DIY Stand Height

[fmjnax]

Hello all! First time poster, long time lurker! I've been cruising these boards for quite a while now. The time has come for me to start working my way up to "Monster" status. I currently only have a couple 29 gallon tanks and I'm going up to a ~65 gallon (I know, not Monster status, but I'm getting there). While the tank is being assembled for me, I get to tackle the stand.

My question is this: Is there any sort of "rule" to follow when determining how tall to build the stand? My tank dimensions are 48Lx18Wx17H. I see that 30" is used in a lot of plans. I think I built my 29 gallon stands at 36" (can't confirm until I get home from work). What would you recommend as a good height?

 

[CichlidAddict]

Whatever height you want to make it. Just make sure it will be stable. Since your tank is 18" wide I'd make the stand at least 20" wide so you have some room to play with.
I don't see a problem with going 36" tall if you want to.

 

[fmjnax]

Whatever height you want to make it. Just make sure it will be stable. Since your tank is 18" wide I'd make the stand at least 20" wide so you have some room to play with.
I don't see a problem with going 36" tall if you want to.

Thanks for your reply!

Your just raised another question regarding the "play room". Again, on my other stands, I built them with an extra 1/2" of space on all 4 sides. For this stand, I was thinking of making it exactly 48"x18" and using some molding. I would imagine having the 1/2" of room with the molding would still look decent enough, but is there really a good reason to have it?

 

[big train]

I am a big guy so i made my stands at 40" tall so when iam sitting i can see the bottom as well as the top of the water line and having that half inch of wiggle room is a good thing imo.lol

 

[Tongue33]

MY stand on the outside meaures 40.5 But the bottom of the tank is at the 36" mark

 

[WyldFya]

For me, as a rule of thumb, I set it so that the top of the aquarium when on the stand will be 4'6"-5' tall.

 

[prophets]

Shouldn't the height of the tank itself play a major role in the overall height of the stand?

If a stand is the "norm" 30" high and the tank itself is only 18-20" high, IMO it looks kinda small, but with a 36" stand it seems bigger. Maybe its all just symmetry but hey if you want it to look good to others it's got to look good in your own eyes.

 

[Guinness]

Just make sure you can comfortably reach over the top for the gravel vac and maintenance. The top of my tank is at 6' and the ceiling is 7'. Using a gravel vac is almost impossible. Thank god for mts. I also don't have any wiggle room.
Guinness

 

[fmjnax]

Thus far, I've designed the stand to be roughly 1" larger on all sides. I also chose a height that would put the top of the tank at 4.5' (which is a 37" height). I'm taking a similar approach that I took when I built my 29 gallon stands, with the exception of the middle support, in which they don't exist on my current stands. I'm also planning on creating cabinet space within the stand, which is another thing my current stands lack.

I've attached a [low-res] model of the base structure that I quickly threw together. Is this sufficient for a 65 gallon tank? The stand will be skinned and topped with plywood, though I'm still not sure on what thickness.

Thanks!

 

[fmjnax]

You guys all make good points. I do want this to look good for others, since it will be in my living room. I have two young kids (5 and 3) whom I also want to be able to enjoy the view. I'm not a short guy either (6'3") so working in the tank should be too bad at 4.5'. I'm thinking that I've got a good height chosen, but only time will tell.