"Well if other people can do it then so can I". That's exactly what I thought when I was looking round for stands, and came to the conclusion, that if I wanted a stand that can hold a sump, then there was no way I was going to be able to get one cheaply. Unfortunately all the flat pack stands you get here in the UK are of lets just say 'questionable' quality when it comes to supporting 3/4 of a tonne of water. The designers also seem to be stuck in the dark ages when it doesn't take an Einstein to realize that I need somewhere to keep all that extra equipment out of sight, i.e. in a sump. Good quality stands with a decent finish, and adequate internal space are expensive to the degree that they can easily become your most expensive outlay, so being of moderate wealth I considered the possibility of building my own. Now bare in mind, that at 33 its been along time since I did any woodwork, (my last effort was a pencil case at school) 'god help me' !

Now for anybody wishing to do the same, I would always give the following advice, And to prevent your living room carpet floating out your front door on the first fill-up then I would strongly advise that its adhere to.

These are.

1. Get several sheets of paper and a pen.

2. Make out a full list of all the equipment you are going to be housing from sump, to skimmers, Ca reactors, Kalkwasser stirrers, electronic equipment, and electrical outlets / block connectors etc etc, even test kits.

3. Work out how much room you need to house all that equipment based on the dimensions of your tank size as a guide for the footprint of your proposed stand.

4. Don't forget to work out the height of your equipment and how this will influence the stand itself in terms of access to skimmer cup removal etc.

5. Sit down and start drawing.

6. Don't forget that most doors in Uk houses a only a smidgen over 24" wide so you need to think about whether the stand should be collapsible or not.

A good place to start is with a ground plan, this is a scale drawing of the foot print of all your equipment, drawn to scale and inserted within the confines of the tanks foot print. For most setups this will include the sump itself, the skimmer, any Ca reactors etc, and return pumps. in some cases these items may be stored within the confines of the sump itself, however in my case I wanted to keep them separate and out of the water for ease of maintenance and the fact that cramming loads of pumps into the sump can add to the heating problem already apparent when using MH lighting. In all cases I would recommend incorporating into the design, a separate compartment to house all the electrical equipment to keep it away from the condensation of the sump itself. In my case I decided to split my available space into two sections. The sump compartment and the pump / electrical bay. I therefore ended up with a floor plan as follows. (note this is only a rough plan with no dimensions as yet).

The next thing to think about was the building materials, and how they would effect the overall dimensions when taking into account legs, and internal bracing etc. Its important to remember when looking at your choice of materials that water weighs allot, especially 140 odd gallons of it. So don't scrimp, and try and get away with 2x2 timber when you really need 3x2. If anything I would say go 'UP' one size from what you think you need, so that you 'know' its good enough and  not 'hope' its good enough. Basically a cabinet consists of a frame covered in our chosen finish. (the covering and panelling ill get to later) This frame consists of the top and bottom sections and legs to hold it all together. With the amount of weight that this frame has to withstand, its important to take into consideration that as we increase the weight then we need to use sturdier material As a guide here are a few sizes to go along with, in relation to tank size. These sizes are based on rigidity over length, and are all in inches although the nearest equivalent in mm is usually available.

For tanks over 8ft long or 3ft wide (front to back) I strongly advise going to a block and RSJ construction. For my new 400 gall tank stand. Click here.

All materials should ideally be smooth finished or planed. This makes for better joins, and also makes marking out a simpler and more accurate exercise. The timber should also be dry (well cured) which is essential to prevent bowing or contraction as it dries out which will pull the whole assembly out of true. I will run through the construction of the above list with a few tips I've picked up on the way to help as well. but before I start, here are the tools that I used. Pencil, Pen, Squares (1 small engineers, and one large carpenters), A good medium toothed wood saw, PVA (waterproof) wood glue, A B&D cordless multi drill consisting of drill / screwdriver, sander, jigsaw (brilliant tool, thanks to Emma for that one) . and a good assortment of wood screws from 1/2" up to 4" all cross head. a B&D work mate, and a good tape measure, oh yes, and 'allot' of space.

Top and Bottom panels.

I decided early on that I wanted the outer panelling to go slightly up the outside of the tank base to cover the polystyrene matt, and to cover the bottom 1" of the tank itself for a more aesthetic appearance. To that end it was simple case of making both panels the same size as the tank base, although after measuring the tank itself which should have been 72x24 it became clear that my tank was a 'Friday afternoon job' and wasn't exactly square 'or to size for that matter', so in the end I had to add on about 1/8th all round to keep the base as square as possible to soak up the tanks slightly skew-whiff dimensions. To that end I would always recommend having the base very slightly wider than the tank itself so that its not too tight. I opted to use 1" MDF for the base and top, which gives very good support and rigidity, whilst being easy to saw and work with. This stuff is quite heavy though so don't expect a light weight stand when were talking 72x24 dimensions. The other thing to remember about MDF is that it soaks up water and swells so its important to treat the stand with a waterproof varnish or the like after assembly to protect it. So in the end I've ended up with two panels, both 72 1/8th x 24 1/8th. in 1" MDF.

Top and bottom frame rails.

The frame rails provide support for the top and bottom panels, and also for the legs as well. to provide strength against twisting etc, its important that they are laid out in a fashion that prevents vertical bowing i.e. 'if we are using 4x2, the 4" dimension should be facing you when looking at the front of the stand with the 2" dimension visible from above'. This effectively prevents the centre of the top panel from bowing downwards under its own weight or the weight of the tank. and prevents the bottom panel from bowing if on a slightly uneven floor. The rails themselves are arranged to fit inside the outer dimensions of the top and bottom panels using a butt joint at each corner which is screwed and glued. The brace in the drawing below is where the partition will be for the pump/electrical bay and is screwed and glued again. In any case I would always recommend having at least 1 or 2 braces in the top frame to give rigidity against twist, much the same as the rungs on a ladder. The top and bottom panels are then drilled at at 6" intervals all the way round, 1" in from the outer edge, and countersunk to keep the screw heads below the surface. These are then screwed to the frame rails which puts the centre of each screw exactly in the centre of the 2" of the rails all round. The end result is effectively two trays that are incredibly strong against twist or warping.

This picture was taken after I had made the top and bottom frames, attached them to the panels (note screws in the top panel) and had supported them up on the legs, this was to double check the internal dimensions for the sump and pump / electrical bay prior to fitting the partition braces, and to make sure there was enough space for the skimmer etc. (lucky I checked this,,,,note below) After fitting the bottom partition brace, the inner joints between panel and rails was sealed with wood glue all round to be painted later on. This creates a waterproof drip tray that holds water in the event of a leak.

Legs.

I have to admit that at this stage I made a slight cock-up of things which in the end turned out to be a god send. At the original outset I had full intentions of keeping the stand to below 32" in height. But due to the fact that when cutting the legs I forgot to take into account the thickness of the top and bottom panels, the stand actually ended up being 34" high...The bonus to this was that due to an error in measuring the height of the Deltec AP850 skimmer I am using, I very nearly ended up without enough space to get the cup off the top of the skimmer once in its final position. due to the error with the legs, this was avoided and the whole thing fits together quite nicely although you have to be on tip toes to get your hand to the bottom of the tank without using a stool...........never mind its a small price to pay, for the sake of neatness (and a 'big' skimmer). The whole set up puts the top of the tank at a height of approximately 5ft.

The legs themselves are made of 3x3, and it was very important to get the ends dead square as this is where all the weight is taken, this also ensures that when assembled the whole cabinet sits square. The legs sit 'inside the frame rails and are attached via 6 x 5" screws, 3 from each of the two outer sides, with a liberal covering of wood glue on all the joining faces. Although this does reduce the internal dimensions of the bottom tray slightly I considered that was a small price to pay in relation to the gains in overall stability and strength. The fact that my sump is only 48 x 12 wide made this an acceptable compromise rather than cutting the legs about to get them to overlap the tops of the frame rails. The end result was that I jumped up on top of the stand once the glue had set and the screws were all in place, rocked backwards and forwards as hard as I could in a surfing action and it never even creaked let alone moved. ( mind you though my neighbour thought I'd gone potty when she looked through my widow to see some mad idiot indoor surfing on wooden frame, 'oh well')

After putting the top and bottom fames together on the legs it was time to sort out the partition. with this in mind I had to take into account holes etc for skimmer returns and wiring etc. suffice to say that this panel is simply cut to match the dimensions i.e. the inside height' and the outside width of the cabinet, with cut outs on the corners to fit over the frame rails. Matching the width to the outer dimensions of the cabinet ensures that when the outer panelling is fitted, it sits up against the edge of the partition and looks nice and neat. the partition is simply screwed to the top and bottom partition braces. In front of the sump I have also built a 6" wide shelf that runs along the entire inside length which is where the Ca reactor and Co2 bottle will sit on the left hand side, and all my test kits and bits and bobs can go on the right.

Outer panelling.

There is a myth that you can't obtain panelling covered in anything other than the shiny cheap nasty laminate you get an a B&Q flat pack cupboard. well after enquiring at Jewson's I found that this was not really the case. In fact you can get 8x4 sheet ply, in just about any real wood veneer you can think of, and at a reasonable price as well. I opted for light beech, and I have to admit that its a gorgeous finish, just in need of a very light sanding and application of a waterproof clear stain to protect it. I got 2 8x4 sheets at a cost of £25 each. which did all the outer faces plus the doors as well. After toying with the idea of allowing access to get the sump out, I decided that baring a major catastrophe, then once it was in, there was no need to worry about it, I decided to make the right hand end panel removable just in case so that the sump can be slid out especially for transporting the setup to the new house. The front panels themselves are in 3 sections. The reason behind this, is that for some reason the grain on the full size panel always runs downwards along the length, this meant that it was impossible to do the front panel in one piece without having the grain running the wrong way, so 3 sections it was. I decided on a three door setup, which I think works very well, with the joins between the panels covering a vertical brace made of 3x2 to support the centre of the tank at the front and the rear. In an effort to protect the outer woodwork, I have made the panels removable so that they don't get scratched and dented when moving the unit. the photos below show the finished cabinet, minus the bottom skirt, and top beading prior to clear staining.

The total cost of all the materials used in the making of this stand was under £100 so it just goes to prove you can have a custom built stand, with a nice finish at an affordable price, if your willing to take the plunge. I had allot of fun on this project and wouldn't hesitate to do it again..............Have fun.