Stand Design

[Goibot]

I am thinking of doing a 3' square tank but am having problems getting the height correct. I need to be able to reach everywhere inside the tank from my wheelchair. This means keeping the top below 50". But I need to get the stand tall enough to hold the sump/skimmer and anything else.

If I do the stand with a 8" cabinate behind the tank and run the skimmer and any other tall components in it does this cause any problem?

Thanks,
Tracy

 

[sperry]

That wouldn't be a problem. Do you mean still have the sump under the tank with just enough of it sticking out of the cabinet to put the tall stuff in or have the entire sump behind the cabinet? I think the latter would be easier to deal with and you could use a larger sump. Not sure about the aesthetics of it but something like this might work.

 

[Goibot]

More like this:

 

[alkamar]

Did you use sketchup to do that? Just curious.

 

[Goibot]

Google Sketchup - yes I did. Pretty easy to use.

 

[alkamar]

Sorry for the distraction. I use it as well. I did a layout for a timber swingset for the kids. Cool tool.

 

[Cabin3tGuy]

a wheelchair accessible stand sounds like an interesting project ... you should make the whole cabinet cantilevered with a hydraulic canopy lid .... how deep would the tank be??? any deeper than 24" would make it very hard to fit an in-sump skimmer anywhere in the lower cabinet and still be able to access it with a height restriction of 50" ...... typical cabinet height is 32"-34" and most in-sump skimmers that I've seen are 16" or larger so I think that you're project will be more about clever sump design and not so much about the stand height since you wont have much room anywhere underneath ... the 8" space behind sounds like enough room for controllers, power strips, etc. but it may not really be large enough for equipment

I just set up a 2'x2'x2' cube myself and I'm loving it ... if you need more help pm me

 

[Goibot]

Cantilevered would be cool but I don't think my carpentry skills are quite up to the task. I don't plan on using any kind of canopy - instead use light fixture(s) with T5 lighting and an open top design.

The drawing I did above is to scale and I based it off the new Perfecto tanks that Richard was talking about - 150gal 36x36x27 tall. I just wanted to see if this was possible using that tank.

If I have it figured out right I think it will be doable too. The stand base height would come up to 23". this would give me 6" on top and 2" on the bottom of the base for framing and sheeting and give a door access of 15" tall.

For the sump, this design would hold a 40gal Long 36x18x13 Tall. And would allow for skimmer and other in sump tall equipment to go up the back. Would probably do half of the back part in an top off tank - I saw some rubbermade 4gal containers that I think would fit. That should leave me with half the bottom part open that I could use for the electronics.

Do you see any other problems?

Thanks for you offer of help - I might need some when it comes time.
Tracy

 

[Goibot]

Sorry I thought of a few more questions:
1. Is 40gal a big enough sump for a 150gal tank?

2. I do want a fuge as well - How wide would the compartments need to be for the skimmer area, return and fuge area?

3. Not enough room in the stand for a closed loop system so how would you do the wave flow in the tank?

Thanks for the help,
Tracy