Any suggestions for me befome I start building my Nano?

[unwired]

I posted this on RC but I thought that perhaps this might be a better place to get advice since I'll have more Nano-reefers to give input.

Thanks.

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OK,

I thought I'd try a quick post before I go to the acrylic store and do some shopping.

I'm planning a Nano tank that will sit on top of my two drawer filing cabinet. Dimensions are 15L x 9D x 15H. Shy of 9 Gallons. I'm either going to use 1/4" (cast) acrylic or 3/8" depending on price. I'm still not completely certain what the actual cost should be so any online sources you might know of would be helpful too. I have a local manuf. here but won't know about their pricing till I walk in.

Any suggestions or references to websites calculators for flow rates and overflow box dimensions would be helpful. I can't seem to find anything good for Nanos. I'm still debating if I should go internal or have one built into the outer back too. I tink that given the small size any small cube that will fit the 1" bulkhead is prob plenty. (return bulkhead is planned to be 1/2").

My secret weapon for the tank is that I plan to put a 10 Gal glass tank under my desk to act as a fuge and fill it with whatever live rock, coral, snails & assorted clean up crew I can. The idea is basically to try and assist the 9 Gall in having not only corals but some fish, snails and a fair amount of corals, shrooms, polyps etc...

If possible I'd really like to keep my flow rate down as I think I'll have plenty of filtration and I really don't want there to be a massive rush through the tank but rather more of a brisk current.

I'm open to suggestions on powerheads/pumps too. I've got a bit of an issue in that I'm thinking of a low GPH but also need to get the column of water from the floor to the tank (roughly 3 feet).

What else did I miss? ... yes, lighting. I think that PC is about my only choice for a 15" tank. MH would be too hot and likely too expensive for me. All suggestions welcome.

Thanks for reading my post. I'll try to take some photos during the process.


- Ken

 

[skipm]

Sounds like you have things pretty well planned out. One place you may look for acrylic is www.usplastics.com . The 1/4" is plenty thick enough as long as you brace the top of the tank with something like a frame. IMO this should be done with any kind of acrylic tank since it is easier for acrylic to bow.
PCs are definately the way to light this tank unless you wanted to go with MH which you already stated you didn't want to do. IMO a pair of 24 watt PCs will light the tank pretty well and if you want more light it is not hard to add a couple more.

 

[reefman5511]

One inch bulkhead may be an overkill for a 9 gallon tank. They're rated for 600 g/h.
For lights you could do PC or T5.

 

[unwired]

someone had suggested the 1" bulkhead to me, but I alsothought it to be a bit on the large side considering the size of the tank (and personally I wasn't on planning for an overflow that wide).

A 3/4" bulkhead still requires a pilot hole over 1" in diameter. I was curious if perhaps I could even get away with 1/2" in both directions?

Secondly, is there anywhere I can get bulkheads cheaply?

I went to HD but they had no clue. Went to AC/heating supply and they didn't either. I was thinking about contacting a pond supply place but don't know if there are any near me. I could order one on the web but it's not worth the shipping so I'll need to wait till I need other supplies too.

Thanks.