RocketEngineer's 75g Setup

[RocketEngineer]

Well, since I finally have water in my 75g setup I figure I would start a thread to show it off.

History: I got into the hobby after I bought my first home. I already had a 30g tank which I have had setup for about 2.5 years now. I made a DIY overflow with a simple sump with HOB skimmer on one end, a ball of cheato in the middle and the return pump at the other end. A DIY topoff rounded out the setup. From that system, I have learned a few important things:

1) GO SLOW. Rushing causes more problems then it solves
2) Drill if possible: I have had two minor floods and will always drill my tanks in the future.
3) Regular Maintanence: Its amazing how fast algae cuts down on flow from a powerhead or how much gunk you can remove with just a single water change.

While working on the house, I started designing my upgrade. I owned a 75g which I took down when I moved and decided to build a new stand and drill for an overflow. After alot of planning and numerous changes I finally started
the week of Thanksgiving '09 by purchasing the wood for the stand and cutting the pieces. Since then, my father and I have been systematically putting the stand together and finishing the pieces.

The tank was drilled this spring for a cut pipe overflow and once the pieces were fitted, they were painted royal blue. The back of the tank got two coats of paint, the first was royal blue followed by a back coat of black. The result is that with the lights on the overflow blends into the background.

Now, for what folks always want PICTURES!
Stand Construction:


Oak Face Mockup:


Doors and Shelves


Assembled:


Right Side:


Left Side:

[RocketEngineer]

Sump water test:


Transporting:



Tank placed and filled:


Open Doors:


Sump Closeup:

[Rybren]

Very nice! You guys have done a great job on the stand.

Keep those pics coming!

[cfrobin]

Very nice. I really like the side access doors.

[RocketEngineer]

Ah, Another lesson learned: Plan Ahead. When I was planning this out, I intended the stand to be used for more then just the 75g. Its 6' X 2' so it could be used for the 75g but if I were to upgrade, it would also hold a 125g, a 120g RR, or a 180g RR. The end doors allow me to get to the storage on one end for food and things while the other end is where my top-off bucket goes as well as my controller. Eventually I will build my hood and lighting and add a calcium reactor where the shelves are now.

[sevendigitcake]

have you decided on a skimmer yet?

[RocketEngineer]

I just put in an order for my dry rock. Hopefully that will be here sometime this week.
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/...-eco-rock.html

Once the dry rock shows, I will go to my LFS and pick up some new LR:
http://www.pacificeastaquaculture.co...d%3d5%23T+2001
Its cool to have a sponsor as my LFS.

Once the rock has had a month or two, then I will think about purchasing the skimmer. It will be a Reef Octopus 150:
http://www.reefspecialty.com/Protein...duct_info.html

Its all about taking this in stages.

[Dustin1300]

Great looking stand and tank. Cannot wait to see it continue as it looks like you're doing things right.

I'd recommend getting one of the Super Reef Skimmers personally as I've heard from everyone who had the one you mentioned and got a SRO that they were even more impressed

[tydtran]

I really like that stand. Looking forward to seeing this tank move ahead.

[jb61264]

Nice job on the stand...is your sump a 40 breeder?

[RocketEngineer]

Dustin1300,
I looked at the SROs but the smallest one is 75 bucks more then the 150 and from what I could find has a smaller body. Most of the price difference is in the pump and since this isn't THAT big a system, I think the smallest SRO would still be too big.

tydtran, Thanks.

jb61264,
Yeah, the sump is a 40g breeder I picked up at petcos. After fighting with the tiny 10g sump on my 30g, I wanted one I could work in without killing myself trying to get things in and out. I bought the glass baffles precut from a local shop that does everything from car windshields to custom shower glass. Assembly was really easy since I used spacers and built the sump on end. One pane of glass a day saw it done with a 48 hour cure time in a little more then a week. All told, the sump cost me about $160.

[RocketEngineer]

What do people think about two islands for the layout? I'm picturing one taking up most of the left back corner going across the tank and a lower one in the right front corner. The one on the left will probubly be almost up to the back glass with a small gap behind it. The one on the right will be surrounded by sand and a channel of sand running between the two.

Thoughts?

[RocketEngineer]

Let there be life:


There's a handful of these little snails working the glass in the tank and sump.

Hopefully the dry rock arrives tomorrow.

[jb61264]

Originally Posted by RocketEngineer

What do people think about two islands for the layout? I'm picturing one taking up most of the left back corner going across the tank and a lower one in the right front corner. The one on the left will probubly be almost up to the back glass with a small gap behind it. The one on the right will be surrounded by sand and a channel of sand running between the two.

Thoughts?

I love the idea of two islands, but its for selfish reasons because thats the way I started my 75 I wanted to have an anenome in my tank and heard from someone that an LTA typically will hang around rockwork and not travel along a sandbed...so far so good over the last year...I have an anenome with a maroon clown hosting it on one side...also a shrimp goby pair...then on the other side I have a nice fire shrimp...softies/zoas on one side...SPS on the other side with lots of sand in the middle for clams and LPS

I have since found a nice elongated rock that bridges my two islands along the back of the tank because I needed more space for all the frags i was collecting but still have the same basic two island concept in place.

I think you'll love it that way...I did

[RocketEngineer]

If you were on the Delmarva peninsula this morning you may have seen one of the payloads I worked on launch at ~7:18 this morning.

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/wallops/..._Payloads.html

[RocketEngineer]

The rock has ARRIVED!
This is what the box looked like after I had removed about a half trash bag full of packing peanuts....


Rocks in the tank:


Rocks:




The middle one has a neat cave that I bet something will make a home out of:


Enjoy.

[firereef]

Your stand looks amazing. Wish you were from Cali. I would have had you build me a stand. Good work.

[veocool]

Hey rocket engineer..I wanted to say thanks for your other older post on building a stand..I used your cad as a guide and it worked great for my tank..saved some serious $

[RocketEngineer]

A little more live rock:

[msudawgs56]

following along !!! love it... i also would like to thank you for the stand design.. just completed 2 stands based on your post!

[RocketEngineer]

A really neat looking sponge:


A feather duster:

[ludnix]

It's amazing how interesting a tank with just live rock can be. I think I stared at my aquarium more during the first few weeks just looking at the neat stuff growing on the rocks than I do now with my fully established tank.

Your tank looks like it's off to a great start! Your DIY plans for a tank stand were invaluable when I had to build my own!

[Greenmaster]

Looks great. Do you have a fish wish list yet?

[RocketEngineer]

Thanks folks for the comments.

ludnix,
I only took other peoples good ideas and put them all in one place. Folks seem to like that thread, I'm not sure why....

Greenmaster,
My 30g has a pair of clowns, a yellow wrasse, and two firefish. Eventually I hope to add a kole tang but not sure what else will go into it.

Folks,
I have some really big pictures my dad took with his SLR of the stand being pieced together. Does anyone know of a free program I can use to make them smaller files? Right now they are 3-4Mb per pic while the ones coming off my camera are less then 1Mb.

[Greenmaster]

Paint in windows works... just re-size the image to 50% and you will get a smaller pic... That's what I do.