I started thinking about setting up another saltwater tank and found I didnt have any room for any more tanks. So I decided to get rid of the dreaded guppy tank and ram tank and turn them into a nano tank for softies.
I will be using a 15gal long tank for the display and a 10 gal refugium. I have already drilled the 15 gal and added an overflow that was custom built for another nano tank. I will be using the aqua-c nano skimmer in the sump and a rio 2100 pump for return. The return pump will be mounted outside the refugium tank to keep heat issues to a minimum. I will be building a custom stand and custom hood for the tank. The hood will consist of 2 24" t-5 bulbs, maybe three or four in the future. Right now I think 2 will suffice. I dont have plans to add a fan in the hood yet. We will have to see what the temp will get to running the t-5's.
I spent most of the day building the stand. I have almost completed it. I still need to add the trim to the door and caulk and paint the stand.
I also need to build the canopy. It will open from the top with the t-5's attatched to it.
Here are some pics of the cutting of the tank.

Pics of the drilling






Here are some pics of the stand in the building process.

More pics of the progress.






Here is some pics of the plumbing process.




Pics of the refugium.

This is how the tank looked last night.




And this is how it looks tonight.




My plans for this tank is mainly zoas and palys, hopefully some rics, some of my super red shrooms.
The lights will be t-5, as of right now only 2 bulbs, but I might add another later. Hopefully they will be in before my b-day.
I am also planning on adding an aqua-c nano remora skimmer, and a korallia 1 powerhead.

Very nice work.

Thanks Jarrod, also thanks for the sand, it kept me from having to go out and buy a bag.

Sweet!

Anything I can do for a fellow reefer. :D

I got the new lights in just in time on my b-day, thanks Scott &Jena for making a rush delivery on this one. As of right now the lights are 2-24wt t-5's with geismann bulbs one actinic+ and the other aquablue+. I have left room for a third if I think i need one.
Here are some shots of the tank with the new lights.

Ok, an update.
I got in the nano koralia and the Remora nano skimmer on thursday. So far I like them both. The skimmer is a well made product, it also seem fairly easy to duplicate if you know what you are doing. I stuck this guy under extrenely hot water and rinsed it out for about 15 minutes. I wanted to get as much oil out of it as possible so the break-in period would be shorter.
It started skimming within 2 hrs. It still has not broke in yet, but it is pulling stuff out. I will fiddle with it once the break in period is over to get it running at max operating level. I do have one slight complaint, right now it seems loud. It is supposed to quiet down a little after the intital break-in period, but I have already seen a diy fix to help with the noise.
Here are a couple of pics of the unit and skimmate, this is how much it has skimmed in 48 hrs.

Here are acoupls of pics of the new inhabitants.




FTS and some coral pics.

Very nice tank and all of the inhabitants seems to be top shelf. We have the same
skimmer on our 29 tall and love it. BTW great work all the way through. As for noise level I don't know if it quiets down or you just get used to it. :)

John Leeds

I wil probably end up using the diy method I saw somewhere in the COMAS area. That should help quiet it down a little, its much louder than my 135 tank, trust me it is definitly not quiet.

Well the firefish got spooked and took a nosedive out of the tank.
Here are a couple of videos for this tank.
15 nano video 1
15 nano video 2

An update on this tank, the firefish decided he was a flying fish and found his crusty remains glued to the carpet, so I ended up getting a seabass. I have always wanted one of these guys, but didtn want to add a fish this small to my main tank. I also added some rhoactis shrooms and a hammer coral.



Here is a current tank shot.

In the bottom pic is that paly really huge or is that fish just really small, BTW looking good

wow that is big.

That is called the wonder paly, he has been in all my starter tanks and lived through alot. He is fixing to go into a 6 gallon pipefish tank. Lets put timthis way that fish is a little over 2 inches.