???Extruded aluminum for aquarium stands???

MartinsReef

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#1
Has anyone ever built an aquarium stand using extruded aluminum? Can it be done?

This is for a 100 gallon cube.

Thanks
Martin
 

High Plains Reefer

Bat Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
Platinum Sponsor
#2
depends on the material I saw a build where the guy did a whole wall L shaped double drop off tank with extruded aluminum I think he may have even used it to help support the glass seams too I'm not sure it all depends on the weight rating of the aluminum
 

MartinsReef

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#3
I am thinking of using the stuff from 8020. I see it being used for all different load bearing uses and I believe I thought that's what brs used on one of their builds.
I will post the link when I can find it.
 

FishTV

Sting ray
M.A.S.C Club Member
#6
I will use 8020 for my next stand. The brackets, and connectors are kinda pricey, but super easy to skin, and use. 8020 also has a ebay site, and sell a lot of scratch and blem. Shipping can be expensive on longer pieces, and hard to tell if they combine shipping from the discription, but might be worth a phone call...
 

halmus

Registered Users
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#7
I've used a the 8020 eBay site quite a few times. I was very happy with the products. If you're using it for a larger tank (the 100g you're talking about) you should take into consideration that there is flex (deflection) of the material depending on the distributed load and the span. There are a bunch of fancy formulas you can use to calculate deflection but it can get a little complicated. So, if I was you, I would overbuild it. I wouldn't rely on the 1" stock for the cross-members especially if you're trying to bridge a large gap. (Just my opinion because I hate the idea of a tank popping)

The last thing you want to have is sag in the stand and busted seems in the tank.
 

MartinsReef

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#8
FishTV;323000 said:
I will use 8020 for my next stand. The brackets, and connectors are kinda pricey, but super easy to skin, and use. 8020 also has a ebay site, and sell a lot of scratch and blem. Shipping can be expensive on longer pieces, and hard to tell if they combine shipping from the discription, but might be worth a phone call...
I found their ebay site and it's not to bad. I am going to go this way. That means I can actually get this build back going.
 

MartinsReef

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#9
halmus;323003 said:
I've used a the 8020 eBay site quite a few times. I was very happy with the products. If you're using it for a larger tank (the 100g you're talking about) you should take into consideration that there is flex (deflection) of the material depending on the distributed load and the span. There are a bunch of fancy formulas you can use to calculate deflection but it can get a little complicated. So, if I was you, I would overbuild it. I wouldn't rely on the 1" stock for the cross-members especially if you're trying to bridge a large gap. (Just my opinion because I hate the idea of a tank popping)

The last thing you want to have is sag in the stand and busted seems in the tank.
I think it should be fine with a foot print of 30x30 inches.
 

Highway66

Butterfly Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#11
There is a store in Denver, Fierro Fluid Power that stocks a lot of the pieces. Always cheaper to order but nice to see the parts in person when your building a Frankenstein.

Here is my basement sump setup, if I remember right I used the 15 series smooth 80/20
View attachment 20779
 

MartinsReef

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#12
Highway66;323023 said:
There is a store in Denver, Fierro Fluid Power that stocks a lot of the pieces. Always cheaper to order but nice to see the parts in person when your building a Frankenstein.

Here is my basement sump setup, if I remember right I used the 15 series smooth 80/20
View attachment 20779
What did it cost up to build that stand?
 

Highway66

Butterfly Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#13
Like most things it started out reasonable, then i needed this part and i needed that part and that added up fast. Probably over $700. Its cool stuff but its not cheap.
 
Top