http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1169964
The advice I am going to give here is a few things I learned when I built my stand and system. My tank is 48 X 30, anything under that size or over that size, some of this info you can use, some you don't need. Some of this info, some may say is not needed, but I say, if it really doesn't cost anymore to do when you build the system, why not.
Then you need to buy or barrow a few things:
Miter Saw: Skilled carpenters can use a skill saw really well, most of us can't. Using a Miter Saw will give you nice straight cuts that will pay off on your finished stand.
Jig Saw: You will need this to cut a few holes in a couple of places before you are finished with the stand.
Krig Jig: You don't need the high $$$$ kit here, the $35 Krig Jig and clamp is all you need here.
My first bit of advice fall's into that, some will say, this is a waste of time category. I say not, you have the paint sealant anyway, you are going to have to seal the wood at some point, why not now. Before you cut a board or take a measurement, paint every board with the sealant, at least 3 coats. My reasoning for this is: The reason for putting the sealant on the boards to start with is to prevent water penetration, not to make the stand look pretty. When you build your stand without pre sealing the boards, every place that those boards butt up against each other using the Krig Jig, you will never be able to seal when the stand is finished. If for some reason, your sump tank ever over flows, I know not likely, but if it were to happen, it has happened, water is going to soak thru those seams in the boards at the bottom of your stand and get to your floor. You can't get under your stand to get that water out after your stand is built, if those boards are sealed, your stand has some protection against the water damage that might happen if your boards weren't sealed before you started. You will have a lot of money invested in your system at some point, protect it now. Tanks don't do well on carpeted floors either, deal with that from the start.
This advice is for people like myself that don't have an equipment room like some do. I like all of my equipment under my stand if at all possible, so far it has been. If you are getting a 4' tank like I did, put it on a 6' long stand, stand in the middle, 1' over hang on either side of the tank. I know
very few will agree with this. I didn't want to have my stand finished and not be able to fit everything under it, I didn't want to hide a top Off Tank over there in that other corner and make it look like an end table, sort of thing. My 17g Top Off Tank takes up the most space under my stand, after the Sump Tank. I refill this tank about every three days, some times every other day depending on the weather. You can get a smaller Top Off tank, but if you have to fill it every day, what's the use? Get one that will do the job, the down side, it takes up space.Back in the day, 3 years ago, more or less
before LED lights, heat was a major deal with tank systems, that's not the case these days. When you build your stand, put a ply wood back on your stand, this does two things. It keeps sound down in the room that your tank is sitting in, it also prevents salt creep on your sheet rock wall behind your tank. I went to an old reefers house one day and saw his tank that had been sitting there for years in the same spot. The sheet rock wall behind his tank was ruined, there was nothing to be done about it without taking the tank down. He had also placed the tank so close to the wall that he couldn't even get a paint roller behind the tank to try and cover up the damage that had been done. Am sure his wife wasn't none to happy with what was going on in her living room. Control Panels for your system, these are best built into your stand from the get go, I have two in my stand, they were build after I had the tank up and running. They turned out all right, but I am sure I could have done a much better job had I done this when I was building my stand. When I build my stand I didn't have these control panels, I had all the controls placed here and there under the stand, was that a pain, build them from the start.
The equipment in my stand is pretty much where it needs to be now and am pretty happy with it
The last bit of advice I will give: when you paint your stand, any color will do as long as its white and install a dedicated wall outlet just for your tank.