My Homemade Stand/Sump Setup

Well this was my first attempt at woodwork since highschool! So go easy on me ;-)

All I have to do now is get the Rock and Water during the week and I will finally be all up and running.

The stand took around 3 weekends of work to build, sand, lacquer and repeat. I am really happy with how it turned out and it fits right into the room I will be setting it up in.

Cheers,
Dean

 

AWESOME WORKMANSHIP!!!!

How many litres is your tank? Once reef tanks get to a certain size, when you factor in the weight of the water and the rock, they can become quite heavy. Once that happens, tank stands usually don't have legs. All four crossbeams distribute the weight evenly. If you determine this is necessary, you wouldn't need to do anything but saw off the four legs even with the crossbeams.

 

Hi Curt,

Thanks! The tank is only a 3ft one so around 150L/50G + a 2ft sump. The original stand I got given with the tank was only 1"x2" pine which I didn't think would suffice for a reef tank. So I upgraded the legs to 3"x3" pine and cut them into the hood, so they should be able to support a baby whale!

You cant really see in the pics but I also put a small section of clear pipe on the overflow and return pipes for inspection and also to allow me to remove the top tank easily as everything is very integrated and snug. Pics below.

Cheers,
Dean

 

N I C E !!!!

Great idea on using clear PVC as a union.

 

Sweet design. I like the nice clean lines and the grain of the wood is very attractive. Smart design on the clear portion of plumbing.

 

Sweet set-up bro. Nice tank and I love the finish on the stand. I am coating the inside of mine as we speak. How many coat of poly did it take for that shine?

 

Thank! The clear union works quite well, allows to check flow and see where the blockages are without having to pull it all apart. Also adds some flexibility to the setup which allows m to position the top half without worrying about moving all the bottom half.

@Optimist: I game the outside 3 coats and the inside around 2 (just to seal it all). For the outside I sanded it, gave it one coat (took around 300ml of estapol) then sanded with medium grain paper (around 160-200 i think) then gave it another coat and sanded with fine grain (600 grade) and then another final coat. Quick tip is to rub the final coat with the back of wet/dry paper or really fine paper (like 800+ grade). This will really bring out the shine and give it a smooth finish.

I will be filling my tank in a few hours so wish me luck!

Cheers,
Dean

 

Finally got my water/sand/rock in...Water is still a little cloudy but it is getting better!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, I now need to grab a little more rock to make the left hand island and then I will be ready!

Cheers,
Dean

 

Really beautiful! looks awesome

 

no it will not work at all, start over and give this one to me to fix for you, lol, looks great nice clean stand and tank, its rimless? how much did you pay for the tank, i love it all great job!!!!!