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75 gallon Reef Tank


mattidallama

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In the works of starting my newest tank to date. Just got a 75 gallon tank for free from a friend who gave up on reef tanks. Its in poor shape he had a stand that was in the process of dry rotting and a canopy with rusted ballasts. Threw away the stand and am in the process of building a stand.

 

I have a 55 gallon I'm planing on using for a sump. As well as a full spectrum LED light fixture Jedimasterben "donated" aka I bought from him.

 

I am consolidating my 29 rimless biocube into the 75 using the rock I have as well as coral. I have a beautiful little red Florida mantis who is about 3 inches long. I am on the fence between keeping the little mantis in my sump or donate it to someone who will love him like I do. I am working on getting my LFS to order a peacock mantis for my display. So he will not be able keep my little guy and the mantis in the same tank. I have pictures of him that I will upload today.

 

2012-06-30_19-06-56_949.jpg

 

If anyone has ideas for the tank I'll gladly take them. I am new to big tanks so things on this one are new to me. Im just glad I have jedimasterben there to guide me.

 

The tank might not be considered a FOWLR but I don't plan on making a reef tank on this one. I would like to have will the live rock in a cave system for the mantis on one side of the tank and have the other half of the tan with just sand and have macros growing there.

 

Wife loves chromis so I'll gladly put a few dozen or so in there so in case the mantis decides to munch on a couple of them I want be out of a bunch of money. Just not sure how many a 75 can support with out causing stress.

 

Hopefully I can sell my smaller tank and LEDs so it can fund my new project.

 

new pictures rolling in

 

wood cut to size

2012-09-12_13-45-07_687.jpg

 

dog sitting out side helping cut wood

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stand mostly built (ran out of screws)

2012-09-12_15-10-38_930.jpg

 

stand from the top

2012-09-12_15-10-47_796.jpg

 

stand from side (reason why i used 8 boards and not done)

2012-09-12_15-11-05_604.jpg

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11 2x4s? Ya that's a lot, I'm pretty sure u could make a rock solid stand with only 6 eight foot boards. How high are u planning to make it? I'm assuming u have a standard 75 do ur at 48"x19" for the footprint. I would think a simple 5 support boards, however high u prefer, and the base and top for about 5.5 boards necessary if u do a under 48" tall stand

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so far i have used 8 of the 11 boards and i need to cut one more piece of wood for the completion of the structure. but i plan on using the rest for trim around the base and top. I am about to upload picture of the stand right now showing all that it has happened yet.

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I told him one day he would have a big boy tank, but he didn't believe me. Now he just needs to come get the 55 tank (for his sump), the overflow, a loaner return pump (until a proper pump is purchased) and then start loading it up with sand and rock. :)

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He is right I swore I would never go over 29 and now look I will have 130 gallons of tanks in my living room and all because a friend was nice enough to give me a free 75 gallon tank. Free gifts are expensive BTW

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So i bought the wood for the canopy today and im going to a second hand hardware store where they have used cabinet doors and such tomorrow to see if i can get a cheap good looking set of doors for both the canopy so i can feed the mantis as well as for the stand so I can get in there and work on the sump.

After measuring the 55 i have that i plan on putting under the 75 i found out that the base is wider then the space for the tank to be in by .5 inches so my plan is to remove a sliver of wood from each side to allow it to fit and it will be snug. should not compromise the structure cause of the fact i doubled up on the wood for extra support and im only removing a little on each side. so tomorrow will be canopy and fitting for the 55 and maybe adding the cover to it if i have the time.

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If you weren't taking the 55g, Mariah would probably kill you, so you made the right choice. :)

well tell her not to worry im getting rid of atleast one of the extra tanks in your place this week end can you get me the exact size on how tall the tank is so i can have it for tomorrow

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All of the outer wood for paneling have just been bought and cut to size now it's time to cut the canopy braces to size and put together and put a skin on this skeleton. I'm excited

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That's one over engineered stand lol

+1 :lol:

 

I'm gonna go and see this beast in about an hour and a half or so. I'm gonna punch it and see what happens.

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Idk why but every time I read jedi's post I just imagine the little shrimp guy in his avatar saying it...weird I know

But I would say that stand could hold a small house

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Stand is half ready for tank and I think I found someone to buy the biocube. Now my only problem is what to do with "The Thing" my mantis because I won't have a tank for him and Jedi is out of room for him. Might donate him to someone who is really interested in a mantis for a smaller tank. I just love the little monster so much haha.

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new picture!

don't mind the mess it was right after everything was put together before house was cleaned from the disaster i made

 

2012-09-16_14-32-48_497.jpg

 

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now its seal tank and prime and paint everything. changed my mind on having the canopy sit on the top of the tank after seeing jedi's tank in person. i think im going to hang it and hide the leds deep in the canopy so wife cant complain of the leds blinding her

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Plans were to prime base and seal tank yesterday but I got home from work and was completely beat. Today ill try and do what I can. It's hard to work third shift and get things done during the day when it's not your day off. Will update with pictures as soon as anything else is done

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so some how when laying down my silicone after taping the whole tank i managed to walk away for 10 minutes to use the restroom and when i pulled up the tape the silicone stuck to the tape and now its ruined so i have to remove the silicone again and lay down another bead. reall annoyed at the moment. but what can i do.

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I just finished priming the stand before leaving for work and it's is looking great. Painted the back of the tank and it's in the process of leak testing. Will finish painting the stand tomorrow as well as add baffles to the 55 will have pictures in the morning once I get off work

2012-09-24_20-57-19_286.jpg

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