75 Gallon Reef Build with DIY Stand and Canopy

[guntercb]

I hope everyone had a great week.

I have my QT setup. It only has freshwater right now. I will add the salt later this week when I get another power head. Here is a photo of the QT:

I have also started painting some primer on my stand:

I am going to do a fishless cycle in the QT with ammonium chloride. Once I start showing some nitrates, I will look at getting some fish!

Thanks for looking!

 

[dimik]

Did you fill the tank yet? I made the same mistake with the overflow box on this tank but haven't filled it yet. Wondering what it looks like. Nice build thread!

 

[guntercb]

Did you fill the tank yet? I made the same mistake with the overflow box on this tank but haven't filled it yet. Wondering what it looks like. Nice build thread!

I have filled it up when I tested the plumbing. I believe the water was about 1/2" above the bottom slots on the box so it is about perfect in my setup. The only slight issue I have is the water level is about 1/4" above the level where I have the glass dust and you can see it. I think I will be the only one that sees it so I am not going to worry about it.

 

[guntercb]

Got some clownfish for the QT:

 

[guntercb]

Here is a photo of my DIY rock:

 

[guntercb]

The aquarium stand is fully painted. I will put the doors on it and bring it inside this weekend. Here is a photo:

It is slowly coming together!

 

[guntercb]

The stand is complete! Here is a photo of the stand with the aquarium on it:

I hope to have the canopy completed next week. I have a busy next few weeks so I probably will not fill with water until mid December.

I hope everyone is doing great.

Cheers.

 

[guntercb]

The canopy is done!

I will now work to get the sump and electronics set up. Targeting to have it filled with saltwater by mid December.

Thanks for looking. I hope everyone is doing well.

Cheers.

 

[Zoaologist]

Stand and canopy came out great!

 

[guntercb]

Stand and canopy came out great!

Thanks. I like your handle. I am hoping to have a nice zoa garden in the tank!

 

[dimik]

I need to make a canopy for the same exact tank. What kind of wood did you use and how did you set up the trim so it sits on the tank?

 

[guntercb]

I need to make a canopy for the same exact tank. What kind of wood did you use and how did you set up the trim so it sits on the tank?

I used 1x6 popular to make the frame. I then just used some 1x2" scrap pieces that I screwed to the inside of the frame that sits on the top of the aquarium. If you look at the photo you can see the small pieces of wood just below the 1x2" cross members that my lights are sitting on.

 

[guntercb]

It's filled with water. Here is a video of the rocks I made! If the pH holds steady I will put my clownfish in the tank as soon as the cycle ends (I put in bacteria and ammonia cloride).

 

[guntercb]

Happy New Years!!!

I just put my clownfish in the 75. I also puchased a purple firefish that is in the QT and a green cabbage leather. Here are a few photos.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

Here is a photo of my DIY rock:

This looks really good. Can you share your recipe and how you formed these?

 

[guntercb]

This looks really good. Can you share your recipe and how you formed these?

I watched a few videos including this one:


A few hints:
The mix cannot be runny or your rocks will look bad.
When you put mix in the sand mold put in small pinches at a time. This traps air in and makes rocks look more natural.
Use salt to get creative to make caves and holes.
Making smaller rocks and gluing them with thick supper glue and epoxy worked great. Just be careful moving the glued rocks because they break easy at the glue seam.

Good luck and have fun with it!

 

[guntercb]

The fire fish came out of hiding. Here it is with the cabbage coral:

 

[guntercb]

Updates: the Firefish got some sort of infection and died.

I now have the following live stock:
Two clownfish
Green cabbage leather
Green Sinularia
Devil's hand
Elegance
Two frags of zoa's

Here is a full tank shot:

Here is the left side:

Right side:

Happy reefing!

 

[guntercb]

My aquarium was featured on SaltwaterAquarium.com reacts series!!! Here is the video:

 

[guntercb]

Monthly photo update: