First off, I wanna say this is an awesome tank for anyone who wants a nano and room to scape. The dimensions are 35.4 long 8.3 high and 9.4 from front to back. I bought this tank a few years ago to be a planted aquarium. First thing I did was drill two holes to directly attach a canister filter an inline heater. For me, keeping the tank clean of equipment is a very high priority.
It has gone through many changes and this was right around the time I broke it down. A high tech planted tank is actually a lot more maintanance than a saltwater tank. I did 3 water changes a week and pruned twice a week. It eventually became too much work and I focused on my saltwater tank instead.
Fast forward a few months and I’ve got the itch to use the tank again. I was thinking just softies and a pair of clowns. I plugged the bulkheads and wanted to keep it really simple with just a heater, powerhead, power filter and the same light I had for the planted aquarium.
Filled it up and after about 2 days of looking at it of course I wanted to change it. I didn’t like seeing the equipment so I made plans to build in a compartment on the right side like a peninsula tank to hide the equipment and slide in a return pump. Also ended up getting a cheap led fixture on eBay that’s a ton brighter and a lot more blue.
It’s the first time I’ve made anything like this but it’s actually pretty easy. I used a 12x12 piece of 1/2in black acrylic to make the wall and two baffles. It cuts very easy on a table saw with a good blade. For the slits in the overflow I drilled 4 1/4in holes and then used a router to get the lines. The hardest part is finding the return nozzle assembly. I was hoping I could buy it from Innovative Marine but they don’t sell the entire package. Just the nozzle and the elbow. Not the coupling that holds the two together. I was able to find an assembly on amazon. It’s smaller than I want but it works.
I upgraded the return pump from a stock IM 30L Nuvo to a jebao 1200 DC pump and it fits perfectly.
Filled it up today and added an acclimation box with some Caulerpa and a piece of Marine Pure from my established 30 gallon.
I also put in a frag with green plays as a water quality indicator. If this thing dies I know I did something terribly wrong lol.
It’s been a really fun small build and I’ve got something very special going in there soon.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It has gone through many changes and this was right around the time I broke it down. A high tech planted tank is actually a lot more maintanance than a saltwater tank. I did 3 water changes a week and pruned twice a week. It eventually became too much work and I focused on my saltwater tank instead.
Fast forward a few months and I’ve got the itch to use the tank again. I was thinking just softies and a pair of clowns. I plugged the bulkheads and wanted to keep it really simple with just a heater, powerhead, power filter and the same light I had for the planted aquarium.
Filled it up and after about 2 days of looking at it of course I wanted to change it. I didn’t like seeing the equipment so I made plans to build in a compartment on the right side like a peninsula tank to hide the equipment and slide in a return pump. Also ended up getting a cheap led fixture on eBay that’s a ton brighter and a lot more blue.
It’s the first time I’ve made anything like this but it’s actually pretty easy. I used a 12x12 piece of 1/2in black acrylic to make the wall and two baffles. It cuts very easy on a table saw with a good blade. For the slits in the overflow I drilled 4 1/4in holes and then used a router to get the lines. The hardest part is finding the return nozzle assembly. I was hoping I could buy it from Innovative Marine but they don’t sell the entire package. Just the nozzle and the elbow. Not the coupling that holds the two together. I was able to find an assembly on amazon. It’s smaller than I want but it works.
I upgraded the return pump from a stock IM 30L Nuvo to a jebao 1200 DC pump and it fits perfectly.
Filled it up today and added an acclimation box with some Caulerpa and a piece of Marine Pure from my established 30 gallon.
I also put in a frag with green plays as a water quality indicator. If this thing dies I know I did something terribly wrong lol.
It’s been a really fun small build and I’ve got something very special going in there soon.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk