Mcx23's 72 gallon bow front build...here we go!

[MCX23]

Finally got the tank home


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[MCX23]

So apparently I somehow posted that without realizing it. I started by getting my sump build. I got a 20 gallon breeder from Petsmart and when off of a design I saw on YouTube.
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That was in the early stages. I had some lumber laying around from finishing my basement so I went ahead and followed a basic plan from here about a stand. I wasn't really thrilled with the stock stand that came with the tank so I opted to build my own. I was at Home Depot and saw some pallet wood already stained and treated so I decided to finish the outside with that.
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I have most of the Stand finished other than a door and the some minor touches. I like the way it turned out so far.
Tonight I took a break from the carpentry side and soft plumbed my sump.
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I found some nice LED strip lights that worked really well for lighting everything up. Obviously the wires need to be tidied up a bit but so far I like the amount of light I'm getting.
The middle chamber of the sump is unused as of now. Thinking maybe putting a carbon reactor in, but we'll see how things go.
Plans for the weekend are to finish the stand, water test everything and then hopefully move it into the house. That's when the real fun begins!



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[Mebeknob]

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Fun build!
I'm curious how you will get those Legos out....

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[MCX23]

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That was one of my first "oh s...t!" Moments. Luckily I realized it before the silicon had started to set. Seemed like a great idea at the time!


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[MCX23]

So it's been a while but I finally was able to get my stand finished as well as my plumbing. As most of you know life has a way of getting in the way and derailing stuff. I was going to hinge my doors but then decided to make them totally removable. I still have to add handles, but for now they work great. I used magnets on th corners to hold them in place and so far it seems to be working nicely.
After a couple trips to the Lfs and big box hardware store I was able to get my plumbing fitted and glued. The plumbing that came with my tank wasn't exactly ideal to say the least. I swapped out the bulkheads for slips instead of barbs, and then the return pipe had a 90 deg elbow that was nowhere close to fitting at the top of the overflow so there again, retro fitted and made it work.
It was definitely nerve racking to fill the tank for the first time to say the least. Everything worked great other than I had a huge gurgle/air problem with my return. I have a durso setup, was hoping to be able to use a herbie but my tank only came with two holes predillled. After trying to tune my return pump and adjust the level of the durso for a good half hour and getting nowhere I turned to google. I found an article that mentioned putting a gate valve on the return to help dial it in. Lucky for me I had an extra on hand. That solved my problem, a bit of tuning and things were nice and quite, running smoothly.
So I've got everything setup in my garage for now. I'll probably let it run for a day or so and then drain and move it into the house for good. Any tips on draining the tank?
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