Nandez's 75G Tank Build

Nandez13 · Dec 30, 2014

I kept telling myself I was going to start a tank thread but never got around to it for my first tank. I?m 9 months into my 2<sup>nd</sup> tank and have been saying the same thing. I?m hoping I took enough photos along the way. I?m going to try to document the journey as best I can in this thread. I?m sure it?d be great to read through a couple years from now.

I posted on MR that I was thinking about upgrading from my 15 gallon and within a few days, I bought the 75G tank from another MR member. It?s a Deep Blue 75G with corner overflow and black rim. I?m really happy with the size of the tank but I think my ideal size would be a 90 G.

This stand is a testament to the mechanical properties of wood. The frame is built out of 1x6s and is so light I couldn?t believe it when I picked it up. It had been in use for two years so the stand had been tested out but I through in a couple 2x4s in there just to give me some piece of mind.

My first tank was a nano so this was my first experience with a sump. I set up a 30 gallon sump with the compartments: skimmer, return, refugium. I just had some glass pieces cut and siliconed them where I wanted. I originally wanted to put my refugium in the middle compartment but that?s where I ran into trouble with a short stand (lesson learned). If I wanted to keep my skimmer at the recommended water level of 8?, I could only raise it 3?on a pvc stand. I ended up splitting my drain to go into the skimmer and refugium compartments with a ball valve on the refugium line. I?m not a big fan of this setup as I never got the flow perfectly right (maybe I?m not a great plumber). The photo below is when I was still planning dimensions for the compartments. You do not want to see the terrible silicone job I did on the baffles (It works though!)

I?m really glad I decided to cure my rocks in plastic bins rather than in the tank. The amount of stuff that rocks can leach while curing is one of the reasons new tanks commonly have algae problems in my opinion (not the only reason). I have yet to see hair algae in my tank and dealt with minor diatom blooms when I started off.

Initial aquascape and some more info on the setup and equipment to follow.

Tonyscoots84 · Dec 30, 2014

Good luck with this tank and can't wait to see what becomes of it

. Will be watching

fredro · Dec 31, 2014

Good luck with everything, now let's see this thing get filled up!

Nandez13 · Dec 31, 2014

Thanks guys. Here are some pics of my nano tank that I had running. I had the tank and stand custom made because it was for this particular spot as a cable box stand. It's on wheels so I just roll it out whenever I need to stick my hands in the tank. It was my first experience with an aquarium and I didn't imagine how much of a hassle it would be. The system was probably only 10-12 gallons when you displace the volume of rock and sand. It was frustrating how much parameters can fluctuate with such a small tank.

Anyway, the coral bug bit me and once the nano got packed out it was time to upgrade to the 75 gallon tank. I have since sold all the corals/fish in the nano but still have the system running just in case I change my mind.

Nandez13 · Dec 31, 2014

This was the initial aquascape. I've lost track of how many times it's changed since then. The highlight of the rockwork which looks much better in person is the rock pillar at the front right of the tank. There's a pvc structure underneath made from 3/4" pvc, some T-fittings and some eggcrate to form small platforms. There must be twenty or more small rocks glued to the pillar. What a huge PITA that was. It looks great though now that I don't have to touch it.

I was having some problems with my sump plumbing which is why the tank isn't filled all the way. By the time I added the rock to the tank, it was already cured from being in a bin with heater/powerhead for about a month. Adding 80 lbs of live sand (Arag Fiji Pink) caused a mini cycle which went away in about 3 days.

The equipment I ended up using:
Beamswork LEDs; 2 Quad fixtures
Eshopps S120 skimmer
Koralia 850 powerheads
Hydor Universal 740 return pump
Eheim Jager heaters (running 2 in the sump)
BRS GFO reactor.

Nandez13 · Jan 8, 2015

Some pictures of the tank earlier on.

Nandez13 · Apr 18, 2015

New stand

Forgotten about this thread for a bit. I'm still a few months behind in catching up on my build but here are a few more photos from earlier in the year. Long story short, I cracked my sump when I was trying to modify my plumbing a bit. Just plain careless. It was a 30 gallon sump and cracked at the back side so water was spilling everywhere. To make matters worse, my sump didn't fit through my old stand doors. I had to drop my sump in from the top of the stand before I placed my display tank on it. At this point, I had no choice but to relocate livestock and corals, partially drain my display tank then remove the broken sump. I figured since I was going to go through all of this work, I might as well do it right. I decided to build my own stand and include some space for a frag tank on the side. I made the stand 6 ft long, which allowed me to relocate the middle brace so I would be able to remove my sump with ease if I ever needed to. I also increased the height by 4" which made maintenance on my sump soooo much easier. Below are some pics of the stand and sump I built. This was about 4 months ago and all I can say is that my sump cracking was a blessing in disguise. I'm loving the new stand. Maintenance is much easier without the brace right in the middle and the stand being a little higher.

Nandez13 · Apr 19, 2015

Overview of the new setup with a 15 gallon Custom King frag tank on the side. Using a Kessil a350w on the frag tank. Running Evergrow it2080 on the display tank.

Plumbed the frag tank it in to my system bringing the total volume to 120 gallons. Also added an extra ball valve in case I want to connect a reactor in the future.

BKLYN REEF · Apr 20, 2015

looks great Nandez!

noelskii · Apr 20, 2015

Whoa! No unions anywhere?

Nandez13 · Apr 20, 2015

Thanks BKLYNREEF. Still working on it. Need to get some doors and cladding on the stand still. Will post some updates of the aquascape and livestock soon.

noelskii said:
Whoa! No unions anywhere?

Nope, everything is slip fittings and glued.

cmantis · Apr 20, 2015

Im glad you said what I was thinking.... stand is ruff :p

Nandez's 75G Tank Build

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