# Corner HMF



## PDan (Jan 23, 2015)

My 1st HMF project was in a 29g tank; a single piece of foam installed on one end. I cut the sheet slightly oversized so the mat was tight, but didn’t bow. Along with the jetlifter, I put the water heater behind the mat too. Two inch spacers along the front and back glass, made of foam trim pieces, ensured the mat wouldn't creep toward the side glass and touch the heater. Obviously, an end HMF reduces swim length of the tank – which was a consideration I hadn’t thought of before. The last photo is the front view of my 1st 30g HMF. On a small tank, the space the HMF occupies is noticeable.

A piece of 2” 30ppi poret is probably rigid enough to span 18", but I wasn’t willing to concede 4” of tank length, even though the next tank I was going to convert is 4 feet long.

The corner designs I found require channel on the tank glass to keep the foam in place. Effective, but I didn't want the hassle of draining and drying the tank in order to do it. My intent was to build something I could just drop in a functioning tank (and remove if I wanted to).

I found what I was looking for on the weeb (the 1st photo). These are made of plastic – couldn’t buy them anywhere on our continent last year.

The prototype is cobbled together from salvaged aquarium glass; the base is 7” square. Silicone sealant was fine because I wasn't worried about bond strength. I am pleased with the 5x5 cavity size; plenty of room for a jet lifter and heater in there.

The foam is 2" 30ppi poret (Swiss Tropicals) I bought from AngelFins before we moved to the valley. My next step is to establish where to the jetlifter discharge will be and punch a hole in the foam to put it. We'll see how long that takes me 

The silicone bead in the aquarium keeps the corner units ¼” away from the tank glass. Nice space for shrimp to hide. If I were to do it again, I’d make the back corner a 45 degree profile.

To my shame, the tank has been sitting here empty and dry since we moved to Ontario 9 months ago. It’d be pretty easy to put channel inside the tank to hold the poret now. But I’ve made something that I can take out and exchange for the ol’ canister anytime.

Take good care folks.


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## michaelw81 (Sep 24, 2010)

Thanks for sharing. I've been thinking about building something similar to the one in the following YouTube video for my 5-Gallon Betta tanks:






Your post inspires me with more ideas. Thanks again.


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## PDan (Jan 23, 2015)

There are scads of ideas out there. Looks like the white plastic box was fashioned out of flat channel duct. Very compact. Brilliant use of local materials.


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