Stand question

[Saltwatercoral2]

I am trying to make a stand for my new tank- will be a 36" x 24" x 17" tall rimless external overflow- With that said, I want to make the stand big enough to huose a 40 gallon breeder sump.. Any help on insuring me how to do this and make sure the stand will still support the display tank?

The sump MUST go in the stand,

 

[sleepydoc]

Just a very rough sketch to show framing, but you would have to do something like this. 24" is wider than I'd be comfortable with not having any support in the middle, hence the 3rd beam.

If you do something like this, you absolutely need to ensure that the 3 beams are coplanar and there are no high/low points.

Is a smaller sump an option?

 

[Saltwatercoral2]

Just a very rough sketch to show framing, but you would have to do something like this. 24" is wider than I'd be comfortable with not having any support in the middle, hence the 3rd beam.

If you do something like this, you absolutely need to ensure that the 3 beams are coplanar and there are no high/low points.

Is a smaller sump an option?

Thank you for that.

A smaller sump is an option. I was trying to find a 30 gallon tank that was 36" long but only 12" wide, but no luck.. I do have a 29 gallon tank I can use as the sump.

 

[sleepydoc]

It's the length that causes the problem, not the width. The 40b is about 17" wide, narrower than your display, but if both the display and the sump are 36" long, there's no way to fit the sump under the tank without either cantilevering or putting the legs at an angle.

Another issue with the 40b sump is that it will likely be difficult to get under the tank unless you make the stand significantly longer.