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The most unusual feature I wanted for this tank was a somewhat terraced substrate. I wanted to have a separate area of sand with relatively few plants, mostly for Corydoras catfish. They like to root around in the sand, and it will also be a good place to drop a few shrimp pellets when I want to count the catfish.
Since I'm new to terracing, I decided to start simple: I chose to use pieces of glass for the divisions, and to leave most of the substrate a single level, with a "road" from the front to the back enclosing the sand.
Here's the "road" after installing the glass pieces. It's actually shaped like a triangle, wider in front and narrow in back, to add to the illusion of depth.
The triangle will be filled about halfway with sand, while the rest of the tank will be filled
with gravel up to the top of the dividers. I'll use plants to cover up the glass later.
A close-up of the glass terrace pieces. The two pieces were cut from a spare 30-gallon tank cover with a glass
cutter, and glued to the tank with aquarium silicone. This takes 24 hours to fully cure.