Aquaterra Background Advice?

[GreenDrake]

I'm in the process of setting up a 20 gallon shellie tank with an Aquaterra background and I would just like to know if I'm on the right track. I guess I should mention that I'll only be using an external canister filter on this tank. I've already cut out a spot for the main intake in the bottom right corner. I've inserted a grill into it and will back it with a piece of foam to keep anything but water from getting through. I'm going to drill the filter outtake opening at an angle near the top left corner where the background sticks out to try and keep it as unobtrusive as possible.

Now for my questions. I've noticed on Patrick's tutorials that he also has an overflow/skimmer cutout in the top corners. I'm just wondering what the purpose of this is? Is it absolutely necessary to add one in a tank this small? or do you think I will get enough water circulation with just the large outake I have already added. Thanks for any help.

Edited November 6, 2008 by GreenDrake

[patrick]

I'm in the process of setting up a 20 gallon shellie tank with an Aquaterra background and I would just like to know if I'm on the right track. I guess I should mention that I'll only be using an external canister filter on this tank. I've already cut out a spot for the main intake in the bottom right corner. I've inserted a grill into it and will back it with a piece of foam to keep anything but water from getting through. I'm going to drill the filter outtake opening at an angle near the top left corner where the background sticks out to try and keep it as unobtrusive as possible.

Now for my questions. I've noticed on Patrick's tutorials that he also has an overflow/skimmer cutout in the top corners. I'm just wondering what the purpose of this is? Is it absolutely necessary to add one in a tank this small? or do you think I will get enough water circulation with just the large outake I have already added. Thanks for any help.

Hi,

It looks great so far:) No you don't need the overflow. I added it because I needed to make sure enough water would allow to pass into the back of the background. Instead of have one huge grill or two smaller ones further down I chose to use the overflow instead. The overflow is also good in case the bottom grill gets clogged up and the pump will empty the water behind the background faster than it can pass through the grill. When this happens the water in front rises and the more it rises the more goes through the overflow. In your case you will be fine as you have it setup now, unless you are running an FX-5 lol

Edited November 6, 2008 by patrick