Design Thought Process
I used to have a 60L (15G) all in one nano tank, where the overflow was built into the small nano ... I'd since wanted to upgrade from it, and decided to go for a 100L (25G) build. I wanted the design of the tank to be
shallow but also had a bit of
depth. I didn't want the tank to be too tall, that way I could do
easy top-down shots, which made sense considering how puck/LED lights are designed to give the best look from the top down.
With that in mind, I drew sketches of my tank and ultimately came up with the final measurements; 70/40/38 (LBH in CM). I apologise I did not have the 3D drawing rendered, as the tank maker here in Singapore that I approached, was a nice couple who'd been in the business for some time.
From this image above, I've got 2 sketches. The sketch included one for a sump, slightly over 56cm in length, designed for 3 chambers. The lower rectangle sketch is my tank, at 70/40/38 (lil over 2ft!). From here, I also fabricated a aluminium profile that had slotted joins, and extra 45deg angled elbows to act as additional support and for a classier finish.
Tank Dimensions:
As mentioned, the tank had a
70cm*40cm*38cm arrangement. This meant that a
single light (Hydra64, Radion XR30s) that I had planned for would suffice (this turned out wrong later on!). The tank also had an external overflow that measured 24cm*12.5cm. Having a
sufficiently spaced overflow box that wasn't too deep, allowed me to reach in during maintenance! This is something new reef-keepers should consider!
Aluminium Profile:
The aluminium profile was also done-up by a local company, I used the 4040NL (40mm*40mm, Light-Medium weighted) aluminium dimension. This ensured that when I loaded the display aquarium, there wouldn't be too much effort onto the stand such that it would break. From the image, I also added 2 extra re-bars, that would act as additional support. This was
necessary for future-planning, should we want aquariums to last!
Final Design:
Jumping ahead, the
final design of the tank included some other piping and fittings, elbows, gate-valves, 90s and 45s, a few unions and gaskets. I did the plumbing myself, from the PVC parts sourced from a local LFS here in Singapore. I also added a duck-bill at the end of my return, to give extra head pressure.
To surmise, this was the final look of the tank before wetting, where I added in my scape, as well as factored in some buffer spaces between the glass. The left is my overflow box covered with a black laminate. It then goes down to my sump, before returning back to my display from the right most chamber of my sump!
Feel free to chip in on any design improvements you think I could've gone for! I'll post the wetting of the tank as well as initial year progress in due time! But until then, have a great one everyone, and here's a initial look of my tank upon setup!
