Alright, this thought was born from the fact that my betta's heater broke last night and I found him half frozen this morning. He is currently in plastic box, jury rigged as a refugium in my 75 gal cichlid tank. Obviously not ideal as my Jack Dempsey had taken an interest in him.
Anyhow, took a few minutes on sketchup to dream up this idea.
It is basicly a built in filter with a refugium (I'm not sure what else to call it) incorporated.
From the front:
Basically will just look like a black background. Water flows in from the top right and out through a power head at the bottom left. The middle is clear glass to allow for viewing of a new betta home. I have also added shelves to help interfere with a strong current and give him a resting place but I am not sure that 16"x4"x20" is an ideal home for a betta. I could extend it from 4" to 6" in that one part what do you think?
The back:
Showing the filter. I have the power head pushing water out and the heater over on the right. I am happy with the powerhead but any thoughts on a better location for the heater?
I know its not an ideal place just from the whole heat rises fact but hearing from people who have DIY filters would be good. I am thinking that the power head will be stronger than the heat and pull the water back down.
The side:
So the plan takes up four inches at the back of the tank which I'm cool with and there is a shelf at the top for plants to grow out emersed.
3/4 view sort of to give better perspective.
So any thoughts on how it might not work?