the log, it is a true 2x4, but the drying process and planing of the board reduce it to the finished 1.5x3.5 size. Here are the common sizes of lumber, and their actual sizes.

Nominal Actual Actual - Metric
1" x 2" 3/4" x 1-1/2" 19 x 38 mm
1" x 3" 3/4" x 2-1/2" 19 x 64 mm
1" x 4" 3/4" x 3-1/2" 19 x 89 mm
1" x 5" 3/4" x 4-1/2" 19 x 114 mm
1" x 6" 3/4" x 5-1/2" 19 x 140 mm
1" x 7" 3/4" x 6-1/4" 19 x 159 mm
1" x 8" 3/4" x 7-1/4" 19 x 184 mm
1" x 10" 3/4" x 9-1/4" 19 x 235 mm
1" x 12" 3/4" x 11-1/4" 19 x 286 mm
1-1/4" x 4" 1" x 3-1/2" 25 x 89 mm
1-1/4" x 6" 1" x 5-1/2" 25 x 140 mm
1-1/4" x 8" 1" x 7-1/4" 25 x 184 mm
1-1/4" x 10" 1" x 9-1/4" 25 x 235 mm
1-1/4" x 12" 1" x 11-1/4" 25 x 286 mm
1-1/2" x 4" 1-1/4" x 3-1/2" 32 x 89 mm
1-1/2" x 6" 1-1/4" x 5-1/2" 32 x 140 mm
1-1/2" x 8" 1-1/4" x 7-1/4" 32 x 184 mm
1-1/2" x 10" 1-1/4" x 9-1/4" 32 x 235 mm
1-1/2" x 12" 1-1/4" x 11-1/4" 32 x 286 mm
2" x 2" 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" 38 x 38 mm
2" x 4" 1-1/2" x 3-1/2" 38 x 89 mm
2" x 6" 1-1/2" x 5-1/2" 38 x 140 mm
2" x 8" 1-1/2" x 7-1/4" 38 x 184 mm
2" x 10" 1-1/2" x 9-1/4" 38 x 235 mm
2" x 12" 1-1/2" x 11-1/4" 38 x 286 mm
3" x 6" 2-1/2" x 5-1/2" 64 x 140 mm
4" x 4" 3-1/2" x 3-1/2" 89 x 89 mm
4" x 6" 3-1/2" x 5-1/2" 89 x 140 mm

A lovely chart for your future reference