Second DIY: HOT Fuge

[Gujustud]

I've been working on a design for a HOT fuge for my tank. I wanted to add more volume to my tank. So I started to build a HOT fuge, with a inside dimension if 18"x5"x13" (5 gal).

I haven't gotten to far yet, but I've finished the main portion of making the box itself. All the pictures are located here.

Here is the box itself. All the brown stuff on the outside is the protective skin. I'll take that all off, once i've glued it (its held together by tape right now).


Thanks to the world of CNC, I was able to mill these side corners, so that I'd have a bigger surface area when I glue the peices together


I wanted to do the same for the bottom, so I made it like this. The inside of it, fits perfectly into the box.


I'm now wondering what to put into the fuge, lol. So far I'm thinking of 3 sections total. One where the water comes in. The next section for some sand and a small peice of LR or so. And the next section for the submersible pump (unless this this may be not a good idea). For the walls in the tank, I was thinking about putting some slots on the side walls, that the baffles would slide down them. This way they could be removed if needed to be cleaned for any reason. Good/bad idea?

I was also thinking about making another section where I could put a small peice of filter media as well. Any suggestions? Thanks!