FlyingFish's 75 Gallons of Adventure!

[FlyingFishSKYw]

First off I’d like to say Thank You to all in the Reef Central community for the gobs of inspiration, ideas and advice.

I started my reef tank journey in Sept. 2010 with an inherited 46 gallon bow front tank and steel stand. I built my own wood cabinet surround that was easily moved for access to the sump and other equipment (something I really have grown to appreciate and will incorporate into this build).






Like many in this hobby, the lust for more and bigger overcame me, so last June (2015) I got a great deal on a used 75 gallon tank from my local fish store. It's al All-Glass Aquarium built mfg Feb 17, 1992 according to the label under the 1/2" glass. It’s built like a tank (yuk yuk yuk!). It already had a couple holes drilled in the corners, and I had the guys at the store drill a third hole in the middle for a Custom Aquatics H2Overflow (more on that in a later post).

First, I needed to redo the silicon along the seams. Being careful not to damage the silicone between the panes of glass, I scraped out the old nasty stuff, masked around the seams, and squirted new black silicone from BRS.







Next it was time to paint the back glass and the 1990’s oak trim. For the back I just used cheap black paint and a roller, and for the trim, Krylon Fusion spray.



75 Gallon Aquarium Build by benapilot, on Flickr

[FlyingFishSKYw]

DIY Stand.

Using a modified template I got from RocketEngineers behemoth thread, here’s what I did:



Here I’m putting together one of the front supports with the upper and lower frames on the floor.


I want my sump to be pushed out a bit behind the back of the tank, so I built the bottom frame a few inches deeper than the top. This way my plumbing can go almost straight up and down, and I’ll have more room in front of the sump for other equipment and stuff.



I bought a Kreg pocket hole jig just for this project. Genius little gadget!!





I added a plywood base, a bit of trim, and calked the seams around the bottom.



Next came two coats of primer and two coats of Rustoleum Appliance Epoxy paint.
(here’s my 20L sump with Vertex Omega 130 skimmer- going to have to get a bitter sump!).



Next I built a little panel for all my electronics. I’ll use adhesive velcro strips to attach everything.



For equipment not plugged into my controller:


All leveled up in the garage, time for water to make sure I didn’t ruin the seams on my silicon job!

[FlyingFishSKYw]

Plumbing:

I poured through just about every plumbing thread on this and other forums to figure out how to do mine. It’s mind-boggling- and at times, frustrating- especially when neither Lowes or Home Depot have what I need! I ended up getting a lot of stuff online as well as locally. I really wanted it to be all red and gray, but through some errors and lack of local availability, it’s a mis-match. Oh well, it’ll all be in the back and no one will see!



On the left is the return. From a Jebao DCT-4000, up into a manifold to feed two reactors (carbon and GFO), then up to the display tank out through a Custom Aquatics Siphon Stopper.

In the center is the H2Overflow. The gate valve allows me to run it at a full siphon. I HIGHLY recommend a gate valve as opposed to a ball valve. The minute adjustments the gate valve allow make it totally worth the little extra $$. On the right is the emergency overflow. It’s plumbed for a 30 gallon sump (20L shown).



Manifold with reactors




Emergency return






I couldn’t find anything elegant to attach my plumbing to the stand with, so I designed my own and printed them with a friends’ 3D printer!
Tinkered designs




Here’s a video of my plumbing:
https://youtu.be/XnnyaXW-YXk

[FlyingFishSKYw]

Sump:

I went round and round in my head- 20L or 40breeder?? 20L would give me plenty of room under the stand for other equipment, but not much extra water volume, and that Vertex skimmer would take up most of the space. A 40 breeder would give me tons of room for skimmer, refugium, and extra water volume, but it would take up almost all the room under my stand, and the sump baffling would be a little more complicated than I really wanted. So I went with a 30 gallon. Perfect compromise, plus the 20L baffle kit from Exotic Marine Systems would fit!!

Unpacking the baffle kit


Siliconing it all in




Finished. I put a cupboard liner under the sump for sound/vibration dampening.




Here’s a video of it all running:
https://youtu.be/FjGKYPMiPfY

[Crush Coral]

Where did you find the drain cap that you have on your emergency overflw? I need one of them.

[FlyingFishSKYw]

Bulk Reef Supply.
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/low-pr...strainers.html

I had to glue a piece of 1/2" pvc to the bottom to give it a little height to match the H2Overflow water line.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Crush Coral]

Thanks for the info. I will be ordering one for my emergency overflow in my 90 I am building.

[heathlindner25]

You do know old silicone and new silicone will never cure together?

[FlyingFishSKYw]

Originally Posted by heathlindner25

You do know old silicone and new silicone will never cure together?

Yes, I think I read that somewhere else on here or another board. Some said, don't do it, others had their tanks fail, and still others reported great long-term success. I spoke at length to the expert at my LFS who said he's done it many times over the years without a problem.

I figure with the silicone intact between the 1/2" glass panes, I'll be fine. It's been in my garage full of water running for a few months now (building the hood and cabinet has been sloooow going).

Anything I should be watching for? I'd rather find out now than in my house!

[FlyingFishSKYw]

Lighting:

On my current 46 gallon I’m running a pair of Ecoxotic Marine fixtures with their One Touch Controller. I also have a couple of their stunner strips (magenta/blue). It’s been a good solution, but not great. The stunner strips aren’t very good. They look great, shine bright, but only being ~6” from the water, they’ve corroded out over time to where now only half the leds are working. The Marine Pro fixtures are doing well, but just aren’t quite bright enough for what my mixed tank needs. I really like the One Touch controller- I like having my morning coffee watching the sun rise on my aquarium. So while the Ecoxotic setup was a great, inexpensive entry to LED reef lighting, I don’t think I’ll use them again.

For this new 75 build, I didn’t want to skimp too much in the lighting department. I travel a lot as an airline pilot and every layover city, I’d try to visit local fish stores. Each store had their own lineup of lighting. I really like the full spectrum look of T5s as well as the shimmer and controllability of LEDs.

What I finally decided on were a pair of Hydra 26 fixtures combined with a couple T5s. I was planning on building a hood, so I had the flexibility of mounting my lights however I wanted. My solution was DIYing mounting brackets for the Hydras that I printed on the 3D printer. These hooked onto a couple aluminum U channels supported on both ends of the hood. My T5s will hang one in front of and one behind the Hydras. The fixtures I got from Amazon- they’re Sunblaster, 48” light fixtures.

I still haven’t decided what bulbs to use on my T5 fixtures… Any suggestions??















This last picture is with just the Hydras on- I haven't set it up with all the lights on yet.

[FlyingFishSKYw]

It's been a while and I've neglected to update this:

Cabinet is all done. I used the nice pine stock from Lowes/Home Depot and finished it with a couple coats of Java Gel Stain. The panels are held in place with a combination of magnets and velcro.

Untitled by benapilot, on Flickr

Untitled by benapilot, on Flickr

Untitled by benapilot, on Flickr

Untitled by benapilot, on Flickr



Next came the cabinet doors:

Untitled by benapilot, on Flickr

Untitled by benapilot, on Flickr

DSC04268 by benapilot, on Flickr

Untitled by benapilot, on Flickr

Glass panes in the doors and a multi-color LED light strip makes for a cool effect:

Untitled by benapilot, on Flickr

Untitled by benapilot, on Flickr

[FlyingFishSKYw]

Time to tear down the 46 and get the floors replaced, paint the walls, and redo the trim.

I build a temporary stand for a 20H aquarium to house my live rock, corals, shrimp, and hermits. The few fish I had left went to the LFS to possibly find new homes. When I’m ready for fish again, I’ll go back and take back whatever they don’t sell.

Screen Shot 2016-08-18 at 3.05.03 PM by benapilot, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2016-08-18 at 3.06.35 PM by benapilot, on Flickr

Meanwhile, I’ve updated my auto water change system, and instead of a Tom’s Aqualifter ATO from 5 gallon jugs in my stand, I’m using a SpectraPure pump straight from my RODI storage. My auto water change system consists of two SpectraPure pumps (one at the tank plumbed to a bathroom sink drain in the crawl space, and one in the laundry room plumbed to a 20 gallon aquarium I use as my saltwater mixing tank). I’ve set my Archon controller to pump a gallon in and out four days a week.

IMG_5934 by benapilot, on Flickr

These are the pump power supply cords and plumbing coming up from the crawl space.

IMG_5937 by benapilot, on Flickr

As I was in the crawl space, I noticed that the new placement of the aquarium was going to be parallel to the floor joists. I’m sure it would be ok by itself, but upon the recommendation of a friend who is a home builder, I added some supports to the joist. You can see the AWC and ATO plumbing running up through the floor.

IMG_5945 by benapilot, on Flickr

[FlyingFishSKYw]

So the tank is in place. My original plan was to have a hood where I would hang my Hydras and a couple T5 fixtures. When I had the tank in place and the hood on, it just seemed too big and bulky. So I nixed the hood and went with the modern, contemporary hanging LED fixture route. Order placed for the EXT rail and hanging kit from AquaIllumination.

IMG_5944 by benapilot, on Flickr

IMG_5949 by benapilot, on Flickr

IMG_5951 by benapilot, on Flickr


Time to get everything hooked up!
What a fun mess!!

IMG_5946 by benapilot, on Flickr

DSC05072 by benapilot, on Flickr

Sump view:

DSC05070 by benapilot, on Flickr




[FlyingFishSKYw]

Here’s with my original rock from my 46. I’ll keep in on the left side, and fill the right side with Tampa Bay Saltwater live rock.

IMG_6007 by benapilot, on Flickr

My trumpet coral, Blastos and mushrooms are responding really well to their new home!

DSC05075 by benapilot, on Flickr

DSC05081 by benapilot, on Flickr

DSC05083 by benapilot, on Flickr

[rockworm]

Kudo's on the cabinet. Gel stain is the only type I use on pine and maple. No blotches and nice grain enancement. You have a nice setup.

[NeilFox]

Nice job! The 3D Printer work is impressive.

[jacob.morgan78]

Very cool! Impressive. I like the obligatory aiptasia already in there! :/

[FlyingFishSKYw]

Lol! Thanks for noticing.
He's my friend and I shall call him "Squishy."


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[FlyingFishSKYw]

TBS Live Rock Arrivals

In researching where and how to get new live rock, I didn’t want more of the same- generic live rock from the LFS. Since I was going to pay a fortune for new live rock in Alaska anyway, why not pay a little more than a fortune and get something unique. Enter Tampa Bay Saltwater (TBS): live rock and sand direct from the Gulf of Mexico. Richard at TBS sells “the Package,” a complete live rock/clean up crew shipped in two parts. Part one was sand and half the rock, Part two, more rock and the clean up crew, plus lots of goodies! I am thoroughly impressed by what he sells and am so excited to have this in my tank. I went from a bare bottom aquarium with a pile of rock to a thriving showpiece in just two weeks!





[url=https://flic.kr/p/L1u6GL][/url

[xanthurum]

Very nice work

[Charley Diesing]

looks great! Keep us updated!

[tanksfishtank]

That looks great! Nice job!