My budget 75 gallon build

[iambenfields]

Looks good! I was going to advise against MDF - one spill (Or a few) and you'll have sawdust confetti all over the place unless you cover it in epoxy or 1/4" of poly. (not really but you get the idea)

 

[Smokeshow]

I use mdf on most of my builds. Here's a tv stand that I finished last week.

3 coats of paint and 4 coats of gloss polyurethane.

 

[iambenfields]

Looks nice. I’m not saying it can’t be done, but I trust it less than ply when it’s likely to get wet.

 

[Smokeshow]

Was cutting a piece of acrylic to replace the glass piece for the sock holder and got to thinking about adding another piece to the refugium section to do a deep sand bed area.

Would that be beneficial or a waste of space? Its 5.5" tall

 

[Smokeshow]

Working on the plumbing. Its just a mock up until one of my buddies is available to come help me move it into my house

 

[Smokeshow]

My buddy came by this afternoon and helped me move the tank into my house. Started finalizing the position on the plumbing.

Just need to glue it up and then i can start filling it up tonight.

 

[Smokeshow]

I got the tank filled up and everything went smoothly except I have a slight leak between the outside eshopps eclipse overflow box and the tank. I have the gasket between the box and tank and another gasket inside the overflow box. I have the bulkheads nuts tightened as right as I can hand tight. Not sure how I can get them any tighter without a special tool. And tips?

 

[member 99594]

I don’t know about those washers but the standard washers for regular bulkheads have to be installed a certain way. I think the rib goes towards the glass. Also, Jake Adams just spoke about this issue with a leaking bulkhead.

 

[Smokeshow]

The washers are smooth. I moved the washer that was between the exterior box and tank into the inside of the tank and used an adjustable plumbers wrench to turn it an additional 1/4 turn past hand tight.
But to the the bad news. My kids are insisting that I move my cichlids into the 125 and want more so the 125 will be a a freshwater tank. Gonna keep to the original plan and use the 75 for the saltwater but will need a new tank for the sump. So its sill going to happen but will just take alittle but longer. At least I have some rock in a bin with some bb going until the tank is ready.

 

[Smokeshow]

Started replanning for the 75g. Have 100lbs a mined dry rock in a bucket of saltwater going through a cycle. Using microbactor 7 and pure ammonia to dose. Going to build a stand similar to the one for the 125 but I'm going to use 2x6 for the top box and will have no center vertical bracing on the front. For the sump im thinking about building a diy out of 1/4" acrylic. I have it schetched for a 36w 16d 18t. Ordered a marine depot medium overflow box thats similar to the eshopps eclipse. Has one main drain and an emergency drain. Can have in drain from the tank into the first chamber then overflow onto a shelf with 3 4" filter socks that drain into the skimmer section, then a bubble trap to the refugium then overflow to the return pump section. Will have a total capacity of about 44 gal and will have around 27 when running.

 

[Smokeshow]

Got the 75 outside to start preparing it to be drilled. Grabbed my laptop and my sunglasses to make sure and sure enough its tempered all around except for 1 side pane. Well luckily I had another 75 in my basement thats unused and its not tempered so I'm going to have to dig it out and do a leak test on it. Also got the marine depot overflow box. But their bulkheads only have 2 washers where the eshoops had 3. Should i source another washer or install it with the 2? Had issues with the eshopps leaking so has me alittle worried.

 

[Smokeshow]

And the finalized plan for the sump. Getting 2- 36x72x1/4 acrylic and building the sump. The refugium will be fed off a manifold from the return pump

 

[Smokeshow]

Picked up 2- 36x73x.25 sheets of acrylic and some 2x6 and 2x4s today. Cleaned up the 75 and drilled it for the marineland elite medium overflow box and 2 3/4" returns. Then started working on the sump. This thing has fought me every step of the way. Ended up having to shave 2" off the length because a chunk decided it didn't want to break along the scoring line. But have the back side and the sides together and curing through the night.

For the next step, should I glue the bottom piece on or the front? Or install the baffles first?

 

[Smokeshow]

So fighting with the 1/4" acrylic is a nightmare. Have tiny leaks all along the bottom edges. Looked on my Facebook marketplace and found a 55g for free. Just picked it up and doing a water test tonight. Heading to the glass shop in the morning to order some glass for the baffles. Hopefully I won't have to wait 2 weeks like the last time I ordered glass for baffles. I may see if its cheaper to order a 4x4' piece and cut it myself if its cheaper.

 

[Smokeshow]

Made some progress today. Got the stand inside and the tank on it. 90% of the plumbing is in. Have to wait until my glass is ready to pick up then I'll silicone them in, let it cure for about 48 hours then fill it up. Not sure about the aquascape. Its the rock that I had in the bin to cycle. I have another 40-50lbs in my garage. May try and chisel a piece or to to make a few flat pieces. Put 60lbs of caribsea arag-live Bahamas oolive sand around it. Hopefully the cycle will finish in a week or two. Currently have 2ppm ammonia, .5ppm nitrites and 0 nitrates.

 

[Smokeshow]

Finally got the glass for the sump today. Going to take about 2 days to get the pieces in and cured. Also picked up some jb water weld from the store to fix up the rocks. Also, someone was telling me to make sure to have at least an inch of sand in the refugium for more bb and places for the copepods breed. Was planning to have 2-3 of the unused rocks in the refugium to keep them seeded if i need to use them for something else.

 

[Smokeshow]

Worked on the aquascape today. Starting to turn out how I like it. Still have a bit of work to fine tune it.

Put 10lbs of aquarium sand and 10lbs of arag-alive bahamas oolite in the refugium to give it about 1.5" sand depth and 2 large rocks for the bb to have more surface area to grow on. Dosed ammonia back up to 4ppm. Nitrites are at 2ppm and nitrates are at 20ppm. I added a bottle of nite out II bacteria to help seed the rocks. Hopefully it will be cycled in about 2 weeks or so.
Also, those power heads are only in there to help circulation until my wavemakers come in.

 

[Smokeshow]

I think its getting pretty close.

Have a bucket full of rubble that im going to use to fill in some of the gaps. Its mostly held down by gravity but its still pretty solid.

 

[Smokeshow]

Cycling progress: ammonia dropped to 0. Nitrites and nitrates are both off the charts. Did a 30g water change and their both still off the charts. Making another batch of ro water and will do another 30g water change tomorrow afternoon. Trying to get the Nitrites below 5ppm to keep the cycle going. Also got the bubble magus curve 5 elite put together and in the sump and breaking it in. But might have to raise it up so. Its in 10" water height and over flowing like crazy.

 

[Smokeshow]

Did another 30% water change. Nitrites are now around 4ppm, and nitrates are barely detectable now. Will test again tomorrow afternoon and see what the progress is.
And i may have found another 125g aquarium for sale locally that i may pick up. It needs ALOT of work but the sellers only asking 75 for it so it might be worth it.