Fitting Sump into stand

[ambaratur]

I am designing my DIY stand for a 125 gal RR AGA (72x18x22) and just can not seem to figure out how to fit a 40 gal long (48x13x16) sump into the stand such that it can be removed if necessary down the road.

Is there some trick I am missing? I have seen lots of threads of people who build their sump into their stand - but I want to try to avoid locking it in place. Meaning - I want to be able to remove the sump if necessary in the future without taking the whole aquarium apart to do it.

Because of the 6' tank it needs a center brace in the stand - this brace makes it impossible for me to fit a 4' tank under it unfortunately. I have even looked at putting a door on the end of the stand but it can not have the 13" clearance that would be required to slide the sump in.

Any advice? Or am I just stuck with a sump that can not be removed.

Thanks,
Amb

[michaelm2431]

Make it a 3 door. 1ft 6in door on each end with 3 ft. door in middle. That will carry the weight if useing double 2x6's for you're header. You can get you're 4ft. tank thru the 3ft. opening.

[Fast Fred]

Just a thought...

How about (2) 20g tanks, drilled on the ends, and coupled together with large diameter bulkheads and unions?

[kevensquint]

If your principal support is at the corners and in the middle of the stand. Could'nt you make it so you could remove a panel at the end of the stand to slide the sump in or out?

[Avast Marine]

I like fastfred's Idea. You got to divide it any way. Consider your sump layout and see if it's possible. I do think it you used a 4x6 for your top framing header it would carry 1000+ lb. without a center brace just fine. You could add a brace 1' from each end just to be sure and then it would be mre than enough for sure.

[ambaratur]

Thanks for the ideas.

I would like to avoid a split sump if at all possible - but I will keep that in mind.

I also have figured out with that if I have a 3' opening in the middle of the stand I can wiggle the 48" sump into place according to my scale drawings.

If my opening is only 36" that should be fine with just 1 2x6 cross beam right? That is no more of a span than having a single support brace in the middle of a 6' long stand right?

[michaelm2431]

I used 2 2x4's instead of 1 2x6. 1 at 2 ft. and 1 at 4 ft. That gave me 2 more inches in head height , so I could have better options later.

[michaelm2431]

You can cheat a few inches here and there on the opening size, to make sure you have enough room to slide it in, since the header will be carrying most of the load.

[festus]

The idea of making the stand deep enough that you could remove the end panel and just slide it in is a good one.