New 75 gallon Aqueon build

[Vadafallon]

Well i am moving away from my deep blue 60 gallon rimless. I feel its a great tank but i want something wider. So here goes.

75 gallon Aqueon tank and stand reef ready
20 gallon long sump with OceanBoxDesigns dLUX Sump Kit for 20 Gallon Long Aquarium (Ruby Red)
Ecotech Mp40wqd (upgraded from a gen2 mp40w)
Ecotech Mp10wes x2
Eheim Compact 3000 return pump
Ecotech Radion G3 XR30 Pro
Ecotech Radion G1 Xr30 (soon to be sent off to be upgraded to a G3 pro)
Ecotech RMS mount
Ecotech Reeflink
Skimz Protein Skimmer (not sure the model but its rated up to 300 gallons and 150 with a heavy bioload) I got it free and it kicks butt. Maybe a little big but that's ok.

I will post pics of what i have done so far and i am going to try to make this like a daily journal of my journey with this build:


[IMG]New tank build by Thomas Hudson, on Flickr[/IMG]


I have sanded down the entire stand and redid it with Rustoleum Painters touch x2 Satin Black. It was 90 degrees out with 70% humidity. It came out awesome. I did 3 sandings with 3 grits. 220, 180 and 150. Then i did 3 coats with the Rustoleum. I let it dry 3 minutes inbetween each coat.

[IMG]New tank build by Thomas Hudson, on Flickr[/IMG]

New tank build by Thomas Hudson, on Flickr

[IMG]New tank build by Thomas Hudson, on Flickr[/IMG]

New tank build by Thomas Hudson, on Flickr


[IMG]New tank build by Thomas Hudson, on Flickr[/IMG]


On the inside i used silicone to seal it completely on the bottom and went over it with Kilz Primer to seal it. I was not as meticulous about this.

[IMG]New tank build by Thomas Hudson, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Vadafallon]

LEDs!! I added a rope of LEDs around the top of the stand. My initial thought was to put a magnet bar on the door so when you open it the LEDs come on, but i gave up on that. I have a surge protector that i can turn each plug off individually.

[IMG]New tank build by Thomas Hudson, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]New tank build by Thomas Hudson, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]New tank build by Thomas Hudson, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]LEDs by Thomas Hudson, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Vadafallon]

Testing the tank for leaks..

[IMG]More build pics by Thomas Hudson, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]More build pics by Thomas Hudson, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Vadafallon]

Megaflow Durso kit.

[IMG]More build pics by Thomas Hudson, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Vadafallon]

Painted the back of the tank. I did three coats.

[IMG]More build pics by Thomas Hudson, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Vadafallon]

Skimz Protein skimmer and 20 gallon long sump

[IMG]New tank build by Thomas Hudson, on Flickr[/IMG]

Receive my baffles from Oceanboxdesigns

[IMG]New tank build by Thomas Hudson, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]New tank build by Thomas Hudson, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]New tank build by Thomas Hudson, on Flickr[/IMG]

New tank build by Thomas Hudson, on Flickr

[Vadafallon]

Testing out my silicone work on the baffles.. i won't lie i had to go back and touch them up some.

[IMG]New tank build by Thomas Hudson, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Vadafallon]

I received my dry rock from Reefcleaners yesterday. Very pleased with the pieces i received.

[IMG]Reef rock from reef cleaners by Thomas Hudson, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]Reef rock by Thomas Hudson, on Flickr[/IMG]

Tonight i will start my aquascaping, the fun part! More pics to come.

[Vadafallon]

I worked on some aquascaping tonight and i am pleased with the results so far. Tell me what you think and any suggestions you might have.

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[IMG]******** async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8">[/IMG]

[NeilFox]

looks good! I see the Christmas lights are up for the new rock.

[Vadafallon]

Man those lights stay up all year round! lol.

[Ou8me2]

Looks good so far. I'm sure you'll find out in time. That you'll have to redo the silicone on the baffles sooner rather than later. Glass and acrylic baffles just really don't mix well. I've seen too many post in the D.I.Y forum of people coming home to cracked glass sumps or exploded sumps cause the acrylic swelled on them. Not to mention it probably would have been cheaper to have a glass shop cut the baffles vs the acrylic ones.

[Vadafallon]

I did read about acrylic and glass. The baffles are cut so they leave some room between them and the glass. Does this matter or will i still run into issues? I hate i spent money on those and now i might not use them. I guess i should have just went with glass. Ugh.

[Buddy55]

I'm interested what made you decide to do the baffle configuration you did? Do you have a link to the idea? I am about to pull my sump out and buy a bigger one a d start from scratch and I just don't know what to change.

[Vadafallon]

Its actually a prefab made design. You buy the baffles and just do the silicone. Oceanboxdesigns. In hinesight i should have just bought one from triggersystems like before. I have read to much on acrylic and glass not meshing well and now Ou8me2 just reinforced that lol.

[Buddy55]

Oh. I do completely diy. I hadn't heard anything about that. If the silicon bonded to both then I could not see a problem but I did use glass on mine so I don't have first hand experience. So I learned something. The glass was cheaper anyways. Thanks

[Ou8me2]

Originally Posted by Vadafallon

I did read about acrylic and glass. The baffles are cut so they leave some room between them and the glass. Does this matter or will i still run into issues? I hate i spent money on those and now i might not use them. I guess i should have just went with glass. Ugh.

I was in a similar situation as I set up my 75 also. I decided at the time to go glass and I was building my sump. The glass bought and cut would have been much cheaper using glass vs acrylic for the baffles. The problem with the acrylic baffles in a glass sump is getting to bond well with the silicone is another issue. Some say if you have 1/8" on each side it will allow for the acrylic swelling.

I never ended up building my sump as I found an all acrylic sump for $40.00 locally and it's big enough if I upgrade tanks in the future. The guy claimed he used it on a 220. It fits well under my stand just fine and I was lucky to find such a great deal.

When I was going to build my sump of 34x16x16 the glass baffles would have been $50.00 and that was for 4 1/4" glass rather large baffles. That's glass and cutting. I would think for a 20 long it would be much cheaper glass wise.

Here are a couple nice links on sumps:

http://gmacreef.com/reef-tank-sump-diy-glass-baffles/

http://gmacreef.com/reef-aquarium-sump-tank-design/

Really this site has lots of useful information on many different topics on reef aquariums.

[Vadafallon]

I priced out glass from a local shop and it was around 100 bucks for the baffles. =( Prices have gone up it would seem.

[Ou8me2]

Originally Posted by Vadafallon

I priced out glass from a local shop and it was around 100 bucks for the baffles. =( Prices have gone up it would seem.

I'd call another glass shop cause that's way too high. You could also buy a used glass tank and use that glass to make your own baffles. That was actually recommended on one of the site links I posted.

[Vadafallon]

I did and it was even more.

[SFish]

It only cost me $30 for glass and they cut it (4 baffles).

[Vadafallon]

Sheesh. I need to call some other places i guess lol.

[Ou8me2]

Originally Posted by Vadafallon

Sheesh. I need to call some other places i guess lol.

What kind of glass are they quoting you? It should just be the regular plate and not tempered or low iron glass. Also, are you giving them the measurements? What are the measurements of the 4 baffles? If you have them polish it or do any other work, that usually adds to the price also. You can sand the edges of the glass so they aren't sharp with some sand paper and doesn't take much to do.

[SFish]

They sanded the glass for me. In fact I just brought the tank in and told them the height and they cut the glass to fit the width all for $30. Shop around.

[Vadafallon]

Well either way i think i have decided to try and get something bigger than a 20. Maybe a 30. What do you think? Trigger Systems, Precision Marine or what other companies would you suggest a acrylic sump?