I only have one fan blowing out of my stand and some vents at the back. If I could redo it I would have a fan on each side.

I wouldn't use that green wood. Just regular 2x4s and plywood (I used some nice pine from HD), and slap some paint on. I didn't put too much on, just enough to seal it up a little bit.

And I almost forgot - I would totally have put something inside to hold spilt water. I've probably lost 20 gallons of water on the floor in the past few months, having a 4" high tray in there would have saved me a lot of headaches. If your tank is on carpet and/or in an area where you would care if you had water on the floor (ie. living room, bedroom, rental property), do not skip this. I am seriously regretting it.

Exactly what I thinking. The tank is going to be in a carpet area, and in a area, where I do not want water on the floor (duh who does?). Thats why I was thinking about the idea of putting in the arcylic on the bottom and sides of the stand (sealing it with silicon). If I end up using 4x2" for the inside support, I would probably have about 4" to work with at the bottom, which would be a pretty good I think to hold a decent amount of water, incase of a spill.

I've thought of some more questions.

The stand itself is going to be made to blend into some other cabinet's that I've got in the same room (ikea billy). They are about 12" in depth, and so my stand will probably stick out about an extra 2-5" more. That shouldn't be my problem, but I'm wondering, about the plumbing. Should I have it go behind the tank or the side? The reason i'm wondering, is because that will add to my depth of another 1-2" more. -OR- do I really need such big tubing used for the plumbing, since its only a 40g tank, w/ 20g sump. Maybe I can getaway with some smaller tubing such as 1/2-3/4"?

I think your return pipe only needs to be as large as the output on your pump, I think 3/4" is about minimum. You can run it whereever you want, really. I would do your overflow a bit larger in case it plugs up, and also because it only has gravity to move it and therefore may not be as high of a velocity as the return pump. I have a Mag12 return, 1" return pipes and a 2" overflow pipe.

I also have a pine Billy and designed my stand to blend in with my room, which is all pine.

http://quinn.rdcpsych.org/fish/stand...015%2004/1.jpg

Makes sense. I guess I'll worry about the return pipe, once I get my pump. What is recommended for my 38g? I was thinking about a Mag 250.

I'm working on a new design for my overflow. I found a way to design one, and IN the case that it plugs up, the water will run back into the tank. I haven't seen anything like it before, but we'll see if it works out.

Btw, what size is your tank?

It depends on what you want your pump to do. Do you just want it to return your water from your sump or do you want it to provide your "turbulent" current in your tank. If the first then the Mag 3 would be great, if you want to use it to move your water alot more then I'd go with the Mag 5 or larger. Remember, just a couple of 90degree elbows will really reduce your water flow, and of course, head pressure will as well.

Doug

metal stands
 

being a metal worker i would prefer a metal stand due to the room you save 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 square tubing is lots smaller than 2 x 4's. plus the strength is way better. also if you got the bucks powder coating (any color) will last almost forever which is better than any water resistant stain for wood. oh yes and magnetic wood panels love to stick to metal stands.

Re: metal stands
 

I was thinking about doing that for the internal frame. The shop next to mine does welding, and a mighty good job of it too.

so I decided that instead of making the stand built for my 36"x12" that I would design one for a 48"x13".

2 reasons for this.

I would like to eventually upgrade down the road to a tank that is at least 48" in width (so I can actually get one tang!).

Also because I like the size of a 55g, and that would fit perfect on a 48" long stand. It saves me from building a awesome 36" stand, then having to rebuild another one down the road. Also for the area its going in, a 48" would fit perfect as well.

I guess the only thing is that I need to reinforce it much better, since the 36" won't be sitting on all the edges.

My question is, does anyone here have a 55g tank that is 48x13? I believe all-glass makes one. I'm just wondering what the EXACT dimensions are for the bottom of the tank, where the plastic mold is.

48x12x24tall is a 77, it's only a couple bucks more for that than the 55 if I'm not mistaken. I built a stand using 2x6 for my 77 and it was great. I built it 49x13 because the tanks are actually 1/2 inch longer and wider than the measurment when you look at the trim.

Doug

Good info. Yeah I noticed on my 36" that the trim is about 1/2 longer, so I'll make it that much bigger. The 55 is 48x13x20, so if the 77 comes from the extra 4" and if its worth it to get the extra height, I may do that. Only thing is that my stand is going to be around 40" in height.