I stained the stand with a very dark stain, almost black. I've used the stain on my other stands but it doesn't really match anything else. I am happy with how the stand came out, I could have sanded it more for a better finish but I just got tired of sanding. The stand is easily strong enough to hold my tank. I did meet my design goal of two people being able to carry the stand. It probably weighs in at about 180 but I didn't put it on a scale. Ya I know some people can't believe 180 lbs of wood can hold 4000 lbs of tank and water. My real limitation isn't the stand but my floors. I don't have concrete floors but regular wood sub floors. The floors flex around a lot but the stand is like a solid block of wood. That is one of the reasons I didn't want to use a sump on this tank. Having a 125 or 150 gallon sump under the tank would have really been at the limit of what my floors could have taken especially if I ever had the sump full of water. For filters I am using 2 Rena XP4s and a Lifeguard 900 fluidized bed sand filter that is powered by a small Eheim pump. I also drip about 50 gallons a day in the tank. So far its been OK. The tank is cycled and ammonia and nitrites are 0 but I don't really trust it. I will probably use some type of Pond filter in the future. But I really was at my limit on what I could spend on the whole setup.
1. tank cost 1700
2. stand cost 400
3. two Xp4 filters 270
4. ehiem pump 50
5. drip system 30
Total 2450
I was trying to keep it under $2500
Two of my theory's of life are "the more something cost, the less fun it is" The other is from a Dirty Harry movie "A man has got to know his limitations" I was definitely at the limits what I could spend and what my floors could take.
