Hey guys, been doing some searching for a few days and finally broke down just to make a post. I recently replaced my 55 gallon with a 75 gallon for the extra width and was planning to buy a new canister filter for it. Looking at prices and reviews on all of them, I went to ask my mom what she thought(she's bigger into fish than I am). She referred me to a cheap canister but added on that I might as well do a sump to save money and get better filtration. Soooooo, after more reading I decided to do a trial run at building a sump for my 75 gallon, before I build one for my 240 gallon(it's been neglected for a while, and the arowana and clown knife aren't happy with me). I know the sump for the 75 gallon may be over kill, but it's more a trial to see the do's and don'ts for my 240 gallon.
With that being said, the 75 gallon is sitting on a few night stands for the time being, but they're not adequate to house a sump underneath, which leads me to the diy of building a stand for the 75 gallon. Now looking into making a stand wasn't too hard, however I can't come up with a good plan to follow to allow a 12" wide sump to sit underneath of it and allow decent access to it.
The 75 gallon is your typical 48x18x21. I planned on using 2x4's to build it, however doing the math I found that if I did make the stand 20" wide, using 2x4's for bracing on the corners, I'd be down 8", leaving a 12" clearance for the sump underneath, which I assume probably won't be enough. *Note* I planned on making some kind of removable panel on the side to slid the sump in and out if needed.
I also thought of using 2x2's to build the tank but I'm concerned with how strong the stand would be.
Basically I'm just looking for ideas of how to make a sturdy stand to hold my 75 gallon while still being able to get 13-14" of room underneath for the sump to slip in and out of.
Things to consider:
-I'm trying to keep it a small budget. I won't even panel/stain the stand yet, just get the frame up and put the tank on it for now.
-Looking to use a 30x12x19ish tank for my sump. Open to suggestions about the size.
-will probably complete it with a wooden canopy.
Sorry if this post was a mess!
With that being said, the 75 gallon is sitting on a few night stands for the time being, but they're not adequate to house a sump underneath, which leads me to the diy of building a stand for the 75 gallon. Now looking into making a stand wasn't too hard, however I can't come up with a good plan to follow to allow a 12" wide sump to sit underneath of it and allow decent access to it.
The 75 gallon is your typical 48x18x21. I planned on using 2x4's to build it, however doing the math I found that if I did make the stand 20" wide, using 2x4's for bracing on the corners, I'd be down 8", leaving a 12" clearance for the sump underneath, which I assume probably won't be enough. *Note* I planned on making some kind of removable panel on the side to slid the sump in and out if needed.
I also thought of using 2x2's to build the tank but I'm concerned with how strong the stand would be.
Basically I'm just looking for ideas of how to make a sturdy stand to hold my 75 gallon while still being able to get 13-14" of room underneath for the sump to slip in and out of.
Things to consider:
-I'm trying to keep it a small budget. I won't even panel/stain the stand yet, just get the frame up and put the tank on it for now.
-Looking to use a 30x12x19ish tank for my sump. Open to suggestions about the size.
-will probably complete it with a wooden canopy.
Sorry if this post was a mess!
