I would have to agree with Patrick. A shelf around the outside of the tank is very handy when doing maintenance or feeding. Nice to have a surface to sit stuff down on whil you are working on the tank.
There is also a guy on <unmentionable place> that has a 500 gallon tank and a metal stand similar to yours, but had a granite top cut for it that as a little extra surface area. He is having a cabinet maker make wood panels / doors to cover up the metal frame and area under the tank. Looks pretty sweet so far. A little pricey though.
