RDA’s Reef: Vintage to Modern

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

Every now and then I’ll come across an old aquarium. Sometimes at goodwill or a pawn shop. Sometimes on an online classifieds site. Sometimes at a yard sales in the summer. Most are battered, cracked rims, chipped glass, beaten down with years of use and often neglect. They almost always come with hardened sand or neon gravel still in the tank; the remnant wafts of old aquarium water still held within. The glass is always fogged with hard water stains and you can always spot what was once a reef tank by the crusted salt still around the rim; rusted out cabinet hardware to boot. 
 

I’ve always wondered what those tanks looked like in their glory days. Maybe a thriving planted tank? A subpar attempt at a reef? Judging by the plastic plants in some, probably neither of those…  Most aquariums you’ll see at these places are just your average box. Rimmed tanks that need to go to make room for something else in a home. If you’re lucky you might even see oak trim on one. But every once in a while you’ll come across something unique. An oddball. Sure it might not be rare, but it’s a spectacle to look at.
 

My local shop was cleaning up from their past week’s Black Friday sales. And it seemed like a lazy day for them. As I perused, I wandered into their back room —they have…a lot of things back there— something caught my eye. A worn out ViaAqua tank sitting on a very salt encrusted stand. For years now I have been looking for a project tank. An older tank that I could refresh and put some new life into. I know I know, every tank is a project. And especially in my case those projects seem to never fully come to fruition . But under the layers of salt, grime, and dog hair, it was something with potential. An arm and a leg later and the store manager was helping me load it into my Subaru truck (hey now, the state title says it’s a truck so that’s what I’m going with). Holding my breath, I feared of passing out from the fumes that lurked from the still wet sand bed. We hoisted it up into the back of my *truck* and went back for the stand. Thinking to myself if there is a chemical on this planet earth that could help me clean the muck off of the tank then maybe, just maybe, I’d get my money's worth out of this beast from the back room. I brushed off the salty, greasy, dog hair caked stand remnants from off my shirt, thanked the owner, and drove home, not realizing that the Mrs. was about to be blindsided with what was coming home with me…

 

All that to say….

 

Welcome to RDA’s Vintage to Modern Build!
 

The point of all of this is to create a modern looking reef display with a retro feel using some old school style equipment. I have my work cut out for me as there is a lot this tank needs, but in the end it’s just a fun project to work on the weekends to help keep me sane 🤪

 

THE GOOD: From what I can gather, the tank itself is a ViaAqua LV 680w. Roughly 20” long, 17” wide, and 24” tall, it’s about 24 gallons. The tank seems to be a decent condition, no cracks or chips or anything like that. It came with its original stand, although it has been painted white and is very used, it’s still pretty sturdy.
 

THE UGLY: The back of the tank was drilled, but the holes for the overflow are awkwardly off center. Also the overflow box itself is lathered with so much silicone it makes even my dog feel uncomfortable. The sump is just a plastic tote (classy) that will now act as a trash receptacle for all the sand and crap that will come out of the tank itself. The plumbing is….well….not good. Barbed fittings with rusted out hose clamps adorn the back of the tank.
 

 

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE: The stand, although sturdy, has seen better days. I’ll be stripping it down. Sanding off the grossness and refinishing it with a higher quality white paint and matching hardware. The tank will be thoroughly cleaned and then will be taken apart and resealed. I’ll be replacing the back glass as the plan is to drill the bottom of the tank for plumbing instead of having the overflow hanging off the back, along with installing a white overflow box. I’ll also be refinishing the trim of the tank in white (you seeing a theme here yet? 😉) That just leaves making a custom hood and a color matched sump. For equipment, I would like to go with a Metal Halide hybrid fixture (probably a 250w Reefbrite with either their LED bars or maybe a pair of AI Blades) other things on the list is a return pump of some sort, wave makers, heater, ATO, etc. I do want to get a Hydros controller to manage everything for this tank. 

 

I don’t expect this build to happen overnight, quite the opposite in fact, but I thought it would be fun to take you all along for the ride😁 I’ll also *probably* be make a companion video series for your watching enjoyment.

 

More to come! 
 

Equipment:

Display: ViaAqua LV 680W

Stand: Stock ViaAqua stand

Lighting: Reefbrite 150w Metal Halide
Sump: Fiji Cube 12

Roller Mat: Klir DI-4 v2

Protein Skimmer: Aquavitro Division 125 

Media Reactor: TBD

Calcium Reactor: TBD

Refugium: Custom

Return: AI Axis 90

Flow: 2x AI Nero 3

Heater: 150w Cobalt NeoGlass

Controller: TBD

 

 

Livestock:

TBD

 

 

packed up and ready to go surprise the Mrs. 😅

 

the smell from this thing is something else 🤢

 

interesting plumbing 🤔

 

probably the best sump like, ever dude.

 

again. the smell 😭

[DNR88]

I can almost smell that through my phone! 😂Good luck with cleaning first..

[Justind823]

This is cool! I like the dimensions on the display tank actually. One of my nanos rocked a plastic tote sump, don't knock it before you try it! Haha 

 

How long was that tank sitting like that?? 🥴

 

I'll be following along for this!

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

5 hours ago, DNR88 said:

I can almost smell that through my phone! 😂Good luck with cleaning first..

I am currently cleaning it. It got so bad that I took a break and got on here lol. 

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

@Justind823 Thanks! The tank seems larger than what it leads on to be, which I like. Haha maybe I'll keep the tote sump then 😉

 

I believe it's been a few months. There are some gooey snails in there so it's really peaking my appetite! 

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

An update on how things are going.

Cleaning this thing is proving to be a chore. Since I'll be dismantling the tank and replacing the back glass, I have to make sure the glass is spotless, especially around the edges, for a good seal. I've been debating whether or not to keep the original trim on this tank. It's in rough shape. I'm leaning on de-riming the tank, or rather leaving it off as I have to take it off anyways to fix the seams. As far as the stand goes it's SO crusty. Warm water and a washcloth is getting most of it off, but I'll finish the job with an orbital sander and 220 grit paper. I'll be hitting it up with some primer and a final coat in white. Also I'm searching for some replacement hardware for the doors as they're so rusted out it barely functions. 

 

Now for the fun stuff. I've order a few things in preparation for getting this tank wet. A FijiCube 12 Sump (this is my first tank with a true sump so I'm excited). A few other things are coming, but I think I'm most excited for the 150w reefbrite metal halide. I got it in the mail the other day and I'm really looking forward to firing it up for the first time. I opted out of the getting the LEDs with it as I want to go with some AI Blades. I'm so happy with them on my UNS 30A that I wanted to try them with this build. Although I'll need to make some custom fixtures to attach them with.

 

There is still so much to do but it's starting to take shape. Some pictures will be coming so this thread doesn't turn into just a novel.