Stand Height?

[jandb]

Hello. I picked up a 36" tall tank and didn't want it to seem too tall on the stand. I'm going to start making it next week. Do you think there's an ideal height with the tank being so tall? My sump is ~21"

 

[BMac91]

This will be mainly personal preference and what you are comfortable with. You might have to deal with a tank that looks tall, hope you have a ladder! Whatever height you ultimately decide on, add a few inches to it for fluff.
I would try to leave at least 12" of space for you to get in and work on the sump and that is at a minimum.

 

[mattison187]

I have a 110 gal in my livingroom thats on a 24" stand i made. Makes it a good hight for cleaning and viewing from the couches and chairs. Only drawback is having my canister next to it rather then underneath

 

[jandb]

I have a 110 gal in my livingroom thats on a 24" stand i made. Makes it a good hight for cleaning and viewing from the couches and chairs. Only drawback is having my canister next to it rather then underneath

Thank's my concern. It's going to be in my office so I'll be sitting down viewing it. I'd like a shorter stand but have no option for moving the sump. I've resigned to using a ladder or getting in it to do wholesale scaping. I just don't want it to look crazy tall. I'm thinking ~30"?

 

[pacu mom]

If you have 8' ceilings, the 30" stand would have your tank centered. That will only give you 9" to work in your sump. Is that enough? A tall stand would only accentuate the height of your tank--why not show it off, especially since you're going to be using a ladder anyway. But if you go taller, your access to the top of the tank is going to go down. What a problem to have

 

[esoxlucius]

The best advice i can give you when deciding on the height of your stand is to be very mindful of the clearance room underneath from top of sump tank to bottom of display tank. The smaller the gap the more awkward it is when you're messing around down there doing maintainance and checking stuff out. I like to get my head down there without coming back out full of bruises! If it means your display tank is high then like others have set, get a small set of step ladders for messing around with your hood.

 

[jandb]

All good points. I was mainly worried about aesthetics of the setup and just having enough space to do what I need to in the sump. The ceilings are 9' so I do have a little more to work with. I put a tape measure up there and 30" or so for the stand wasn't too bad. I may even shoot for something like 32" to allow a little more space underneath.

 

[pacu mom]

That would still give you 40" from the top of the tank to the ceiling. I personally like the look of a tank vertically centered between floor and ceiling. IMO, you could make that stand even higher and the esthetics will still be great. We only had 8' for our tank so went with a 24" stand. That left 24" over the top of the tank. It is enough to crawl into the tank, but we can bang our heads on the ceiling if we are not careful.

 

[NathanKS]

I like my stands to be more in the 36" high range, makes them easier to see the fish.
it'll also give you plenty of space to work in the sump and also enough space to play with the lights and feed easily on top.

I am taller (6'4) and really enjoy having a bit of extra height to everything. ( I built my house with 38" counters instead of the standard 36" for example)

 

[DN328]

With 9' ceilings I think you do have some flexibility for a taller stand and 33" would be minimum just to have room to get tobthe sump, etc.. I'd like to squeeze in even more. Aesthetically I think it would look fine.

The possible inconvenience is when you need to reach to the bottom of inside the tank. There are some things that sticking the "grabbers" wont work well. Either way you'll need a ladder or platform that allows you to stand on.