Aquanano 130 Upgrade

[372xp]

I have 2 marine tanks both are small, Aquanano 40 and a TMC 15ltr, and both are getting a bit of a pain. 20% weekly water changes, limitations on what can go in them and both are hard to do maintainance on because of there size. So its time for an upgrade. My wife is quite clear on what she does and doesnt like as far as tanks go, she just about tolerates my f/w tanks, but what she likes is modern looking without bulky hoods curved glass corners and LED lights. So that narrowed the field some what, I already have aquanano 40 and the 60 isnt available yet so there was only the 130 left or a custom build. Since no tank builders replied to my e-mails the 130 it is. This is my 40,the hammerhead is sulking because it had captured a red mushroom during a water change and I have just removed it. this is the TMC 15ltr.
My plan is to drill and sump the 130 to create a 180ltr reef tank.

 

[sawickib]

Wow looks awesome, i love marine set ups i want one so much.

 

[372xp]

Wow looks awesome, i love marine set ups i want one so much.

They are pretty easy really, just as long as you take your time. Most of the stuff you need can be picked up cheap on e-bay, I got the aquanano 40 and stand for 30£ and the Tmc complete with skimmer leds etc for 40£. The Aquanano130 I got from P@H, it is only available from them in the UK, and with the use of vouchers got it with 60£ off and an additional 10% on top of that.

 

[sawickib]

I have the time, just not the money saving up for a 150 gallon FW atm.

 

[372xp]

I have not much of either,but I have been getting bits slowly. The tank was the biggest outlay, then the cabinet. The next big spend will be the live rock and water.

 

[372xp]

The first job which took a couple of evenings after work was to remove the in built filter section in the back of the tank. This was a fair task it was all siliconed in pretty well and to do it without breaking any thing required a lot of patience and a sharp blade and long bendy knife.M y plan is for a simple sump with a refugium to help reduce nuisance algae and grow pods etc.

So its time to convert this. Eheim aquastar 60ltr which was housing a few tetras and some guppy fry.
I got the glass for the baffles cut and got to work with some aquarium sealant. 48 hours later;

 

[Brilly91]

Great looking tanks those aquanano 130s been eyeing a display model up in p&h. Im basing my new stand design around the stand for the 130.

 

[372xp]

yeah, the stand that comes with it is ok. I mean its designed to carry the weight, that is if it is built as they want it, it is supposed to be devided into 2 sections. So the upright devider acts as a source of bracing, I built it without this piece which made it a bit tricky to put together. I found the caabinet a bit wobbly so I added some extra bracing in the form of shelf brackets. It is made of cardboard sandwhiched between 2 layers of veneer so when I drilled through it I had to waterproof round the holes incase it got wet and turned to mush.

 

[372xp]

I havnt updated this because it takes a long time uploading pics on photobucket.

Got the tank drilled at my lfs for free, I gave the guy a drink as I couldnt expect him to do it for nothing since I bought the tank elsewhere.

Looks ok but its not staying there.
And thats when it got a bit tricky.
Moved it to a new position yesterday and started filling it up, so half full with no sand or rock and its ok, seemed a bit wobbly but I reckon when its full it will steady up.
Today in with the rest of the water, I only have 4 containers and 3 of these I borrowed from lfs, live rock and sand.

The eagle eyed amongst you will notice its not level. My wife pointed out that I knew that as I had commented on it when I laid the floor 3 years ago. This has caused problems as I had test run it on a level surface and set up the return pipe accordingly, now there is less water at the back than the front it doesnt fill the sump quick as it should.
The chamber on the right should be at a higher level.
I know that is probably not enough live rock, but I have a load more in my aquanano 40 which is all going in the 130. Along with 2 more wave pumps.
The little tank next to it is just temporary accomodation for some plants which will end up in the 40 alongside this lot
Then I will just have 2 tanks aquanano 40, planted with 1 betta, and aquqnano 130. Just one problem I have to shift the tank to a level bit of floor which will mean a front room re-scape. I will let you know how it goes.

 

[372xp]

Tank move went smoothly today, drained most of the water and it slid across the floor nicely. Much better in the new position.Nice and level plumbing is working better now and the levels in the sump are now as they should be