need some ideas

[paine43]

so i'm building a new stand for my 40gallon, in which i would like to put a sump under it. as i was drawing up the plans last night i'm not going to have very much room under the tank, only about 12in wide if i put the corner braces mounted on the sides. i wanted to put a 20gallon sump under it, but the thing is 20 gallons all come in 12in wide which the center brace would be in the way of. so should i build a custom tank or my other idea was to get 2 10 gallon tanks get them drilled and set up something that way? :confused:

[3mrhythm]

you could build up and around the tank .. and make the stand deeper than the tank .. flush on the front but goes back further ...

[3mrhythm]

had some time .. something like this .. not as deep though .. this is just a rough sketch

[paine43]

well the two 10 gallons under the tanks are out anyways as both together are to long to fit.

[NateHanson]

What do you mean about corner braces and center brace getting in the way under your stand?

Space in my stand is about 14" x30" under my 65g, with a center brace on the front and back (between the doors), but I fit a 15g (12x24) by placing it through the top of the stand before placing the tank on. Not sure if that's the problem your having though.

For what it's worth, I don't think a 40g (that's 3 feet right?) needs a center support in the middle of the front and back horizontal beam. If you make those beams beefy enough (especially if you use a real wood like poplar instead of HD 2x4s) then they'll have no problem giving you an open front without a vertical support in the way.

I'm a furniture designer, so if you want to run your plans by me, I might be able to give you some advice. Also there are a few people here who have experience building a number of tank stands, and they could probably be helpful as well.

Finally, if you decide you want to make a sump, I don't think you'd have trouble. If you have the equipment to build the stand, you probably have everything you need for a sump (especially if you have a jointer). Only problem is that materials arent' cheap.

[paine43]

ill try to get my plans up online tonight for you to check out. i don't have any equipment at my house to do this stand i have to have my brother cut it all the wood at his house then i was going to build it at mine.

[paine43]

so here are my plans any idea would help