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well, my 29g has been sitting there begging for attention for a year...I hadn't done anything with the decor except move it around for cleanings. There was a outbreak of junksnails and plants are long since gone.

the lemon tetras have passed on from old age and the only occupants are a school of cories and 2 cherry barbs.

well, things are about to change! the 10 gallon is cycling now, and after the spike i will slowly transfer fish.

so far the 29g has new hardware. the low wattage flourescent tube has been removed and replaced with a pair of screw-in full spectrum lights.

after removing the balast, making one out of aluminum, making brackets, and then wiring the fixtures, i decided it was time to turn to the filtration.

my long term goal for the tank is to have a styrafoam back panel in the tank with a simulated rock look. i want to use the panel to hide the heater in the corner...i also want the filters hidden...which means cannister filter!

the only problem with that, is, i didnt have the $120 for a cannister filter...so time to get creative. the store had a sale on a drinking water filtration system for $11. a trip to the pet store for some aquarium safe silicone and tubing, and then to the hardware store for some fittings, and i was set. lucky for me i have a power head. this costs 30+ bucks if you dont have one, so i suppose thats the expensive part of the project if you have to buy it. but, since i had one, my total cost for the project is around $20 for the silicone, hose clamps, tubing, and fittings.

instead of using their filter, i am running a piece of filter down tubing into filter sponges and polyester filter fiber(yes its aquarium safe).

alot of this project was cheap because i am a packrat and save everything.

now, onto the stats. the pump is capable of 270 GPH, but with the added filtration to go through, its prolly more like half the flow rate. i will also be running a single over the back filter along with my DIY cannister. i prefer to be safe than sorry. i just dont want to deal with the space my two whisper 30s take up.

anyway, here is a link to the picture of the disassembled DIY cannister filter.

http://mysite.verizon.net/reswyf0q/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/filter.JPG

The only thing I can say is if you try to hide the heater is that water can still flow away from it; otherwise you may simply be insulating on the heat around the heater instead of heating the entire tank.

Your DIY filter looks rather impressive. But do you really need two filters on a 29 gallon tank?

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

well, the goal is that i am going to have dozens of holes going through the styrafoam to the box where the heater will be stashed. the powerjet will be picking up warm water in the box and jetting it out the tube to the other side of the tank. thats in case the holes in the styrafoam do not allow enough flow.

the extra over the back filter will be there for two purpouses. 1, to help circulate the water in the box, and 2, just in case my DIY filter isnt up to snuff.

also, the holes leading to the box will be sealed off with aquarium safe mesh to ensure no fish get stuck back there.

the whole design will be tested in a fishless cycle to ensure the temps and filtration is stable.

oh, and so you get a idea about what i am talking about, here is a simple drawing i made quickly in MS paint to show locations of where i am going to put the hardware!

http://mysite.verizon.net/reswyf0q/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/tanksetup.JPG