Well let me start off by apologizing for the length of this post. To tell
you where I want to go, I will start by telling you where I've been. I have
a 29gal planted tank with fluorite substrate, fluval 204 canister, compact
fluorescent lighting, and pressurized CO2. My inhabitant are a female Angel,
a couple of Neons, two Cories, a Pleco, and Trumpet Snails. Everything has
been fine for two years, my Angel even spawns periodically, even though
every time I try to add more Neons they disappear (she eats them??). Any way
due to changing personal circumstances I have neglected this tank for
months. No water changes, no chemistry tests, and no filter cleaning. Plant
growth is out of control (it's a jungle in there). A couple of weeks ago my
Pleco up and died. Then the next day my Angel was hanging out on the surface
then also died. Its been about two weeks all the other inhabitants seem fine
except I noticed that the points of the trumpet snail shells have apparently
dissolved. Well that's where I've been. Well I'm looking into doing a 75gal
planted. Using a sump to move all the junk out of the main tank. I'm
planning on making my own background from Styrofoam and either cement or
epoxy resin. And using a Durso standpipe in a corner overflow. I've been
doing a lot of reading on these subjects. But I'm left with a few questions.
Bear in mind I want to keep inside the main tank maintenance to a minimum.

1.. How to remove debris from the bottom. Can an overflow/sump setup
achieve this?
2.. I was looking into a UGJ setup for this artical by Marc Elieson but
that defeats the idea of getting the "junk" out of the tank. I may do it any
way and alternate my sump return and separate UGJ jets under ground.
3.. I have not purchased my new tank yet and I have found many articles on
DIY aquariums. Is it feasible to make a glass aquarium with an acrylic
bottom (ease of drilling)? How about plywood bottom?
If you are still reading this, I thank you for your patience and I look
forward to hearing from any one with comments or suggestions.

I guess the url i tried to insert didn't work. the artical by Marc Elieson
is at (http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ug_jets.php)
"Mark Davidson" wrote in message
...
Well let me start off by apologizing for the length of this post. To tell
you where I want to go, I will start by telling you where I've been. I
have
a 29gal planted tank with fluorite substrate, fluval 204 canister, compact
fluorescent lighting, and pressurized CO2. My inhabitant are a female
Angel,
a couple of Neons, two Cories, a Pleco, and Trumpet Snails. Everything has
been fine for two years, my Angel even spawns periodically, even though
every time I try to add more Neons they disappear (she eats them??). Any
way
due to changing personal circumstances I have neglected this tank for
months. No water changes, no chemistry tests, and no filter cleaning.
Plant
growth is out of control (it's a jungle in there). A couple of weeks ago
my
Pleco up and died. Then the next day my Angel was hanging out on the
surface
then also died. Its been about two weeks all the other inhabitants seem
fine
except I noticed that the points of the trumpet snail shells have
apparently
dissolved. Well that's where I've been. Well I'm looking into doing a
75gal
planted. Using a sump to move all the junk out of the main tank. I'm
planning on making my own background from Styrofoam and either cement or
epoxy resin. And using a Durso standpipe in a corner overflow. I've been
doing a lot of reading on these subjects. But I'm left with a few
questions.
Bear in mind I want to keep inside the main tank maintenance to a minimum.

1.. How to remove debris from the bottom. Can an overflow/sump setup
achieve this?
2.. I was looking into a UGJ setup for this artical by Marc Elieson but
that defeats the idea of getting the "junk" out of the tank. I may do it
any
way and alternate my sump return and separate UGJ jets under ground.
3.. I have not purchased my new tank yet and I have found many articles
on
DIY aquariums. Is it feasible to make a glass aquarium with an acrylic
bottom (ease of drilling)? How about plywood bottom?
If you are still reading this, I thank you for your patience and I look
forward to hearing from any one with comments or suggestions.

mark do a search on some of my posts. I asked nearly the same question about
a month or two ago and received a wealth of advise. believe me, we exhausted
the subject!!!


Mark Davidson wrote in message ...
Well let me start off by apologizing for the length of this post. To tell
you where I want to go, I will start by telling you where I've been. I have
a 29gal planted tank with fluorite substrate, fluval 204 canister, compact
fluorescent lighting, and pressurized CO2. My inhabitant are a female
Angel,
a couple of Neons, two Cories, a Pleco, and Trumpet Snails. Everything has
been fine for two years, my Angel even spawns periodically, even though
every time I try to add more Neons they disappear (she eats them??). Any
way
due to changing personal circumstances I have neglected this tank for
months. No water changes, no chemistry tests, and no filter cleaning. Plant
growth is out of control (it's a jungle in there). A couple of weeks ago
my
Pleco up and died. Then the next day my Angel was hanging out on the
surface
then also died. Its been about two weeks all the other inhabitants seem
fine
except I noticed that the points of the trumpet snail shells have
apparently
dissolved. Well that's where I've been. Well I'm looking into doing a 75gal
planted. Using a sump to move all the junk out of the main tank. I'm
planning on making my own background from Styrofoam and either cement or
epoxy resin. And using a Durso standpipe in a corner overflow. I've been
doing a lot of reading on these subjects. But I'm left with a few
questions.
Bear in mind I want to keep inside the main tank maintenance to a minimum.

1.. How to remove debris from the bottom. Can an overflow/sump setup
achieve this?
2.. I was looking into a UGJ setup for this artical by Marc Elieson but
that defeats the idea of getting the "junk" out of the tank. I may do it
any
way and alternate my sump return and separate UGJ jets under ground.
3.. I have not purchased my new tank yet and I have found many articles
on
DIY aquariums. Is it feasible to make a glass aquarium with an acrylic
bottom (ease of drilling)? How about plywood bottom?
If you are still reading this, I thank you for your patience and I look
forward to hearing from any one with comments or suggestions.

Paul, I could not locate the posts to which you are referring to, and I'm
sorry and I realize that most questions that a person might ask have been
exhaustively covered. I have searched high and low for the specific answers
I am looking for. For instance I found an OLD post about an
overflow/standpipe setup that does address the issue of debris removal
however the expanded information on someones web site had long been removed.
I have found a source for a diamond core bit CHEAP. So if the right tank at
the right price comes along that is not pre-drilled I'll be in pretty good
shape. What a lot of aquarist don't understand is that not everyone lives
near a metropolitan city, my nearest LFS has no idea what CO2 is. The plants
I get, if I'm being particular are by mail order, along with most of my
supplies, so the "take the tank to be drilled at your local LFS" response
doesn't help me much. I can't come by information locally, so I scour the
"Net" and believe me I am racking up the hours. So thanx again for everyone'
s patience.



"Paul" wrote in message
...
mark do a search on some of my posts. I asked nearly the same question
about
a month or two ago and received a wealth of advise. believe me, we
exhausted
the subject!!!


Mark Davidson wrote in message ...
Well let me start off by apologizing for the length of this post. To tell
you where I want to go, I will start by telling you where I've been. I
have
a 29gal planted tank with fluorite substrate, fluval 204 canister,
compact
fluorescent lighting, and pressurized CO2. My inhabitant are a female
Angel,
a couple of Neons, two Cories, a Pleco, and Trumpet Snails. Everything
has
been fine for two years, my Angel even spawns periodically, even though
every time I try to add more Neons they disappear (she eats them??). Any
way
due to changing personal circumstances I have neglected this tank for
months. No water changes, no chemistry tests, and no filter cleaning.
Plant
growth is out of control (it's a jungle in there). A couple of weeks ago
my
Pleco up and died. Then the next day my Angel was hanging out on the
surface
then also died. Its been about two weeks all the other inhabitants seem
fine
except I noticed that the points of the trumpet snail shells have
apparently
dissolved. Well that's where I've been. Well I'm looking into doing a
75gal
planted. Using a sump to move all the junk out of the main tank. I'm
planning on making my own background from Styrofoam and either cement or
epoxy resin. And using a Durso standpipe in a corner overflow. I've been
doing a lot of reading on these subjects. But I'm left with a few
questions.
Bear in mind I want to keep inside the main tank maintenance to a
minimum.

1.. How to remove debris from the bottom. Can an overflow/sump setup
achieve this?
2.. I was looking into a UGJ setup for this artical by Marc Elieson
but
that defeats the idea of getting the "junk" out of the tank. I may do it
any
way and alternate my sump return and separate UGJ jets under ground.
3.. I have not purchased my new tank yet and I have found many articles
on
DIY aquariums. Is it feasible to make a glass aquarium with an acrylic
bottom (ease of drilling)? How about plywood bottom?
If you are still reading this, I thank you for your patience and I look
forward to hearing from any one with comments or suggestions.

Honestly, I"m a DIYer myself, because if I don't do it, it'll never get
done... I hope my wife didn't hear that... anyway....

I've too got a 29g coming and I also wish that I could drill it, would make
my SW adventure easier and I wouldn't have to do other thing like get a hang
on skimmer, I could do a sump instead and hang the skimmer there instead...
anyway....

I say this... when necessity brings you to the edge of doing it, or not
doing it, what would you do....

Do it, it breaks, gotta get another tank. Cost of another tank $60, learning
that you shouldn't drill your own tank? Priceless....

Do it, it DOESN"T break, you've got something accomplished, no harm, no
foul....


"Mark Davidson" wrote in message
...
Paul, I could not locate the posts to which you are referring to, and I'm
sorry and I realize that most questions that a person might ask have been
exhaustively covered. I have searched high and low for the specific
answers
I am looking for. For instance I found an OLD post about an
overflow/standpipe setup that does address the issue of debris removal
however the expanded information on someones web site had long been
removed.
I have found a source for a diamond core bit CHEAP. So if the right tank
at
the right price comes along that is not pre-drilled I'll be in pretty good
shape. What a lot of aquarist don't understand is that not everyone lives
near a metropolitan city, my nearest LFS has no idea what CO2 is. The
plants
I get, if I'm being particular are by mail order, along with most of my
supplies, so the "take the tank to be drilled at your local LFS" response
doesn't help me much. I can't come by information locally, so I scour the
"Net" and believe me I am racking up the hours. So thanx again for
everyone'
s patience.



"Paul" wrote in message
...
mark do a search on some of my posts. I asked nearly the same question
about
a month or two ago and received a wealth of advise. believe me, we
exhausted
the subject!!!


Mark Davidson wrote in message ...
Well let me start off by apologizing for the length of this post. To
tell
you where I want to go, I will start by telling you where I've been. I
have
a 29gal planted tank with fluorite substrate, fluval 204 canister,
compact
fluorescent lighting, and pressurized CO2. My inhabitant are a female
Angel,
a couple of Neons, two Cories, a Pleco, and Trumpet Snails. Everything
has
been fine for two years, my Angel even spawns periodically, even though
every time I try to add more Neons they disappear (she eats them??).
Any
way
due to changing personal circumstances I have neglected this tank for
months. No water changes, no chemistry tests, and no filter cleaning.
Plant
growth is out of control (it's a jungle in there). A couple of weeks
ago
my
Pleco up and died. Then the next day my Angel was hanging out on the
surface
then also died. Its been about two weeks all the other inhabitants seem
fine
except I noticed that the points of the trumpet snail shells have
apparently
dissolved. Well that's where I've been. Well I'm looking into doing a
75gal
planted. Using a sump to move all the junk out of the main tank. I'm
planning on making my own background from Styrofoam and either cement
or
epoxy resin. And using a Durso standpipe in a corner overflow. I've
been
doing a lot of reading on these subjects. But I'm left with a few
questions.
Bear in mind I want to keep inside the main tank maintenance to a
minimum.

1.. How to remove debris from the bottom. Can an overflow/sump setup
achieve this?
2.. I was looking into a UGJ setup for this artical by Marc Elieson
but
that defeats the idea of getting the "junk" out of the tank. I may do
it
any
way and alternate my sump return and separate UGJ jets under ground.
3.. I have not purchased my new tank yet and I have found many
articles
on
DIY aquariums. Is it feasible to make a glass aquarium with an acrylic
bottom (ease of drilling)? How about plywood bottom?
If you are still reading this, I thank you for your patience and I look
forward to hearing from any one with comments or suggestions.