RockRash's 75 gallon build

[RockRash]

I've posted pictures here and there of my progress on my tank. It's a top fin 75 gallon I bought on sale at petsmart. I'll be using a 40 breeder for my sump.

I drilled the tank a few months ago ( this has been a slow build) and installed my overflow and bulkheads.

More to come.

 

[RockRash]

I painted the back of the tank black and got to work on my rock work.

 

[RockRash]

I finally got around to starting my stand this week. I was hoping to finish up today but ran out gas for the welder. All the stores were closed when I ran lucky I found a welding store not to far away so I can exchange the cylinder tomorrow and get back to work.

This is where I'm at with the stand. I'm planning on using wood and magnets for the covering so I can have easy access to the sump.

 

[RockRash]

The equipment I'll be using. There's a reef octopus skimmer behind the reef mat. Vectra s2 for the return pump and 2 mp40s for the flow.

Right now I have 2 AI primes on the tank. I know I'll need more light I'm just not sure if 2 more AI primes will be enough or if I should add 2 hydra 32s. I have the tank sitting on the bar in our dining room right now. I turned the lights to red and added a skeleton fish for Halloween lol.

I'm hoping to have the tank on the stand some time this week so I can start plumbing. I'll update when I make more progress.

 

[Fenral]

Love the rockwork! I am just curious: what is the stand made of? (Wondering about how you plan to use magnets...)

 

[RockRash]

Love the rockwork! I am just curious: what is the stand made of? (Wondering about how you plan to use magnets...)

Thanks! It took us almost 3 weeks of gluing, mortaring eventually braking it down to come up with it. The stand is made of 1 1/2 x 2 1/2 x .083 steel. I'm planning on drilling plugs in the wood panels so the magnets sit flush and will hold the wood to the stand. I built the stand to support a 120 gallon if I ever decided to upgrade in the future.

 

[Fenral]

Ahh, that explains the magnets. :) I hope you're planning on putting about 300 coats of Rustoleum or the equivalent on that frame then. After a while, even my stainless steel lab tables started to corrode from the salt.

 

[RockRash]

Ahh, that explains the magnets. :) I hope you're planning on putting about 300 coats of Rustoleum or the equivalent on that frame then. After a while, even my stainless steel lab tables started to corrode from the salt.

Yes, I haven't decided on paining it or having it powder coated. There is a powder coating shop a few miles away. I figured I'd load it up in the truck and get a quote once I finally finish it. If its really expensive I'll be applying copious amounts of rustoleum lol.

 

[RockRash]

I finished welding up my stand today. I'll be adding plywood to the top and bottom and painted it.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I finished welding up my stand today. I'll be adding plywood to the top and bottom and painted it.

Can't wait to see what it looks like once the wood is added!

 

[RockRash]

We got a lot done this weekend. We got the stand painted, we are doing a purple themed stand and plumbing ( purple is my wife's favorite color). We went out and bought some rustoleum oil paint and mixed it to try and get as close to the purple PVC for the plumbing ( we soon found that was impossible so we will different shades of purple lol. We started painting on Thursday we did 3 coats in total 24 hours between coats. I have to say I really miss having a garage doing projects like this in the house is a pain lol.

Hers the stand. Our corgi Zev had to be in the picture lol

We also so the top and bottom wood cut. We used marine grade plywood from our local lumber yard. We also had them mix up a violet ( closest to purple we could find) wood stain. Ill be sanding the top coat tomorrow after it dries and add 2nd coat. It looks blue in the picture but it really is more purple lol.

 

[RockRash]

Can't wait to see what it looks like once the wood is added!

Well I've been nervous about the wood. I bought my first welder at the age of 15 (23 years ago) and can build almost anything out of steel. Wood, not so much lol, however I did learn a lot staining the top. I wasn't too worried because the tank will cover 95% so and imperfections won't show. I'm going tomorrow after work to buy a sander to prepare the wood for the stain. Its amazing how things show up after stain lol. Hopefully by the time I tackle the outside I'll be better at this whole thing.

 

[RockRash]

Ok I took off work early today and some work done. Waiting on stain and top coat to dry is a pain lol. Anyway I the top and bottom wood mounted to the stand. The top board still needs another 12 to 24 hours before I can put my tank on it but I was able to put my sump in place ( excuse the mess its holding a bunch of stuff lol). Sump is a 40 breeder with a diy kit.

The next few days hopefully will be big. I'm planning on getting everything ready to add water Sunday. This long weekend will be nice. My wife is tired of having the house look like a lfs with all my boxes of parts laying around. If I don't get everything done so she can decorate for Christmas I'll be looking for someone to take a reefer and his tank in for the holidays lol.

ETA: if you look at the first picture on the bottom board. You will see a perfect example of measure twice, the hole on the right was a mistake. Thankfully the sump covers it.

 

[RockRash]

Slow but steady progress today. We ended up having to put a leveling mat under the top wood. The tank is now sitting perfectly on the stand. I had to order a few more plumbing fittings I decided I wanted to add some 3/4" ball valves after the the return incase I wanted to to run some equipment in the future. So I should have everything on Saturday. Excuse the dirty tank after dinner tonight I'll be cleaning the sump and tank.

 

[RockRash]

I'm still waiting on a few plumbing parts to show up. I started mocking up what I could today. I wanted to get my overflow plumbing below the stand but I couldn't find my hole saw set. No big deal I'll borrow one from my neighbor tomorrow this will give me more time to try and figure out the best placement for the reef mat its alot bigger than I thought. Almost makes wish I went with a bigger sump lol. I decided I need to add a back wall to the stand so I can mount my UV sterilizer, so I'll be getting that done as well. Anyway here are a few pictures of the little bit I did today, not much but any progress is good.
Little dusty in the overflow the tank has been sitting a while lol.

 

[Saltyreef24]

Looks good! Following along now. Can’t wait to see it get wet

 

[fishguy242]

Very cool... ;) along for the ride...:)

 

[RockRash]

Had a box of plumbing and other goodies show up today. We celebrated Thanksgiving today so when we came home it was waiting for me. Tomorrow should be fun! Excuse the messy table everything thing is a mess right now.

 

[kevgib67]

Looking great, I’m definitely following along to see some life in there. Just a suggestion, take it or leave it, you might want to buy some Calamine lotion for that rash. ;)

 

[RockRash]

Well I had to work Sunday so I didn't get anything done. When I got home today I drilled my stand for the overflow lines. After messing around with placement of my sump gear I decided I wanted my secondary and emergency overflow to have some support. I found my bulkhead fitting bracket for my filter socks and decided to use that so I siliconed that in place now I have to wait 24 hours for the silicone to cure. This gave me time to make a back wall for the stand I'll be mounting my uv sterilizer on it.