The Stand/Canopy

The stand and canopy choice can be as hard or as easy as you want to make it. You can buy a ready-made stand in the material of your choice; perhaps pine, oak, or wrought iron. Good luck finding something that matches your furniture, but you can get sort of close. When choosing a ready-made unit, make sure that if you are considering running a sump, that the stand is large enough to accommodate it, as well as some other miscellaneous equipment, like wave makers, power strips, timers, and such. As for the canopy, make sure that it can house enough of the type of lighting you desire, keep them far enough off the water, and provide good access to the tank. (See the section on lighting for more information.)

Another option is building you own stand. If you are even modestly handy with a saw, you can put together a nice stand, and make a closer match to your existing furniture than you can by ready-made. It will cost a lot less too. If you check http://www.garf.org there is a basic plan that you can modify for any tank size. If you like fiddling with stuff like that, you will most likely find it rewarding, and wind up with a better stand. Oh yeah, if you got the cash, you can pay someone else to build it for you. Before you build though, look at a lot of stands and decide what you like.

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