Penguin is getting a new home this Spring

[tekknoschtev]

Not to be a liar, heres my rendering. Water will drain into the high side in the 6" wide section in the back. It will overflow into the l-shaped area whichis where I will have my fuge, and then into the next section which will be the return. The great thing about this is that the 29 sticks out a few inches behind the back of the tank, allowing the drain to fall straight down and the return to go straight up - no flow loss due to the elbows that I'd need to get underneath the tank!

[Phaedrus]

What program do you use to render those?

[tekknoschtev]

Sketch Up - they have an 8 hour free trial.

[Myaj]

I'm in the middle of making a 29 into a sump/fuge as well.. since I'm not planning on using a skimmer, what I'd like to do is instead of a "box" for the intake of the sump, I'm going to acrylic a piece diagonally across a corner of the tank. Then at the other end will be 3 "bubble walls" and the return. That gives me the max amount of room for my fuge in the middle, if that makes any sense?

Not sure if the diagonal thing could be done with glass, as you'd have to bevel the edges, but glass is soooo much cheaper. However, following along with someone doing something similar, he used glass and it fit too tightly, when he moved the tank there wasn't enough give and the tank cracked! So make sure to give yourself a little bit of wiggle room so that doesn't happen. His was so tight he had to tap that particular piece of glass in with a rubber mallet, so don't go that tight with your walls with the glass.

[tekknoschtev]

I've tried acrylic panels in a glass tank - the silicone doesnt hold well - or at least reliably. When I get the glass cut, I leave about 1/16-1/8" on either side for just the reason you mentioned. Last thing I need is something else to worry about. Thanks for the heads up though! Always good to know someone is watching out for me. Dont need to bevel it for glass, because it wont be holding an extreme amount of pressure - just a little extra silicone.

As for the return section, I sacrificed some space in the fuge to maximize the return section size because I've built some sumps that dont have much room for evaporation and I still havent gotten off my lazy butt to get an autotop off on my tanks.

My intention is not to use a skimmer in the beginning, simply due to funds, however, as funding allows I'm going to DIY the largest skimmer I can fit into the stand.

Keep the comments/suggestions/criticisms coming - it helps me along the way being able to discuss my plans with everyone, working out the kinks in the system.

[tekknoschtev]

Well, things are going rather slow with her new home, so I figured that its about time to show off the tank she's coming from: