20 long safe stand height

will0wtr33 · May 21, 2018

Hello!
I'm upgrading from a small nano tank to....well...a slightly larger nano tank!
I'm building my stand based on the "rocket engineer" stand design. The footprint is going to be 31.5"x13.5".
How tall can I go (safely) with my stand?
I was thinking 36" at first, but now I'm leaning more towards 32" or 30".
I know there are tons of DIY stand height threads, but they all seem to be for larger tanks which can be built a little taller due to a larger footprint.
Thanks for reading!

davocean · May 21, 2018

I usually advise 36" as the minimum just so you can easily get gear in there, so figure your skimmer raised up to the level it needs to be in sump, give a couple/few inches for removing cup.
Also keep in mind what sump needs to fit below, and this all of course is if you are even doing a sump, if so the 13.5 is pretty tight.
If no sump, could go shorter.
I probably would not go over 36" and this also depends on area you live, and surface it's going on, something like carpet will be a little more prone to tipping compared to a hard surface.

will0wtr33 · May 21, 2018

davocean said:
I usually advise 36" as the minimum just so you can easily get gear in there, so figure your skimmer raised up to the level it needs to be in sump, give a couple/few inches for removing cup.
Also keep in mind what sump needs to fit below, and this all of course is if you are even doing a sump, if so the 13.5 is pretty tight.
If no sump, could go shorter.
I probably would not go over 36" and this also depends on area you live, and surface it's going on, something like carpet will be a little more prone to tipping compared to a hard surface.

No sump. Low tech build with two aquaclear HOB filters. One to run mechanical filtration, carbon, and rock rubble, the other converted into a refugium with a lower flow. Two 240gph powerheads, one on each side.
Its basically the same setup I run in my 10 now, but with another powerhead and HOB filter.
I do two 10% changes a week. Seems to work for mostly softies and a few LPS.
It'll be on cement in a basement. My only concern is it being too tall, too top heavy, and tipping forward or backward.