75 Gallon Predator Tank Build Thread!!!!!!!!!!

[djstud]

I have been in the aquarium hobby for a long time. I purchased my first freshwater aquarium in 1982 and my first saltwater aquarium in 1983. This was while I was attending college at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. It is staggering how much the saltwater aquarium hobby has changed. Therefore, I have a lot of aquariums and aquarium related supplies in storage. In addition to that a friend I mine decided to get out of the Coral Reef hobby which she had started approximately 10 years earlier. She sold a smaller setup to a friend, but I purchased everything else that she had left. There was a lot of "stuff". There was a 75 gallon tank and stand full of corals and a "bunch" of gear. I started going through everything and decided to set up another saltwater aquarium only using what I owned. This is going to be a 75 gallon predator tank with high quality artificial coral inserts from Rock n Reef.

This is one of the coral inserts from Rock n Reef. I use it in my 40 Breeder quarantine tank, which I feel, reduces stress on the fish. They seem to be more at home than in a bare tank with some PVC tubes for hiding. I currently have 2 Pajama Cardinalfish and 1 Powder Brown Tank in this quarantine tank. Every fish goes through a 60 day quarantine before they are put in my Display Tank.

 

[djstud]

I built this 20 gallon sump using the FijiCube Sump Baffle Kit for a 20 Long aquarium about a year ago. This sump has been used very little. It holds 2 filter socks, has room for my protein skimmer, a refugium area, and a return chamber.

 

[djstud]

I have 14 unused filter socks that fit this sump. A couple of them are the thin type but most of them are the felt. This should be plenty for this build.

I have all of the plumbing that I need for this build. This is the line that comes from the overflow box to the sump. Complete with gate valve and a union.

This is a shot of the return line to the aquarium. Once again, I used a union and a gate valve on this line. I kind of like the blue and black colors of the pvc.
This is a shot of the right-hand return line. I used a Y to split this for better tank circulation.
Here is the left-hand return line.

 

[djstud]

I own two of the Bubble-Magus Curve 7 Protein Skimmers. I will be using one of these in this build. It fits nicely in the sump.

I also own two of the Lifeguard Aquatics Quiet One Return Pumps. One is a Model 4000 (1022 gph) and the other is a Model 5000 (1458 gph). Not sure which one to use. If you have any suggestions let me know.
I own this External Overflow Box, but I have decided not to use it. I am going to drill the tank and buy an internal overflow box. Not sure if I should go with Fiji Cube or Eshopps. It will probably be the 800 gph model. If you have any suggestions on which one I should purchase let me know.
A few of the circulation pumps are in this container and I have another container that has some larger ones. None of them are controllable. They came with all of the equipment that I purchased. I am sure that I can come up with enough of them for good tank circulation.

This ELOS Osmo Controller digital Auto Top Off came with the supplies. It appears that it has a bad sensor. I am going to have to see if I can get a replacement.

I own two of the media reactors by Two Little Fishies. I have used these in the past and I really like them. I will use PhosGuard in one and Carbon in the other.
I have one screen top and quite a few extra parts. I believe that I can come up with a complete set for this build.

I own six Aquatic Life LED Strip Lights that are 48" long. Four of them are 20K and two are Actinic Blue. They should work fine on this build. I am currently using them on my display tank and have ordered another Orbit Marine IC LOOP LED 48" which I run along with some T5's. When it arrives, I will use these on this build. Since there will be no corals in this tank they should work fine.

 

[djstud]

Here is a shot of the stand. It originally had a door on each side with an open area in the middle. I made some changes to make room for the sump. I believe that I will rip a piece of the leftover lumber for a vertical support on the left front side. This piece will not be very wide because I may need to remove the sump at some point. This should add some additional support to the left side.

Here is a shot of what it looks like now. None of the fitting are tight I just wanted to test fit everything. I will be removing the external overflow box and drilling the tank for an internal one.

 

[djstud]

I modified the support that I had to remove to make room for my sump. This way I still get the needed support but have room for filtration. If the sump has to be removed, I can take it out. This is the location that I have picked out for this tank. It is on the end of the downstairs family room. It is next to the parakeet aviary that I built.

This tank is on the other end of the downstairs family room. I put this in about 9 years ago. It started out as a saltwater tank and is now home to South American cichlids.

 

[Brit’s Fish]

Looking forward to seeing this build come to life! That cichlid tank is so cool & I love the aviary!! I’m sure the birds will be entertained by the fish as well & I wonder if the fish will notice them, being predators & all.

 

[djstud]

I have finally made some progress on my predator tank build. I purchased a FijiCube 800gph Internal Overflow Box. I purchased it on ebay to save some money but ran into quite a few problems. The seller was not very honest about what he was selling but I was able to make it work. The first thing I needed to do was drill the tank for the overflow.
Everything went well and the hole turned out great.

In order to raise the overflow box above the black trim on the tank I will need a couple more rubber washers so that it does not hit the lip. I have ordered these from Bulk Reef Supply along with a Union, two 90° Elbows, and some more 1" PVC. I will need these for the emergency overflow. Hopefully I have drilled the hole high enough so that I do not have a visible water line.

Next I need to paint the back glass black with some acrylic latex paint. I have done this on numerous aquariums and it always turns out good as long as you apply enough coats of paint. I have also noticed that the vertical silicone in the corners is in pretty bad shape. I am going to re-seal this tank before I use it. It currently holds water but a little extra precaution could save a disaster later on. I am not sure what king of "predator" fish I am going to put in this system. Most of them require an aquarium larger than 75 gallons. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[shakacuz]

following! looking for future updates! .

perhaps running a lionfish tank? puffer fish?

 

[djstud]

following! looking the updates! .

perhaps running a lionfish tank? puffer fish?

At one time I had a lionfish in my 240 gallon system. I really enjoyed having him until I got stung. I ended up in the emergency room with an irregular heartbeat and high blood pressure. It wasn't his fault it was mine. I also had a puffer in that system. I enjoyed both of them a lot so it is a definite possibility. Thanks for the comment.

 

[djstud]

I finished painting the glass black. I used an acrylic latex paint and put on 3 coats. I am sure that there will be some touch up before I get the plumbing done.

I have dry fit the overflow plumbing which looks good so far.
Overflow box is in place. Not sure how high the emergency overflow riser is suppose to be. Looking at photos online I figured I would make it tall and cut it down as needed. Any advise would be great. I still have to plum in the emergency overflow PVC.

 

[djstud]

I used blue painting tape and aquarium silicone to re seal the vertical joints on the 75 gallon aquarium. Now I have to give it 7 days to completely cure.
I plumbed in the emergency overflow and glued all of the pvc fittings.

I also plumbed in the return. I used a Y fitting to split the return for better circulation.

It is looking pretty good. I need to clean everything up and water test it once the silicone has had a chance to fully cure. I also ran LED Ribbon Lights in the cabinet. Getting excited to fill this with water.

 

[djstud]

I always like to have a pad between the bottom of the aquarium and the stand. I used some boat carpet for this job. It was left over from when I remodeled my boat. An extra precaution that I think is well worth it.

Finally able to fill it with water for a leak test. I use this hose to perform water changes on my downstairs freshwater aquariums. I used PVC so that it can be hung over the edge of the aquariums. It has a shutoff on it and hooks up to my shop sink.

I am really happy to say that I have no leaks. The overflow is working great, and the sump is performing the way it should. I used a Fijicube Internal Overflow Box and a Fijicube Sump Baffle Kit on a 20 long aquarium. I really like DIY projects and it saves me a little money. The artificial coral inserts are from Rock-n-Reef and look really good. Last I knew they could be purchased online at Fish Tanks Direct.

I filled this with cold tap water which caused a lot of condensation on the glass. I should have used warmer water. I placed a heater in the tank and by the next morning it was at 78 F.

Since I will not have corals in this setup, I will start with tap water. I use Red Sea Reef Salt in my coral DT but I will be using Instant Ocean Salt for this tank. It is less expensive than the Red Sea Salt. As I perform water changes I will use Reverse Osmosis Deionized water. I also plan on running a Phosphate Reactor to help control algae.

I have quite a bit of coral rubble that has been in one of my tanks for over a year. It has all kind of "goodies" on it. I will be placing this in the refugium portion of my sump. I will have to pick up a refugium light.

That's it for now, I will add more later.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

Looks great

 

[djstud]

Looks great

Thanks!

 

[djstud]

I am considering going with a Panther Grouper in this predator tank. I would purchase a small one and watch it grow. I would have to upgrade to a larger aquarium at some point. From what I have seen a 125 to 150 gallon tank would be needed to house the panther Grouper when it is mature.

 

[djstud]

I added coral sand and crushed coral to this predator tank. I think that it looks much better as I am not a fan of bare bottom tanks.

I also added an Auto Top Off for this tank. I had an Ice Cap ATO around that I was not using so I went with that. It is working great.
I wanted to mention that I have moved my Frag Tank into a 55 gallon aquarium that I had set up to freshwater in my fish room. Had to move a few things around but I think that it is going to work well. I have ordered a Seachem Tidal 55 for this frag tank. I really like these filters. In my opinion they are the best HOB Filter for a Saltwater Aquarium. I am running two of the Seachem Tidal 110's on my 150 Gallon Display Tank.

 

[djstud]

I added some Bioballs in a mesh bag to the sump. I placed them in the Protein Skimmer chamber behind the skimmer. This will give me a lot of surface area for the nitrifying bacteria to grow on. I also added some coral rubble that had been in one of my systems for over a year. This should seed the aquarium with the proper bacteria. I will be doing a fishless cycle on this system. I will start by adding the proper amount of liquid ammonia. I will test daily to watch the ammonia rise. Once it drops to 0 ppm I will start testring Nitrites, then Nitrates. This should take 3 to 4 weeks. Once the cycle is complete I will be adding a Blue Dot Puffer and a Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish. This should be fun.

I also added a cover to the intake side of the sump. I was getting some splash back on this side. I made the cover out of some polycarbonate that I had around.

I was using a 5 gallon bucket as an ATO reservoir. I did not like the fact that I had to take the lid off of the bucket to see how much water was inside. I had a 10 gallon bowfront aquarium in storage. I cleaned it up to use as my ATO reservoir. It works great. Ignore the PVC in this reservoir. It is siliconed in place for a previous project. Easier to leave it than to take it out.

I will add more later.

 

[djstud]

I finished building my Suspended LED Light Hood for this predator tank. I used supplies that I had in my shop. I built one for my 150 Tall Display Tank a while ago. They work well and look great.

I will add more later.