RDA's 17.1 Nano: Sumped

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

Hello Chaps!

Goodness it has been a wild few weeks. I feel like I am tearing my whole office space apart (haha probably because I am). Upon "cleaning shop" I figured it was time to have a little upgrade to my reef life.

I'll be replacing my beloved Lifegard Aquatics 4.1 AIO with a larger 17.1 rimless Lifegard Aquatics tank (keeping my allegiance to the brand haha). Given this tank is not an AIO by design I will be adding an overflow and a sump to cover filtration. 

 

As I was looking through various equipment brands and types I started to realized that none of products available on the market really tickled my fancy. Just ask my wife, I can be a pretty particular guy at times and when it comes to spending mad cash on reef tank equipment I get pretty disappointed pretty fast at what's available (It's nothing against any company or product).

 

SO.

 

The idea for this build is going to be "high tech" including a display sump and custom stand. In fact, almost everything besides the tank is going to be DIY 🎉 From LEDs to an aquarium controller, automation is the name, DIY is the game 🤓 As one might expect, this isn't going to be exactly a plug and play system and time will be taken on designing and setting everything up, haha I still have a couple months of coding, soldering, and CAD work in front of me, but in the end I think it will be totally worth it and I'm really excited to see some of these ideas come to fruition. I have to admit, though, some things might not work out and I'll have to scrap them. I am only a man and not some aquarium wizard. So as long as our expectations are realistic, let's get to work! 🙌

 

Equipment:

 

Tank: Lifegard Aquatics 17.1 gallon

Everything Else: DIY

 

 

Stocking:

Coral: TBD

 

Fish: TBD

 

Inverts: TBD

 

 

As of right now the tank itself is still in the mail (it's been sitting at the UPS hub near my home for a week now, ugh!) They seem to be pretty packed with a flood of shipping demands and having worked for UPS in a past life I can understand that they are trying their best to get caught up, so I suppose I will wait for the time being. I did however go and get started on the stand. I usually like to make my aquarium stands out of cheaper 2x4s and what not, but decided to make a somewhat more decent and presentable stand this time around. I went and grabbed a 4'x8' sheet of 3/4" hardwood plywood from the homedepot (getting it home with a car was insane haha!) and then proceeded to chop it up to it's final dimensions. I'll be using a jig and dowels to slap it all together and then finishing it off with some screws in key places and giving it a good matt white paint job. Having a display sump I'll be using acrylic to make two clear doors that will be fitted onto the stand. I also will need to 3D print some venting so it won't get too muggy in the sump area. I suppose all of that will keep me busy until my tank comes (if it ever does lol). I'll try to get some photos up when it's done.

Anyways, more to come!

 

Thanks for stopping by and happy reefing!

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

A quick update on the stand.

 

Got it all put together and it went pretty smoothly! I always have a hiccup or two when building stands (not exactly square, etc.), but looks like it's all in ship shape 🙏

 

Next step is paint and installing all of the vents/cable management and we'll then be on to sump design and plumbing.

 

Also the aquarium is suppose to be here today too so I have my hands full of draining and moving tanks and all of that good stuff

 

Pardon the mess, ha, need to clean this all up before my wife gets home, but here's an idea of the stand (dimensions are 37.5"H x 24"W x 12"D) It's tall but I like it 😁

 

I also moved my RODI system from underneath the sink to over by the loo. It makes it so much easier to change out filters/actually use. Still need to tidy up some tubing and what not, but it doesn't look TOO bad lurking behind the toilet, right? (I'll try to find some glow in the dark googly eyes to put on it just for those late night bathroom runs my wife takes 😂)

 

 

 

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

Finished painting the stand (haha just in time before it started raining!) I have a lot of 3D printing to do for all the vents and cable management, but that will give me some time to think about how I am going to build the sump. 

 

Also the tank came and it is darn well near flawless! Except......one........thing.......

I actually stared at the tank for some time and thought to myself, "something is off here, but I don't know what....?" Then I saw it. Pretty neat to have a backwards logo etched into the glass. I think this one is part of a limited run so I consider myself lucky 🍀😂

 

I have a ton of stuff to finish so maybe here in a week or two I'll have an update for you all.

 

Happy reefing friends 🙏