Steel stand help

[vandy]

Asked this over in my build thread but I think I would get more help and traction on the DIY forum.

I am conflicted on where I should place my ATO and refugium underneath my stand. For reference, the stand is 48x24” and 36” tall. I have an eShopps RS300, Reef Octopus 150SSS skimmer, and Klir-7 fleece roller for the bulk of the equipment going underneath. Since the eShopps RS300 sump has built in gravity fed ATO float valve, I wanted to have a 10 gal ATO reservoir somewhere to top it off, but I'm not attracted to having it external to the stand. A shelf would more than suffice to hold the ATO, but I don't know if it's too cramped having it in the stand or not, with still leaving enough room to run and route all the plumping and electronics.

Side perk of having the ATO on a shelf would to plumb in an external refugium under it. ATO is on top right, with the refugium underneath.

I know the RS300 comes with a built in refugium, but I'd like to move the skimmer into that compartment to keep the water levels consistent.

Circle and rectangle above the "Sump" (on the left) is the Klir-7 and skimmer with their respective heights above the skimmer.

Current progress of the stand. Would love to hear your guy’s opinions!

 

[fishyjoes]

I have a much smaller setup (20 gallon display and 10 gallon sump) but I have my gravity fed top off exactly as you show it in your diagram and I think it works well.
I keep all my plugs and stuff outside the stand, to the side and above the display so I don't have to worry about water getting into any power sockets. That setup probably doesn't work for everybody though.

 

[vandy]

I have a much smaller setup (20 gallon display and 10 gallon sump) but I have my gravity fed top off exactly as you show it in your diagram and I think it works well.
I keep all my plugs and stuff outside the stand, to the side and above the display so I don't have to worry about water getting into any power sockets. That setup probably doesn't work for everybody though.

Do you have a pic by chance? I could always move the electronics outside I just don’t know how I’d make that look good. Maybe a stand-alone stand? I’m not the biggest fan of wall controllers imho but I just haven’t seen a ton. Could be convinced

 

[Bret]

I built a similar stand with a shelf for my chiller. Don't see why you couldn't put your ATO there. For another suggestion, can you put your ATO somewhere remote (another room, garage, etc.) and just run a line to the tank to free up stand space?