In my constant quest to improve on the setup I was planning a desk/stand setup for the tank and sump and while looking at ideas several setups popped up about DIY aluminum extrusion stands and it got me to thinking. I used tinkercad to design a rough idea and I like that it adds flexibility and easy customization compared to a wooden stand. I know several local club members have aluminum extruder stands and I see that they are being offered with higher end setups now but I was looking for input on the design I created this morning.
I am looking to use 3030 bar and I was going to try and do a "floating" shelf for my planned 10 gallon display refugium tank and I wasn't sure if that would be strong enough with the 3030? I had thought about using 80/20 as it is significantly stronger but triple the cost of 3030!
Here is a quick sketch I made of the set up I was thinking of doing that involved the 80/20 to hold up the 10 gallon tank. I found some free .stl files for the 3030, 2020 and 80/20 pieces so I was able to create it pretty easily. It's not perfect by any means (seams don't 100% match up) but I wanted to get a rough design so I could figure out how much I would need to try and get a rough cost. It appears like it would be a little under $500 for the aluminum pieces, angle brackets and various connecting pieces but does not include paneling.
Orange containers top shelfs would be phytoplankton "display" cultures and orange ones under the desk would be the copepod cultures. Display tank is on the right with sump underneath. 10 gallon tank would be elevated and the 5.5 gallon ATO reservoir is bottom left and I would plan to make that section into drawers/storage area and customize it even more for storage of various tank related things.
I did try and create two shelfs for my two FDM 3D printers but I don't have enough space and think it would detract from the aesthetics but with the flexibility of the aluminum extruders I could add them on in the future!
I am looking to use 3030 bar and I was going to try and do a "floating" shelf for my planned 10 gallon display refugium tank and I wasn't sure if that would be strong enough with the 3030? I had thought about using 80/20 as it is significantly stronger but triple the cost of 3030!
Here is a quick sketch I made of the set up I was thinking of doing that involved the 80/20 to hold up the 10 gallon tank. I found some free .stl files for the 3030, 2020 and 80/20 pieces so I was able to create it pretty easily. It's not perfect by any means (seams don't 100% match up) but I wanted to get a rough design so I could figure out how much I would need to try and get a rough cost. It appears like it would be a little under $500 for the aluminum pieces, angle brackets and various connecting pieces but does not include paneling.
Orange containers top shelfs would be phytoplankton "display" cultures and orange ones under the desk would be the copepod cultures. Display tank is on the right with sump underneath. 10 gallon tank would be elevated and the 5.5 gallon ATO reservoir is bottom left and I would plan to make that section into drawers/storage area and customize it even more for storage of various tank related things.
I did try and create two shelfs for my two FDM 3D printers but I don't have enough space and think it would detract from the aesthetics but with the flexibility of the aluminum extruders I could add them on in the future!
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