Top of one tank is fully cut. Edges sanded and polished, looks great, seems to still be pretty strong.
Next step is building the external overflow box, attaching it, and eventually drilling the holes. I want to get some feed back on my general design here.
I don't want to have any powerheads in this tank, so I am going for closed loop to accompany the returns.
Issues:
1) I bought a 1.5"x6.5" intake screen hoping that will work for my CL intake. It looks good, but I'm wondering where best to position this for maximum safety to the animals (and still be able to get to it for cleaning).
2) I need to find a pump for the close loop that is extremely quite and preferably energy efficient. Probably around 800-1000gph. Lots to choose from, but 'quiet' is such a relative term I don't trust the manufacturers descriptions.
3) I would really like to have more than 2 returns, but I don't think I'll be getting at enough flow for that. I am looking at about 1000gph return, so I think I'll have to live with just the two.
4) Since I am building my overflow box on the exterior of the tank, I will need to create some kind of opening in the side wall. Drilling seems problematic (poor skimming), standard vertical slots are extremely tough to route using a plunge method. So I was considering long horizontal slots end to end (with breaks every few few inches for strength) and then placing egg crate behind it. Anyone want to play devils advocate?
5) Considering using a SCWD on the closed loop, but I've heard they are unreliable (and potentially loud). It's important the displays be pretty much silent. Looking for a better idea, or maybe it's just not worth fussing with.
Haven't had many responses lately, but I am working on the tanks full tilt now (all my other projects done). Will post some pictures this weekend of my progress, but hoping for some input as I'm just guessing on a lot of these ideas.