Richard's new 75g build

Richard Newman

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Hi all. Due to my dad's passing I've obtained most of his 75g setup. I've basically kept just the tank and stand and ATO. He was running a canister filter. I've decided to go with a sump, mostly to keep all the equipment out of sight (wife's says it has to look good). Dad had quite a bit of stuff inside and out. It isn't drilled so I will be running with a HOB overflow. I have the eshopps pf 1000. I decided on that model as it has two drains and two overflow tubes, redundancy where possible to keep me out of the water flowing on the floor. The overflow will most likely get set up as a bean animal, primary drain and e-drain. I have the jaebo 4000 dc return pump which should be plenty. The sump is a Fiji Cube 24. I had wanted a little bigger, but the tank is only 21" wide and there isn't much width space in the stand, and while very tricky, it is possible to get the sump out of the stand without taking the tank off the top.

So, this is my first sump tank. See my build thread for my IM 40g AIO. So I have a few questions...and pics will get posted shortly.
I have all the necessary plumbing parts to go from the overflow to the sump, and from the return pump back to the tank, including unions, valves, and back flow valve.
I still need a pvc cutter and pvc glue. I'll get those this weekend.
Do I just glue the pvc tubes to the overflow bulkheads? The pvc seems a little loose, but it does tighten down when pushed all the way in. The overflow has 2 x 1" drains. And I have schedule 80 1" pvc and parts.

I'm considering a pair of 4K icecap gyres for flow. Anyone running gyres on their 75g that can share the good and bad?

Many thanks. This has been a great community to learn and share experiences!
 

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Hi all. Due to my dad's passing I've obtained most of his 75g setup. I've basically kept just the tank and stand and ATO. He was running a canister filter. I've decided to go with a sump, mostly to keep all the equipment out of sight (wife's says it has to look good). Dad had quite a bit of stuff inside and out. It isn't drilled so I will be running with a HOB overflow. I have the eshopps pf 1000. I decided on that model as it has two drains and two overflow tubes, redundancy where possible to keep me out of the water flowing on the floor. The overflow will most likely get set up as a bean animal, primary drain and e-drain. I have the jaebo 4000 dc return pump which should be plenty. The sump is a Fiji Cube 24. I had wanted a little bigger, but the tank is only 21" wide and there isn't much width space in the stand, and while very tricky, it is possible to get the sump out of the stand without taking the tank off the top.

So, this is my first sump tank. See my build thread for my IM 40g AIO. So I have a few questions...and pics will get posted shortly.
I have all the necessary plumbing parts to go from the overflow to the sump, and from the return pump back to the tank, including unions, valves, and back flow valve.
I still need a pvc cutter and pvc glue. I'll get those this weekend.
Do I just glue the pvc tubes to the overflow bulkheads? The pvc seems a little loose, but it does tighten down when pushed all the way in. The overflow has 2 x 1" drains. And I have schedule 80 1" pvc and parts.

I'm considering a pair of 4K icecap gyres for flow. Anyone running gyres on their 75g that can share the good and bad?

Many thanks. This has been a great community to learn and share experiences!
sorry for your loss but know he must be glad you're moving forward with his things

+1 vote icecap 4k gyres
+1 vote adjustable plumbing (but glue comment below agrees with glue, too)

for overflow bulkheads, we found parts that screw tight with gasket at the hole, then slide on large flexible tubing. Unlike house plumbing that gets put together and stays intact for decades, for aquarium perhaps if you can design attachments that let you detach for cleaning periodically you'll be happier (but, how often do we really do that cleaning... which is an argument supporting glue...)

I have pair of Icecap 4k gyres, but I also have 2 MP40s and 2 penguins in my 180g. The controller (1 for 2 gyres) uses both wifi and bluetooth and for me bluetooth works better. They are VERY adjustable, but recommend watching the videos on how to adjust. I watched in advance of purchase, but had to re-watch post purchase. Once got it going then its a breeze. They are also WAY easy to clean. The BRS video on cleaning them had me thinking much harder, but the covers pull off, the fins pull off, I soak in citric acid (I don't use vinegar on pumps) then they are color coded to reassemble and just push together. Color coding is red and green, but if you think of house faucets hot & cold (red & blue), its like that red is red and line up like faucet. Green is like blue and line up like faucet. Since I clean them at kitchen sink, I have the sink temp colors as my reassemble cheat sheet <wink> Icecap 4k gyres are also very adjustable, so you can have them way up, way down or anywhere in between. I really like mine, and like that one half of each can be pointed one direction while other half can be adjusted separately with just a rotation.
 
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Richard Newman

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Thanks for the kind comments. Yes, I believe dad would be happy to see that his tank is moving on. All his current tank inhabitants ended up going to his favorite store (Aquaholics in Orlando, FL). He and the owner Laura became good friends over a bunch of seahorses that he (and she) raised. At his passing she setup a very nice memorial tank with the fish, seahorse, and coral he had (mom is unable to keep up with the needed maintenance). I've only seen pictures, but will stop by next time I am there. Fortunately we only live a couple hours away.

I also love the Icecap gyres. I have a single 2K on my IM 40. Moves a ton of water. Very flexible, but somewhat cumbersome capabilities and schedule.

Yeah, I did a ton of reading prior to designing my plumbing. I have gate valves and unions so I can dissemble where needed. I ended up going with some flex tubing as well. I thought it'd look a little better than pvc. Though not much will be visible...well maybe. Depends on if the valves are close to the HOB or down by the sump. I plan on dry fitting everything this weekend then glueing it all. Then a big outside water test...should be quite the adventure and I'm sure water will get everywhere...lol

My biggest concern is the pvc fittings to the bulkheads (HOB and sump drains). They just seem loose, but I guess if properly glued I shouldn't have any problems.

Here are a couple of pics. We are getting a platform built so it will be about 6" higher. That'll put both of our tanks at about the same height, and should be much more comfortable to view.
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IMG_2452.jpeg
 
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Richard Newman

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Time for an update. New tank is progressing very slowly. Good and bad. Bad that's it not wet yet, but good because I still need more research and recommendations.

The riser stand has been completed, and it is totally awesome. 6" of extra height plus drawers to boot!

IMG_2494.jpeg
IMG_2493.jpeg

The stand has been stained black and sealed with polyurethane, I just don't have pictures with the tank on top. The tank and sump have to be moved outside later this week because of a pest problem we have. And the current tank needs to be covered. I'll run an air line outside with an air pump and stone while treatment is happening (4 hrs).

The good news is that the 2nd full water test was successful. The 1st didn't go so well as there were leaks in the slip joints on the bulk heads. After 1 failed order (too big) and 1 successful order everything has been sealed properly to not leak. Which is rather important as I don't need any extra water on the floor...lol

Next step is to wait for the new sliding doors, no ETA. It'll be much easier to move an empty tank so it doesn't get hit than to deal with a broken display.

I still don't have a protein skimmer and am looking for recommendations. We plan to have a heavy bioload. What is everyone else running on their 75G tank. Things to lookout for? At the moment I'm leaning towards a Redsea 300, but I'm not set.

Send in those recommendations.

Many thanks!
 
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Richard Newman

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Time for an update as the tank is fully operational. Aug 25, 2021 is when water went in and it started cycling. Started ghost feeding daily when I fed my other tank. Cycle went pretty quick as I did start is 20lb of live sand. Within a couple of weeks ammonia spiked and went to 0, then nitrite spike and decline to 0. Inverts added Sept 11th, and first two fish added Sept 18th.

Equipment at this point:
Tank: Marineland 75g​
HOB Overflow: Eshopps PF 1000 (running in a herbie configuration, primary drain, e-drain) 2 x 1" to sump​
Sump: Fiji Cube 24 (running with 2 filter socks, bag of carbon in one and gfo in other)​
Return pump: Jebao DCP-4000 (running at %50)​
Protein Skimmer: Bubble Magnus Curve Eliete 5​
Wavemaker: IceCap Hydros 2 x 2Ks (One mounted vertically and the other horizontally on opposite sides of the tank. We'll see how that works out. For the moment flow is rather good, and a single pump turned to %100 will blow the sand all over the tank, max right now is %80)​
ATO: Autoaqua (5g RO/DI jug)​
Lighting: Fluval Aquasky 600mm (was going to use an AI 32, but the mount is shot and doesn't work well on the rimmed tank. I will eventually get a decent mount and add a second AI 32. But for now the Fluval puts enough light to see everything...and there are no corals in there yet)​
Inhabitants:
6 Zebra Trochus Snails​
4 Emerald Crabs​
12 Blue legged hermit crabs​
PJ Cardinal​
Domino Damsel​

I thought there might be some issues with the initial fish as LA indicated that they didn't necessarily get along. But they've seemed to become good buddies and hang out on the same side of the tank and rock formation...lol Go figure.

Now for some pics...
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Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

  • Ball valves.

    Votes: 43 48.3%
  • Gate valves.

    Votes: 47 52.8%
  • Check valves.

    Votes: 20 22.5%
  • None.

    Votes: 23 25.8%
  • Other.

    Votes: 9 10.1%
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