Acipenser 2012 nano contest entry.

[Enigma]

Oh, I just had an idea. You could purchase an aquarium that is taller, and partition off a portion of it to ensure that your system meets the contest guidelines for volume. You could then use the partitioned off area for a fresh water reservoir if you build an ATO. That could leave you squeezing your equipment into a pretty small footprint, but it would keep all of the equipment in the sump.