Expensive stuff. Glass thickness is your driving cost.

Just found a used 125 driving distance from me. Has some lighting, a sump
and some other useful items for a really good price. Have to go see it but
if it what the man says I will buy it.

Regarding noisy standpipes, agreed. I did read a report on how a smaller
diameter pipe can be installed in the center of a standpipe to cancel the
sound.

I run a SOS Tidepool overflow/skimmer box on my 65 with a couple of
Goldfish. It is virtually silent. With the other noise in the room I never
hear it. It has a cap on top of the equivilent of a standpipe on the box
outside the tank with a tube that sticks down into the water column.. So
what your saying sounds very similar and makes senese.

The only noise I ever notice coming from mine is when the sump gets low I
hear the water running into the sump. A good reminder it's past time for
some service!


AFAIK, silicone does NOT bond to acrylic.

I thought that might be the case.


OK, my turn, ideas time )

Way ahead of you on this. I didn't go into all the details but I was
planning on using many of you ideas. I am going to install a hot and cold
water line in the cabinet. I am making my own cabinet and I plan on
fiberglassing the bottom and installing a drain pipe into the water water
lines in the house. Dividing the cabinet physically with a wet and dry side.
Dedicated electrical curciut GFI protected. I guess Great Minds do think
alike! :-)

Filtration would be by canister filter. .... place a UGF plate in the
far-end,... It will be covered by
river stones (3/8" to 1" diameter). ......... Stack a few low stones and/or
low driftwood in this area.

I like this idea! I had toyed with having a barren end with rocky bottom
anyway. (GMTA) but the idea of UGF plate had not occured to me. I love that!
I have a small stump with roots I saved just as my wife was about to burn it
that will go perfect in that end too. I had it in my 65G till I switched
over to Goldfish in it. It is the perfect size! Plus cory cats love hiding
under it.

I am not to crazy about cannister filters. I use them but I really like a
sump with a fluidized bed filter better.. I can hide pumps and heaters and
anything else in the sump. I also like the extra water capacity but with a
125 that won't make much difference. Either way I can still use your idea. I
think I have some filter plates for this 65G somewhere and they would fit
perfectly in the 125.

At the wall-end, install a 90 degree elbow and run a pipe up the middle
of the wall-end glass to a U fitting to run canister hose down inside the
wall to your filter compartment below. You can run this right through
the wall, but I recommend running them inside some DWV pipes (3" black
ABS). This makes it easy to route hoses, wires etc up and down through
the wood framing around your wall-end.

I spent some time this morning at the house looking and thinking. Running a
water line in the wall is not a problem since they have not started plumbing
yet. They are still framing at this point. As I sat in the framed up window
looking where the tank is going and thinking a couple of things occured to
me. One is anything that runs out of the wall will be visable betweent the
wall the hood. Only slightly but it will be visable. On a large tank I like
to make my hood in two pieces. I make a box that will sit on top of the tank
then split it in half and hinge it. Then you can lift the front of the hood
up and over and it will rest on top of the back half of the hood. I have to
have a slight gap between it and wall so it doesn't rub the wall and skin it
up. Thats where the gap is.

I could change my hood design but this one works very well. It allows
excellent access to the tank. Important with a planted tank. Plus I can open
either front or back. This is nice for servicing hang-on filters. And if you
mount lights in each half the tank is always is lite when your working in
it. I even put switches so I turn off either half so I am not blinded by it.

After studying a while I decided the best idea is to make the stand 6"
wider than the tank. Then on the wall-end of the stand let it extend up to
the top of the hood. I can fit this end flush with wall. The 6" space leaves
me a plumbing chase to run anything up to the tank completely out of site. I
could also encase the electics in conduit for safety in the chase. While I
am not crazy aobut the look it makes changes much simpler! If I add
something down the road it would not be hard to do.


This weekly backwashing of your filter and reversing flow direction
through your hoses will significantly increase the servicing interval
needed. With the right balance, your canister servicing interval may
only become an annual event.

I like this idea a lot! Even if I went with the sump I like the idea of
being able to reverse the flow through the UGF plate. I was even thinking of
just pumping water into the tank thought this plate if I end up using an
overflow box. Have not thought all the way throught this but my first
impression is I like both ideas!

You want to avoid ice-cold water appearing on your tank's exposed warm
glass bottom via the UGF plate.

Something I had not thought of! If I install the drain I can get the temp
right before ever putting it into the tank.

Oh yeah, your filter return is at the wall-end, so you have nice
leisurely top-rear to front-bottom circulation, adaptable to almost any
bio-tope (you don't need high flow rates for their detritus pick-up power as
your sucking debris right off the bottom.

Another good point and better than pumping water in through the UGF plate.


Let me know when you get around to thinking about the electrics,

Still thinking on lighting but I normally just use a simple timer. On and
off. Haven't really given any consideration to anything else. But watching
the lights dim at the end of the cycle would be neat. I never liked the all
of sudden dark tank when it turned off. But I am used to it too.

Got to go look at some countertops. Great ideas! Keep them coming!

--
Kudzu *\\
The man that always tells the truth never has to remember what he said