ok so I did some tank mods pics to follow :)

[fish stalker]

well got the mods done for the 30g tank. Basically i followed all the advice on here and decided to build an acrylic 'lined box' to fit inside the tank. each piece is seperate and held together by strategic drilled holes and plastic cable/wire ties which means it can be changed if needed etc. So sand is back in from previous system and water will be new plus some from one of the other tanks. It will be up and running and i expect a mini cycle. I will also need to go and get more rock (yet again) and upgrade filtration before adding a mantis but beats having the bucket of sand and filter sitting on the floor the last week or so ........ :p
I will post pics shortly.

[JothamTheSlayer]

sounds good, looking forward to pics

[fish stalker]

ok ok at last got to the pics. The mods are in place, sand in water in, heater and filter all in and working so now need to buy rock etc. The sand was from an established tank and some of the water so lots of living stuff in there already :). Going to take some spare rubble out of the reef tank's sump and get bigger pieces this weekend. I'll take more pics then. Right now its just sand and one lone piece of caulerpa stuck in it :). Let me know what you think. I think its mantis proof LOL.

<a href="http://s870.photobucket.com/albums/ab270/Fishstalker_photo/?action=view&current=DSCN4071.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab270/Fishstalker_photo/DSCN4071.jpg" border="0" alt="mantis tank mods"></a>

<a href="http://s870.photobucket.com/albums/ab270/Fishstalker_photo/?action=view&current=DSCN4058.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab270/Fishstalker_photo/DSCN4058.jpg" border="0" alt="attaching corners"></a>

<a href="http://s870.photobucket.com/albums/ab270/Fishstalker_photo/?action=view&current=DSCN4057.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab270/Fishstalker_photo/DSCN4057.jpg" border="0" alt="drilled holes for in tank assembly"></a>

[micstarz]

Nice work...but I see one possible problem.

Dine debris may settle between the glass and the protector. Also, algae will grow eventually. As well as a strange white residue that cannot be scraped off without a razor...trust me, I've had a lot of those.

It might be a bit difficult to lift that contraption (with sand and LR in it) out of the tank to scrape off the algae...

[Haramdar]

I would imagine you could just silicone everything into place. I mean I understand the principal behind what you wanted to do, but it may just be easier to make it permanent. otherwise it looks good! :D