75 Gallon technology heavy tank with DIY

[ilyad]

With my great luck, the following day after the Wrasse was added, he jumped out of the tank. Luckily my cat spotted the fish and got my attention. After about 12 hours, the fish was back to normal and happy. Lucky escape.

So now the tank is rocking this mesh screen top from IM.

I must say, that this screen kit is quite terrible. I previously purchased a small one from Red Sea for my nano and it was miles better. The IM kit is bulkier, painted worse, the rubber ribbing material is terrible, the clips for corners are pretty atrocious, and it doesnt even come with the tools. Lucky for me, I had the tools from the Red Sea kit, as well as some practice on the previous one, so I was able to make this one work.

The kit is designed to go inside the tank borders and hang on the corner tabs but I do not trust it hanging with its own weight :/ So I decided to not cut the kit and keep it full size. So as not to scratch the tank, I picked up some rubber feet from Home Depot and stuck them to the rails. Another benefit now, is the rubber feet actually make the screen "stick" to the tank better.

This kit will have to do until I do my research and settle on a custom cover.

As the days and weeks passed where I waited for the tank to adjust after moving each fish (3 have been moved in total now), I continued to work on various small parts of the tank.

First order of business was running a second layer of silicone along one edge of the tank which didnt settle properly the first time, leaving small gaps where water could pass through. So off to tape the lines again, and fill it with more silicone.

Next I attached, ran, and calibrated more probes (pH and Conductivity).

Finally, a very small change, but I think cool one, was tweaking the colors of the GHL Profilux Touch to match the rest of the aquarium color scheme... Blue and Black.

Current state of the sump area where all the stuff is still in the works. Soon the skimmer will be updated, and a few other pieces of equipment added.

Here's a picture of the inhabitants now of the tank! I have the Cherry Wrasse, Purple Firefish, and Yellow Tang which were all successfully relocated from the small tank to this one.

 

[ilyad]

Another issue with running two tanks simultaneously is making sure that the core components are dosed accordingly. Luckily from my previous nice pick up of the used 4 bay doser, I have two which I can run. Wanting to save on some bucks, I decided to go the DIY route for the containers.

For this build we start out with the VOSS brand water bottle made out of glass.

Remove stickers

Although not necessary, the stepper drill bit helps you get very clean cuts to various sizes.

Measuring the size of the opening

Cut the cap with the bit.

The fit was perfect for this part.

Unfortunately, the small bulkheads sold on BRS are either wider, or the glass bottle design was changed because the tightening lock (although fits), interferes with the glass bottle threading to get a closed cap.

After a bit of head scratching, I decided to test the bulkhead sitting on the glass and then tightened down by the cap. I had to open the hole a bit wider for that.

Now that the lid closes tightly, I had to make sure that air can draw into the container. Otherwise, you have a building of pressure and eventually two part would not draw. For this I used the tiniest drill bit and added small holes. Originally, I added only 1 but then put 1 more in the event one clogs.

Here is the finished product now.

I am adding the parts list here too so that people can look into this if they wish:

Supplies:
- Voss water bottle - $2 (at your local grocery store)
- Push Connect Bulkhead - $4 (BRS)
- Stem Connector - $1.50 (BRS, this is not absolutely necessary but makes the connection better for less leaks)
- Acrylic Tube - $1.25 (BRS, $2,50 foe entire tube but each of these should be enough to make two containers)
Note: these are the parts I purchased, as often the case, bulkhead, connector, and tube can all be sourced cheaper on eBay or Amazon most likely)

Tools (these are useful, but not necessary)
- Tube Cutter - $6 (BRS, this allows you to get a very clean cut on the tubes)
- Stepper Drill Bit - $39 (Home Depot, this is by far the most convenient tool, but completely not necessary as you can use big drill bits, cheaper stepper drill bit, or even a box cutter and some sand paper after to even out the cuts).

 

[ilyad]

Ok, I have more updates, if anyone is still following this snail paced build.

First and foremost, the thermostat on the nano chiller crapped out... so it was time to get a new one. Having been keeping my eye on smaller alternatives to free up some room, I decided to go with the Chill Solutions chiller. Its pretty snazzy looking and easy to hook up.

And how it looks tubed up.

Next step was to get the previously made dosing containers hooked up. Here you can see the tube being attached to the barb and then zip-tied for security.

They fit quite nicely in the sum area... actually making it easier for me to see the container amounts now that they can be stacked side by side instead of in a row.

And a little close up.

Next, we have to free up the XR15 that is on the nano so that it can be moved to the 75 gallon. Again, in my efforts to streamline the nano, I have gone with a slightly smaller light, the AI Prime HD along with the gooseneck.

I quite like the light as it comes with handy clips for wire management and is quite small in profile.

After some tinkering with the channel levels and using my PAR meter, I was able to dial in the AI Prime to have roughly the same PAR and color scheme as the schedule previously on the tank.

The next day, all the corals are looking like they are enjoying the light very well... I think they are even more plump than under the Radions.

As a side note... I am still trying to catch the last fish using a fish trap, but it has gotten too clever having seen all the other ones pulled out that method. Still no luck with getting it out. I have purchased the Tank Matez bubble trap which should be here next week to try and see if I can fool the fish that way.

The fish will look at the trap and just wait by the door until the fish food eventually floats out. I have spent too many hours "fishing."

However, the fish that were caught, seem to be doing pretty well in the new tank... Here are just a few of them.

 

[ilyad]

In this installment, I continued to add more equipment to the aquarium... some new, some which was freed up from the nano.

First, lets start with a new skimmer! The old one just didn't not pull gunk for some reason, and always created too many micro bubbles. So I went ahead and got myself a Nyos 120 skimmer.

Here are the parts that come in the box, requiring some minor assembly.

One of the steps is to remove the skimmer body to put the pump and the diffuser plate inside. One cool feature are these little separate body holders. The smart part of this is that if you accidentally over tighten the screws, you only risk breaking these clips (which I assume can be replaced) instead of the entire skimmer body.

Here is the skimmer fully assembled

And right off the bat, has great foam bubbles!

At the same time, I have moved over the dosing containers from the nano.

Finally, I went ahead and removed the XR15 (which was replaced by the AI Prime HD).

A quick wipe down of the light removed all the dust... and then attached the previously made brackets.

Then I taped the power cable to the feed string and pulled the power cable through the wall.

The light in its place

Cool view of all the lights

And a little comparison of the lights with only 1 versus 2 XR15s.

Finally, a little update video of the inhabitants enjoying some extra light now.

 

[ilyad]

The video does not seem to be working, so here is a FTS instead.

 

[ilyad]

Its been quite a while since I've updated this thread, but I have a good amount of updates to finally update here. Instead of spreading them out over time, I will go ahead and get this updated as close to today as possible.

First to some DIY activities...

Instead of running socks, I always try to run filter floss in my tanks so that the maintenance is quick by just throwing out the filter floss instead of washing socks. Because who has time for that?

Here is the problem I am facing - the flow eventually turning up the filter floss and creating a passage where water can flow past the filter.

To combat the issue, I have decided to create an acrylic tray with holes in it that will sit over the filter floss. To make sure that enough flow passes, this will require a ton of holes.

First, I took a small extra piece to test on and cut it out, marked it off into 1/2 inch squares, and drilled a few pilot holes.

After being satisfied with the sample piece, I cut a piece to exact size and marked it off.

Added all pilot holes

And using a step drill bit, started to cut the holes.

Here is the entire cover drilled out.

All the extra acrylic that was drilled out.

And how it looks with the protective tape off. You can see that there is a lot of residue left because the acrylic was old and laying in the garage for years.

And here is the clean version.

This is how the cover works to hold down the filter floss in place.

Quite happy with the result... as you can see, a lot of gunk picked up and can easily be replaced.

 

[ramona]

Great idea!

 

[ilyad]

Great idea!

Thank you! I hope more people utilize this idea for filter floss since the Trigger sump design doesn’t all you to use those media insert cups.

 

[ilyad]

Continuing on with the build update, did some more sump optimization and DIY'ing.

First, since I purchased the doser used, I wanted to refresh the product with the maintance kit and new tubing which changes the rollers, holder, tubing, and the roller covers.

By removing a few screws, you have access to the parts to remove.

Here are the parts that were replaced.

And a quick comparison of the old versus new tubing.

Now the parts are replaced and doser is ready for use, plus the old replaced parts.

Second, and pretty easy step was running tubing for the dosing from the containers, to the doser, and towards the sump. After a calibration run, I was able to set the proper dosing levels for each pump.

I also used the VCA tube clips to keep the dosing lines cleanly organized.

As previously mentioned, I intend to use one of the GHL doser pumps for my ATO refilling. This means that I needed to figure out a way to connect a feed tubing for that, meaning it needs to sit in the ATO container deep enough to feed the water.... when initially running just the tubing, I was having issues with it pulling out or bending. So the process was taking some spare parts and making a feed contraption. I took the dosing line and combined it with some remaining acrylic rods (from my previous DIY job), and the VCA tube clips.

I then used a few zip ties to keep it held in place even better. Note that the dosing tube is slightly higher than the ends of the rods to make sure the tube does not get blocked by getting stuck to the glass.

And then this is how it sits in the ATO reservoir. The acrylic rods keep the feed tube straight and weighs it down to the bottom of the reservoir.

Lastly, one of the tricks I always utilize for dosing 2 part is using a small Y connector and merge the Alk and RO lines together. The purpose of this, is to make sure that the alk line never hardens and blocks. This ensures that that alk is flushed out and the tubing is clear for very consistent dosing. Using this method on my nano tank, I have never had to clear the tubing in approximately 2 years.

As a side note, I also organized the probe cables by pulling them out straight, zip tying them together and covering with a cord sleeve. This allows me to keep all those cables organized neatly as they run through the cable channels in the stand.
As a side note, I also organized the probe cables by pulling them out straight, zip tying them together and covering with a cord sleeve. This allows me to keep all those cables organized neatly as they run through the cable channels in the stand.

 

[ilyad]

It has been quite a bit of time since my last update. Lots of new life events happened that kept me from updating this tread. Since last time, I purchased a home, went through a full renovation, got married, and got a puppy.

That all being said, I have moved my aquarium and set it up in the new place. In the next few days, I'll be doing some updates here to show the current progress.

 

[ilyad]

Well, here we go! Its time for the updates to begin. I have quite a lot, so I will try to update over the next few days.

As seen previously, the floating canopy design was attached to the wall on the previous build. Continuing in the same fashion, I intended to do the same in the new place. However, because I knew that, while renovating, I installed wooden reinforcement between the studs inside the wall prior to closing and painting everything.

And since the tank would not be set up until much later when the renovation is complete, I measured the location of the reinforcement for quicker reference during the build.

After giving it some thought, I also made the decision to upgrade the tank! Unfortunately, I could not go bigger than the previous 36x24 footprint, however, I ordered a new tank that had an external overflow (which did return some space inside the tank). While upgrading, I also purchased some upgrades for durability by adding corner braces, bottom bracing, and a starboard bottom.

New tank delivered to my LFS

And here it is in my living room, where it sat for roughly 2 months before I had a chance to finally start putting everything together.

Old tank was broken down, and all livestock moved to my LFS (Big shoutout to Elliot at @ Golden State Corals for letting me keep my fish and coral there during the move and all his help in getting set up!)

All the equipment that was being moved from the old tank to the new Knowing I was going to be moving sometime during the life of the tank, I designed the canopy and the gear to be easily removed and transferred, and the design worked!

 

[ilyad]

Why not do another update, that has a bit more substance...

Since the new tank now has an external overflow, all of the plumbing had to be redone!

First and foremost, since there is now two separate return outlets (previously one outlet running a Y), I wanted to make sure I can control the flow for each independently, in case I would like to adjust one or even them out. Also, without an internal overflow, I needed to put in check valves to reduce how much water goes into the sump.

Here is a mock of the return fittings.

And here is the back of the tank with the initial stages of overflow and final connections of the returns. For the overflow, the unions were offset to allow my fingers to fit in case they need to be undone.

Then came the plumbing palooza... again, with Elliot's help, we got all the plumbing installed. Plenty of unions and points where things can be disassembled for redoing the plumbing or cleaning (future updates will show that paid off extremely well).

As you can see, the whole house was a mess with things all over the place.

And here is the final product... showing how everything is plumbed in together.

On the inside, the overflow plumbing is as follows:
- far left - main overflow using gate valve for fine tuning
- middle - secondary overflow using ball valve (since this only has minimal flow through it, saved on the space and $ by going with the ball valve). This overflow is submerged in sump water
- far right - emergency drain, as always with no valves of any kind and ending above sump water lever to alert any problems.

If you recall, on the previous plumbing I had a manifold which is now gone. It was removed because for the previous build, I never ended up using in a few years and needed the opening for all the overflow tubes.

More updates will be coming so check back often.

 

[ilyad]

After the plumbing was completed, some of the other components went in...

Outlet relocated to the outside of the tank stand for easier access.

Canopy arm attached to the wall

Radion cables ran through the wall and brackets attached again.

Stand and ATO container placed in their spots

Quick check that the lights work

Tank was then placed on the stand and leveled.

And again, a quick check or both the Radions and T5s, with everything in place

Finally, the return pump hooked up to the plumbing

And here it is! Finally, after almost a year of being taken down, and a full renovation later, the tank was finally plumbed and in its place.

Personally, I think this is the perfect size and place for this location. It was meant to be and has good viewing angles from a lot of the living space. It is also the first thing anyone sees when they visit as its right across from the main door.

 

[NanoJHB]

Sheesh what a read !

Love all the detail and effort that went into this build/s.
Really looking forward to finally seeing it stocked and running !

 

[ilyad]

Sheesh what a read !

Love all the detail and effort that went into this build/s.
Really looking forward to finally seeing it stocked and running !

Thank you NanoJHB, glad you enjoyed the detail and for following along my journey. There's more updates coming soon... It has been a long road with some pauses and quite a lot of DIY, but all are totally worth it!

 

[ilyad]

The first time the tank was set up, with too little space on the sides of the stands, the GHL Touch was not mounted for easier access. However, with plenty of room, it was time to get it set up on the stand.

First step was figuring out where the reinforced wood was on the interior of the stand and marking the exterior with blue tape.

Then a quick "test fit" to see how it would look.

After marking the vertical height, I marked off the depth.

Once again utilizing the paper trick (where a cut out was pressed with fingers to see the openings) I was able to get a mounting template.

Then I marked the spots that would be drilled and where mounting screws would go.

Drilling of opening for the cable.

And added the mounting screws

The screen mounted to the stand.

Quick look from farther away.

And the breakout box mounted on the inside of the stand.

 

[ilyad]

Next step was to get all the electrical components put into place and tons of cable management.

First time the tank was set up, it was against a wall and capped with furniture and wall on both sides so a ton of wires just laying behind the stand were fine. In this new location, one side of the tank is very visible when going in and out of the bathroom that is located just to the right of the tank. So I needed to make sure all wires were neatly tucked and very minimally visible from the side.

As a reminder, this controller board had all of the power supplies mounted to the inner side. Lots of zip ties and wire guides.

View with the controller board, Profilux and Doser (you can also see the tons of cables that will need to be attached). The Ecotech back up battery also installed on the wall.

Starting with the Radion and T5 lighting, I routed the cables along the wall and used cable channels and wire holders. Wall mounted versions were white to match the trim. Radion power supplies also wall mounted using their holders.

Also, to clean up all the loose cables near the outlets, more cable storage was added. All have been wall mounted using double sided tape (included in the wire management kit off of amazon).

For wire guides on the stand, a black version was purchased.

I initially though about putting the guides vertically so that cables can come in and out easier.

However, that idea was scrapped because of two reasons: First and foremost, any water spillage would possibly pool in those and that is not good. Second, the space would only allow me to put 2 guides.

In any case, went ahead and measured out the necessary lengths (2 of them were too long and stuck out past the sump, 1 was not long enough). After that, cuts were cleaned up with some sand paper.

The solution was to stack them! This allowed me to put multiple levels and the channels would actually protect some of the water getting in in event of splashing.

Here you can see how the wires can enter.

I used double sided tape again and stacked the number I needed.

Here is the look from behind the stand.

GHL probes were grouped together, and you can see that they can still easily fit the channel.

Since the probes did not have to go to the end of the sump, a third shorter channel was added.

And the view of the space between the sump and the controller board.

Wires enter from the bottom of the wire manager and run up it to the controller, doser, and the outlets as needed.

To reduce wires from sticking up too high on the power strips, I used wire mount and zip ties to route the power plugs from the front strip.

And since the power supplies were staggered initially, all the wires can run across without interfering.

And the final product. Here you can see the tank, and all the special areas.

And most importantly, this is the view from the side (which was the main concern). Although its impossible to make wires fully invisible, its so minimal, I am ok with it.

 

[ilyad]

Shortly after all this wire management took place, the puppy we've been on a wait list for almost a year was ready to go home with us! For the next two months, the tank build came to a screeching halt as we had to train and get used to the pup. But I cant complain, just look at her cute face!

 

[NanoJHB]

Love the new addition

 

[ilyad]

Fast forward a few months, and I was able to complete some misc things connecting the rest of the equipment and the tank was finally wet again! Cycle began on Dec 7, 2021.

Here is the picture of the cloudy tank water from all the sand.

Next morning, the water already started to clear up

And after a few days, looking great! (And puppy significantly bigger too)

And here are some shots of the tank in all its glory (equipment and all)