Fuge won't fit through doors in cabinet????

I have a 12o gallon tank and have a Refugium on order to arrive this week. The problem is that the Fuge is larger than either of the three doors on the front. I must get this Refgium in because I currently have a tiny 15 Gallon cheap fuge that my skimmer barely fits in. My question is can I cutt another larger door in the SIDE of the cabinet without causing the tank to come crumbling down on me. What should I do?

 

When I installed my sump I had the same problem..I had to drain about 1/3 of the tank and slide the entire setup away from the wall and put the sump in from behind. Is the back of your cabinet open?

 

Who made the stand ? is there a vertical center brace ? I've had to remove many of them to get a larger sump or something under the tank over the yrs for friends . I would never have a stand with a center brace its a PINTA for sure I want to open both doors and have 2/3rds of my stand opened up for easy access .

 

The back of my cabinet is open but I'm scared to move it. I was thinking of cutting another door on the left side because I have plenty of space on the side to get it in. The other option would be to expand the front center door opening enough to get it in at an angle, would probably look like crap when I'm done though. I'm stressed over this. Advice is welcome.

 

Here is how mark did it on melevsreef.com

Marc's Super Sump

 

Thanks for that Metalfan, my cabinet is made different than that though. The three front door openings are 15 wide by 18 tall and my Refugium is 16 wide by 18 tall. It's like trying to get 6 gallons into a 5 gallon bucket. LOL.

 

Cant really answer your question without knowing more about your stand. What is it made out of, how is it braced, who made it, how old is it. if you put up a couple pics of the inside where you want to cut out that would help greatly.

~Will.

 

lol...I would do what others suggested then and just empty out a lot of water and slowly slide the tank and stand away from the wall until you have just enough room to make it fit. Make sure you have lots of help when you do this.

 

Agreed, If you have VERY sturdy corner and beam/rim braces, I would consider removing the center brace in the front, depending on what the center brace looks like. If it's just a "brace" in the wood for asthetic purposes then it's fair game to take out. however if it's an actual 2x4 that is going between the top and bottom rims of the stand, it would be much riskier to take it out and would likely create a weak spot in the stand there.

Take a look at the corners, if you have 2x4's in the corners, that support the top rim it would be plausible to cut another door in the side of your tank without doing too much damage to it structurally, since the corners are supporting most of the weight on the sides (assuming your stand is rectangular here).

-Hope this helps.

 

Dr. Bergeron,
I do in fact have a rectangular cabinet. I was thinking of making some extra 2x4 vertical braces to place in the corners meeting at 90 degrees and add horozontal braces on the top and bottom just above and below where my cut out measuring 16 1/2 x 18 1/2 and add another door there just in case I ever have to service the fuge. Does this sound like it will hold up?