75 gallon idea gathering- Need storage!

[starypotter]

Hi everyone,
I just picked up a used 75 gallon. I want to know what your under the tank storage solutions are. Show me how you have all of your fish stuff organized.

I'm not sure what size sump I'm going to be putting under there, I'm thinking through my options of using my 20 high sump that I have and supplimenting with another small tank under there for a refugium, but that means more plumbing and pumps while on the other hand, I could sell my sump and get a big tank at the petco sale and turn that into a sump.

I really want to see different ideas for how everybody stores and has under their stand organized so I can make my plans accordingly. I want my stand design to be something like an L, sort of like this. If anybody knows whose thread this is let me know, I found it on my phone, didn't take any names and can't find it again.

And this tank from Freshoffthegrill on NJReefer's

I like the seperate refugium concept, and this style does avoid having to buy another pump, and some PVC is no big deal, I'm hoping some of you will second the thought of that style because honestly I just really love the thought of the separate area dedicated to algea and whantot. It also means I won't need to buy a bigger sump.

My biggest issue is storage. This tank is in the living room. Meaning my supplies either need to be stored in the stand, or at the other end of the house. Please help me with storage!

 

[Reefing Madness]

 

[Greybeard]

Nice looking concept. I've seen several around here like that.

My main goals were easy to service, and to never again need to work from my knees. I backed my stand up to a wall with a closet on the back side, and put all of the equipment in the closet. Under my tank? I built a lighted oak bookshelf

 

[Bob2bob]

I have a 75, my biggest regret with it so far has been space under the tank.

I used a 40breeder for a sump, which I love -- plenty of extra water, plenty of space for back flow, huge refugium. I also have a pretty high stand so no issues with space between sump and stand. The two issues I found were that I made the stand to just take the 75g on top and that means that with the 2x4's holding it that I barely have room in front of the sump for my magnet connecting door and I have no room for an ATO container next to the sump. Instead, I had to put that next to the stand which I dislike.

If I could do it again, I would have made a much bigger stand and placed the tank in the center of it, which would allow me to do three things:

1. I'd have a little "bar" area around the tank which would be convenient for when I have to do water tests or take the fish food out.
2. I'd have room under the tank for an ATO container rather than having it off to the side of the stand/tank
3. I'd have made a separate compartment under the tank in the stand where I could house all of the electronics, wires, power supplies, etc. I currently have a rat's nest down there which is hard to work around and I'm a bit worried about it's proximity to water and salt creep.

If you use a smaller tank like a 20high rather than a 40b for your sump these issues might go away, but worth making sure you have the room before building!

 

[starypotter]

I have a 75, my biggest regret with it so far has been space under the tank.

I used a 40breeder for a sump, which I love -- plenty of extra water, plenty of space for back flow, huge refugium. I also have a pretty high stand so no issues with space between sump and stand. The two issues I found were that I made the stand to just take the 75g on top and that means that with the 2x4's holding it that I barely have room in front of the sump for my magnet connecting door and I have no room for an ATO container next to the sump. Instead, I had to put that next to the stand which I dislike.

If I could do it again, I would have made a much bigger stand and placed the tank in the center of it, which would allow me to do three things:

1. I'd have a little "bar" area around the tank which would be convenient for when I have to do water tests or take the fish food out.
2. I'd have room under the tank for an ATO container rather than having it off to the side of the stand/tank
3. I'd have made a separate compartment under the tank in the stand where I could house all of the electronics, wires, power supplies, etc. I currently have a rat's nest down there which is hard to work around and I'm a bit worried about it's proximity to water and salt creep.

If you use a smaller tank like a 20high rather than a 40b for your sump these issues might go away, but worth making sure you have the room before building!

Those are some good points, I especially like the little bar area idea I've got to remember that. The tank is going to the right of a closet, my mom said I could take up the side of the closet so it means my water holding 11 gallon trash can can go in there and I can just drill a little hole through the wall to feed into the tank for if I get an ATO. A seperate area for electronics sounds pretty good as well, I might make a little corner area of it or something. I'd rather try to use my sump so I don't have to cut more glass since it's not exactly inexpensive.

 

[starypotter]

Nice looking concept. I've seen several around here like that.

My main goals were easy to service, and to never again need to work from my knees. I backed my stand up to a wall with a closet on the back side, and put all of the equipment in the closet. Under my tank? I built a lighted oak bookshelf

Ease of service is high up there for me as well but since I can't store things in any remote locations, I'll just have to make other ways to get things to be easy access, I'm thinking the only way to do that would be wide doors so it's easy to get in and out of there.

 

[Travis Stewart]

Just built my 75 gallon. I used a 5 gallon bucket and put it in a wicker basket outside of tank to hide.

 

[starypotter]

Just built my 75 gallon. I used a 5 gallon bucket and put it in a wicker basket outside of tank to hide.

I really like the power and control pannels being on the side like that, I'll have to see if I'm going to have enough room for that or not.

 

[Chef Tommy]

I have a 75 with a 20L underneath. I was bummed I did not have more space for a wider sump. I used 2x4 lumber & did not take that into consideration when I built the stand for the first time. However, in the end the sump has worked out as I made another sump which is in this picture to run Triton.

 

[Travis Stewart]

I really like the power and control pannels being on the side like that, I'll have to see if I'm going to have enough room for that or not.

It really doesn’t take a bunch of room as long as you have a little bit of room on the side of interest.

 

[starypotter]

It really doesn’t take a bunch of room as long as you have a little bit of room on the side of interest.

I might be sticking it in a cramped area it's something to consider for the door to be able to open.

 

[Travis Stewart]

you could also use a staging concept as I did on my first tank which was a cube. Did not want a cube sump, so built a larger sump area.

 

[Greybeard]

you could also use a staging concept as I did on my first tank which was a cube. Did not want a cube sump, so built a larger sump area.

I did something similar with my 60 cube. I no longer own the tank, but the stand was about as 'open' as I could make it.

 

[starypotter]

you could also use a staging concept as I did on my first tank which was a cube. Did not want a cube sump, so built a larger sump area.

I do like that concept, I think the design could work really well especially with a custom tank. I saw a couple drop off tanks on google and I think those look fantastic. With this build in this house I do think that it needs the L style because it has to sort of 'blend' into the corner a bit. It's a long and narrow room so everything has to be lined up on the two facing walls so I'm trying to make it less like a free standing thing and give it more of a built in effect so it's not like yet another object on the wall in that room.