75 gallon peninsula build.

[SALTYMOPAR]

After about 6 years of having my 40 gallon tank up and running I'm ready to upgrade to something a little bigger I'm stepping up to a 75 gallon tank. The living room where my current 40 gallon tank is located has under gone a flooring remodel. All the carpet removed and replaced with hardwood. The tank needs to be moved to finish the floor so Why not upgrade in the process.
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I've always wanted a peninsula tank just to be able to see both long sides of the tank which. I was finally able to get the go ahead from the boss to move the tank and upgrade. The floor helped sweeten the deal on her side.

The tank is a 75 gallon gallon from petco. Drilled the end of the tank for a Fiji cube over flow box. I went with the 1200 gph which was the largest I felt comfortable with fitting on the end of the tank. The next size up was 1600gph was 16" wide which would have been a bit of a squeeze into the end of the tank. I purchased a 20 gallon long tank to use a a sump but after looking at the the foot print I realized a 29 gallon tank has the same foot print it just taller. I switched sumps to a 29 gallon tank which give me a more volume when the main pump shutdown which is what I desperately needed.

The sump design is a bit of an experiment and it might be a complete disaster only one way to find out. I want to grow cheato in first section which is on the right side let that nature filter get the first opportunity to pull things from the water. From their it going into next section with a roller filter mat. Which I also setup to have a removable plate that I can switch between the roller filter and the socks. Just incase my roller filter goes down I have a backup. From the filter section have the lower middle chamber for running media. That dumps into the return section. The chamber on the top side middle is for my skimmer that is feed from the return pump to control how much contact time the water has in the skimmer section.

I built a number of sumps over the years and typically the material I like to use is acrylic. This time around I decided to use pvc sheet it very easy to work with and gluing thing together Is pretty simple. I've been using oateys "Fusion" which is a single component glue no need for primer and it clear so it doesn't leave a stain like the purple primer. The 29 gallon tank that I had in my basement was my wife tank before we meet it been sitting for a couple years I decided to peel out all the silicone and replace it with black don't know why just thought the contrast would look interesting. I tapped the entire trim and painted it white.

Water tested the sump everything looked good no exterior leaks.

 

[lapin]

I like do it your self people

 

[shakemandril]

Looks like a lot of time invested to setup the sump exactly how you want it. Very nice!

Also, nice car! I think if I had that my aquariums would suffer.

 

[PapaFishRocks]

What’s that cool looking cabinet hanging on the wall, in your first tank pic?


Also, post some pics of the Cuda.

 

[SALTYMOPAR]

What’s that cool looking cabinet hanging on the wall, in your first tank pic?


Also, post some pics of the Cuda.

The cabinet is a 1973 pachinko Machine from Japan.

The car is a challenger you were very close guess with cuda. I've had the car 25+ years currently right now has a 440 automatic with overdrive. Custom suspension fron and rear it a different animal than when it left the assembly line.

 

[SALTYMOPAR]

Thinking about how much weight the new setup would put on the floor i figure it wouldn't be a bad idea to shore up the floor. Installed 2X2x12 beam and headers and a few 2x4

The reason I have the jack studs running the opposite direction on the wall is the house was roughed in for a 1/2 bath has a 1.5" vent pipe for the sink running through the wall has a large notchout in the studs didn't want to compromise the jack studs.

Wanted to use every spot i could so i built this little vertical drawer for chemicals testing supplies.

End of the cabinet has the electrical connection cord.

The cord next to the electrical cord is my RODI line and 2x1/2" one for fresh saltwater the other waste line. Making a huge reduction in the amount of buckets i need to carry up the stairs.

This is looking from the stairs i have great access to everything in the sump a don't have to bend over to get to it.

Started filling the tank from my salt mix tank in the basement. One of the awesome little upgrades on this new setup. My plan is to install a MJ pump on the waste line all it needs to do is start the siphon and i will have a valve on the line to cut the siphon off

For my sand bed i add 40lbs of Bahamas fine sand i washed that sand like 20 times it still clouded up it silt. When i trasfered my old tank i deep clean the 40lbs of aragonite sand i had in that tank to mix in with this tank

Add this to help boost the bacteria also added microbacter xlm. When I cut over my 40 gallon to this tank I didnt get the temperature as warm as it should have been. I think when I placed the rock from the old tank to the new I shocked the bacteria. The next day when I got up I could tell the tank wasn't happy still cloudy and my female clown was frantic in the tank had a small ammonia spike of .2ppm. I poured the remaining xlm I had left. Also used what I had left of seachem stability I had on the shelf also added prime to help the clown. I normally use prime for fresh water tank to treat the tap water. That stuff is great 90 minutes later a could tell my clown was not as near as frantic.

By the end of day the tank is clear ammonia was 0 nitrites 0 nitrates 2 phosphate .12. Up next finishing the electrical and controls and getting the lights installed.