# Creating a New Stand



## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

I hate my current stand. It has no doors for one. Secondly, it has two vertical supports one third of the way from each size. That means I have a small sump that I can barely fit my equipment in. Also, it's made of particle board, saw dust and glue! That's obviously a dumb choice for a material to be used as a support for a half ton a salt water tank! It's also too short; I can't see the top five inches of my tank!

I could go on and on, but I don't want to bore you with its inadequacies. Long story short, I want a new stand. Sadly, I'm a bit strapped for cash. Well, that's not entirely true. My mom thinks the tank is too expensive and doesn't want me to spend any more money on the tank for a while. (I hate her and love her at eh same time!) Basically, instead of buying a $200 mediocre stand that won't fit all of my needs, I've decided I'm going to build my own for under $100.

Here is what I'm going to try to incorporate.

1. Must elevate the tank to a level where I can see all of the water but still have easy access while using a stool.

2. Must have enough room for dry good storage, a large (40 gallon +) sump, and a large (15 gallon +) refugium.

3. Must look stylish.

4. Must have adequate room for upgrades. (chiller, PVC for new plumbing, calcium reactor, phosphate reactor, etc.) 

5. Must be ventilated to prevent excessive heat.

6. Must have easy access to the entirety of the stand. 

7. Must showcase the tank itself and not distract from it.

8. Must have room for ATO system (20 + gallons)

9. Must have room for easy water change (extra bucket(s) must fit within stand under PVC/soft pipe for easy water removal; must have clearance to dump fresh SW into sump) 

10. Must (appear to) be connected to hood.


Which brings me to the hood. The requirements are:

1. Must fit new lighting system. (12 + inches of bay area)

2. Must fit glass light/fan protector.

3. Must have partial easy access to top of tank for feedings.

4. Must be completely removable for extreme tank cleaning.

5. Must have complete easy access for sand vacuuming, frag removal, aquascaping, etc. (Must be able to swing upwards and out of the way.)


I'll be designing with the student edition of Autodesk Inventor. I should have a concrete design by the end of the week. One of the cool things with the software is that you can apply a load onto an object and see if it will be strong enough to hold it. That means no stress when I move the tank.

If anyone has any ideas for my design or has any other objectives that they think are important, please, do tell. I'd rather have features that I don't need than need features that I don't have.

Thanks!


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

Just getting on the new post list... Do do do...


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

There are lots of thread in the DIY here, on monsterfishkeepers.com and on youtube. I like the construction that has 2 tank-sized rectangles separated by 4" x 4" uprights in the corners. 

Flat or glossy black will recede and put the focus on the tank. Buy good screws. Plastic coated to go in easy. Star drive with the bit in the box. 

http://www.lowes.com/pd_323960-1278...ews&pl=1&currentURL=/pl__0__s?Ntt=deck+screws


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

That's what I was planning on doing, a dark even coat of black paint. Easy peasy!


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## Mr. fish (Mar 8, 2011)

Sounds like you got alot of needs for this stand, interested to see how it turns out.


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

I just finished my preliminary design of the stand itself. Everything is to scale and I could build it now, but I want to tweak it a bit and improve. Right now the doors are fully removable. They are basically over-sized pegs that fit into the holes in the stand. They then all fit together making it look like there are no doors at all!

Enough chit-chat. Here are some screen shots!


Isometric View











Stand Isometric Top Right











Stand Isometric Back Right











Stand Isometric Top Left











The doors are on the two visible faces.











Any questions? Do I need to show you more pictures? Any recommendations?


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

No one has anything to say?


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## Mr. fish (Mar 8, 2011)

I dont know if its just me, but, I can't even see the pics bro

Try imageshack.us


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

Hmm... Maybe only I can see them. Okay, I'll try converting them later.


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

Anyways, I had time today, so I sketched up a new stand design. (Frame only right now...)

What do you all think?



Stand Frame












Dimensioned Stand Frame












Stress Test












The stress test isn't an actual representation of the way the stand will hold the pressure, merely where the most pressure and displacement will occur. The actual displacement values are along the color scale on the left; I'm very happy with the results.

Any ideas on how to improve?


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

That looks good!


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

Thank you! With the help of a few other people, I may be able to remove the vertical center brace...


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