Hey Joey!!! In my search for stand designs, I have came across many, and I'm still running into stuff...just like in this thread!!! Thanks Bobby for the link!!!
The first question you want to ask yourself, or at least the first question I asked myself, was how big do I want to go. Since water weighs roughly 8 lbs per gallon, and most people put 1.5-2 lbs of LR per gallon of water in a tank, you have to keep in mind while building the stand that you will be putting a alot of weight on the stand, even if you go with a 30ish gallon...you'll be looking at a total of around 300 pounds, 500 pounds if you go with a 50 gallon, and around a half a ton for a 75. With this in mind there are several things you should consider.
Firstly, will your floor support the weight. If you have the slightest doubts about it, add in some extra joists. Obviously if your home is built on a concrete slab, you won't have alot to worry about here.
The second thing I thought about was weight dispersal. If you build a stand, and only have four posts touching the floor, you're looking at alot of pounds per square inch being put on the contact points, which seems to me to be hazardous for your tank, your home, and yourself. This creates a situation which could possibly lead to the posts punching through your floor creating disaster!!!!
Thirdly, I considered using a metal frame wrapped in wood for a stand. Then I started to think about all the things that could go wrong there. Most importantly, is rust and corrosion. Sure you could use stainless steel, but that might be kinda pricey, and the whole point of DIY for me is to come out with a product which is much higher in quality and smaller in price than something I could buy. Also, considering the rust factor, what happens if a weld happens to rust, and then possibly break???
DISASTER!!!! To me the way to go with the frame is WOOD!!!!
The last thing I really thought about, was the overall design, effectiveness, effeiciency & quality of the stand itself. If I picked a design that would limit room under the tank, I knew I would kick myself when all was said and done. I wanted to make sure to have plenty of room for a sump w/ a fuge, and plenty of room for my fat arms, and storage. I also wanted the stand to look as slick, polished and professional as possible. And sometimes you really have to sort through alot of junk to find something like that. That leads me to a couple of links.
The first one is for a 75 gallon stand. It is a
very well built stand, but it didn't have the exact look I was going for. I have used this plan as inspiration for the frame of the stand I will be building, but since I will be setting up a 29 gallon, the dimensions of the frame will obviously have to be altered. The second link is of a
very slick, well planned, convenient stand for a 20 gallon, but it didn't have as sturdy of a frame as I'd like. It will be used as inspiration for the overall design of the stand I'm planning to build.
Here are the links:
75 Gallon Aquarium Stand
Reef Central Online Community - Ultimate 20G Setup Journal - Pic Intense
All in all, to build a stand you'll be happy with you have to figure out what you want as far as your tank is concerned, determine the possibilities of all problems that could arise with your original stand design, find plans that meet your requirements, and then modifiy those plans to acheive the exact end result you are looking for. I hope this helps you out buddy, and remember to
HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think it's great that you and your father will be doing this together, I know you will look back on the experience for the rest of your life, and smile. I wish you the best of luck, and take it easy!!!!
