Height of tank stand

[Something Fishy]

Now that we are building a new tank stand. We need to know what is the average hieght of your tank(s).

I am thinking 32 inches high. Just high enough not to be looking down on the tank just low enough to be comfortable sitting and watching.

Building will begin tomorrow night. We went and looked around town and got some ideas on building one. Most of the ones we looked at didn't look near sturdy enough. All of them looked to be made of 1/2" to 1/4" particle board. We are looking at useing mostly 2x4's for the base and supports.

Thanks for your input. I am VERY glad I found this site.

Thanks again everyone.
Rusty

 

[Maxx]

Rusty,
My tank stand is about 28 inches high. This puts the top of my tank at about 49 inches (a little over 4 feet). I like that height because I can easily reach down into the tank w/o needing to contort/overreach etc...
Nick

 

[reefrunner]

Standard height for manufacturers stands is 30"

 

[Witfull]

as Nick/max said i like it to be ata comfortable height to reach into. the taller the tank the lower the stand. when i gewt my 265g i think the stand will be about 26" in height

 

[Pro_builder]

I have mine set at 36" tall, that way I have lots of room for Sump Goodies. It makes it a lil tall to just reach in and grab something from the sand bed, but I also look right into the center of the tank when I am watching TV.

 

[NaH2O]

Ours is 36 inches tall. We needed height for the skimmer, which is 30 inches tall.

 

[fidojoe]

My stand is 31" tall, it is made out of oak plywood, its is sturdy, but the down side to it is that there is a center divider inside, which is very limiting on sump size, I can fit anything with the same footprint as a 10 gallon, or another 2" deeper, but no wider, so the max is really a custom 20"wx20"hx12"d, with room to work on the top. I could drain the tank and frame it, but it would probably be too stressful on the inhabitants, and me for that matter. Basically what I'm trying to say, is do it right, and how you want it, cause its a huge PITA if you decide on something else once the tank is up.

 

[Playa]

Rusty my stand is 36" high and my Canopy is 13" high.

If you plan to build your own stand and canopy, make sure you take your time looking to as many options as possible before you start sawing wood.

Luis

 

[BoomerD]

Measure twice, cut once!
A fellow I know built the stand for his 120 (48x24x24) 42" high. Made for excellent viewing, gave him TONS of room underneath, but made maintenance a PITA. If I remember right, his canopy wa 12 or 14" high.

 

[Brucey]

Yeah, i think the imprtant thing is that the top of your tank is below the height of your shoulder, so you can get those arms in without a chair, and the stand needs to high enough for the highest peice of equipment, which is normally the skimmer. Check out my gallery, but I took this to extreme and have about 1/2" to spare ..... but it works well and looks great
Brucey

 

[addict]

My stand is 40" tall (DIY).
Like BoomerD said, it gives you lots of room underneath, but to do anything in the tank requires a footstool.

The nice thing about having a 40" tall stand, is the tank is at eye level when standing, so you get more of a 'picture on the wall' effect than a 'tank on a stand' effect... it's quite pleasing, aside from the aforementioned difficulties.

One drawback is you can't sit up close in a standard chair... eye level is right at the top of the stand, though it is an interesting perspective looking up into the tank rather than down. This problem can be easily solved with a barstool though.

 

[wooddood]

i also have a 120 that im currently building into the wall and i beleive mine is around 42 inches to the bottom of the tank like boomer said.going to be harder to work on but i have lots of room under neath for whatever.

 

[johnlewis]

I just put my 180 into the wall and it's set at 45" at the bottom and 72" at the top of the tank. I put it at this level so you can easily look in while playing at the pool table.

 

[Curtswearing]

Because I built my tank into the wall, I wanted it higher than most would want. I wanted to be able to see my tank over the loveseat. I haven't measured. However......

Foldable 2-step Stepstool

With a folding stepstool, I can easily get into my tank.

 

[Something Fishy]

Thanks guys!!

Got the stand all build, stain is drying. Gonna pull about 30 gallons of water out in the morning and pick the tank up and set it on the new stand. Since the aquairum is on smooth flooring we can then slide it back. Refill with the water and we should be good to go.


Thanks for all the help.
Rusty