# Tank Journal 75gal



## TheSpaz13 (Apr 9, 2010)

Alright so I wanted to start a tank journal for my 75 gal, so even though I'm done with most of the building and such, better late then never so here we go.

This is where I'm at right now. Its a 55 with 3 reds an Emperor 400 and another Aqueon filter that came with the tank. Its a solid setup that's done me well thus far, but it's time for an upgrade. Right now I have 3 reds but I'd like to add to them and I'm going to need a bigger tank








So I started searching craigslist for a deal. I wanted pretty much a complete 75 gallon setup that didn't include fish or a stand and after a week or so of casual searching, I found a guy that was selling a tank, light, hoods, 2 Penguin 350s and a pile of deco and random chemicals that filled half the tank for $200. So $140 later I had a setup with a spray painted blue background and hard water build up all over the place, but it holds water and is bigger then my old tank so









After about a half hour of scraping and wiping blue paint chips off of the tank and all over me, my girlfriend, both dogs and the inside of my care (seriously, that stuff does NOT come out of upholstery), the tank was clear again, and I found out why it was painted. There's minor scratches up and down the bottom 6 inches of the tank, but nothing that deep or noticeable so no complaints from me. Right now I'm thinking I'm going to plant most of the back anyway so no big deal.







Taped up with blue painters tape I painted the back of the tank with a foam brush and acrylic paint from A.C. Moore, or any other craft store. When I was painting mine I had the tank sitting next to the door in my garage so I was able to see the areas where the paint was thin because the light would shine through, and the ventilation helped the paint dry faster. When I didn't see any light through the background, I knew it would looks solid and consistent. All told, I think it took 3 coats and a little bit of touch ups but it looks good to me.








Two days after I got done painting the back of the tank I got a very nice surprise...a huge tax return check. Thank you Uncle Sam! So I scrapped the idea of HOB filters and went right with an XP4 and banked the rest. As soon as I got home it was hooked up and started cycling.








So the next task at hand was to build a stand. Lucky for me, I had a bunch of 2x4s and a few pieces of plywood floating around to help cut my material budget almost in half. Building the stand was easy for me on account of my carpentry background, so I built this like any house, box on top, box on the bottom and studs every 16 inches all around. The only place I didn't have studs every 16 inches was the front because I wanted 2 doors that would open so I had to center the middle support to make the doors symmetrical. To compensate for the bigger gaps and to add overall strength, all the corners are solid, built with 3 2x4s screwed together with 3 inch screws, and I also doubled up on the center support too. Another important design feature I included was to make sure that the rim of the tank, where the weight actually lays, is sitting directly on the top framing. I framed the top box 3/4-1 inch bigger then the size of the tank so that all the weight was distributed across the frame and all the sheathing was supposed to do is to hold the stand square.







Just a few tips for anyone building their own stand: NEVER use a level, the ground your building on is almost certainly not level and it will make you build a crooked stand. Instead rely on tight measurements (down to 1/16 of an inch if you can) and just keep everything tight when your assembling everything. To check for how square your stand is measure from corner to corner (diagonally) both ways, they should be the same distance, it doesn't have to be perfect, but its a good guide and makes putting the sheathing on easier because you can rely on everything being square. Picking straight 2x4s is very important when your looking at doing something that is as detailed and fine as this. The last thing you want to do is sit there wrenching studs around especially since its near impossible to get bends out of anything under 2 feet.

To finish off the night, I threw a price of plywood on the bottom where the filter will sit and slapped a shelf in using some scrap 1x12 pine I had in the garage and used L brackets to support it.








Alright, so next up was the sheathing and trim. I used 1/2 inch plywood on the back and top and 1/4 inch sanded lauan for the front and sides. One sheet of each was more than enough to do the whole thing, and I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the scrap. When I put the back and top on I screwed the hell out of it, 1 1/2inch screws every 6-8 inches. Yes, this is way overkill to just hold the ply on BUT the purpose of using that many screws is to give the frame rigidity. With all of those screws in it the stand will never warp or rack without a ridiculous shock. For the luaun I used ribbed paneling nails in the same way. Although it isn't as strong, nailing the hell out of the lauan isn't going to hurt anything, especially since I managed to hide most of the nails behind the trim. To get the front openings I temporarily nailed the front panel up and scribed lines on the inside and just cut them out with a circular saw and sanded down any extra ledge with a palm sander when the piece was hung permanently.

For the trim I used 3/4 inch x 3/4 inch corner guard trim around the top and down the sides. For the base molding and door trim I made simple box trim using a table saw. I just took some 1x4 primed pine and ripped pieces that measured 3/4x2 inch and BAM! Instant trim. A brad and trim gun made installing this a breeze and I made sure to glue all the joints with wood glue to guard against separation from the wood shrinking and expanding. The most accurate way to do trim is to hold the piece where it belongs and scribe a mark to cut. Tape measures are good but there's always a little bit of wiggle room with them. 








The next day came the doors, an area where I knew headaches would come. its important to mention that I used no mortise hinges because I had nothing but a chisel to mortise with and that is always a pain. I used 3/4 inch plywood for the doors. I got away with getting 1 2x4 foot sheet from Home Depot and cut each door 1/8 inch short on each side and tried to hang the hinges so the door would close flush with the front of the cabinet. This was a lot of guess and check for me. I was doing it by myself having to hold the door with one hand (and sometimes a foot) while drilling mounting holes was troublesome at best. I want to say I had to set each door twice to get it how I wanted it, but I got it eventually. The picture frame trim I put around the doors I glued onto the plywood and used a brad gun to hold them in place so they wouldn't budge. With the trim being 1/4 inch and the plywood being 3/4 it was impossible to find some type of nail or screw that wouldn't show on the front so glue was the best option for me. When I did the layout for the trim I did not go with the edge of the doors, I measured off of the sides and bottom trim to make sure everything looked parallel. At the time I was thinking of painting the trim a different color from the walls of the stand, and if the lines weren't parallel it would be noticable.








Finally came priming and paint. I sanded in between coats using 220 grit and vacuumed out all the dust so it was smooth to the touch when I finished. Hung up the knobs and called it done






























My parents said this wasn't the right animal for this but eh...she fits

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So last I left off I was waiting to set this bad boy up. Well, as of last weekend MISSION: ACCOMPLISHED!!







That done, let me just say what a pain in the ass it is to set up a 75gal where a 50gal used to be, there really is absolutely no easy way to go about it. What I ended up doing was getting the fish out of the tank and into 3 gallon buckets with an air pump going, draining the water out and getting the sand out. (The sand part was complicated since I decided to be smart and put gravel and sand in...don't do that if you know your upgrading!)

I started to scape the tank out but ended up running short of flourite so I couldn't finish it off. As much of a pain as it was last time, I'm going to mix up the substrate again. I like the sand look but I want something that's going to be better for the live plants, so I'm layering sand on top of flourite. Let me just say rinsing flourite...PITA the stuff is filthy. It took me 45 min a bag and I still ended up with a garbage piece of filter floss in my filter. Its not the best pic in the world but here








and the other side








In the back I have Aluminum Plants (Pilea cadierei), Cryptocoryne wendtii, and some little grass thing my g/f talked me into buying in the front and a random palm I found that was a complete impulse buy in the corner.

The stand came out great too. So much room for the piles of crap I got all over the house. I added a couple of little conveniences that you guys might want to consider if your building a stand. First, a light. For $8 at Walmart it seemed like a worth while investment
On








Off








That's going to make my life a little easier. I also cleaned up the wires as good as I could, check this out.








Ok that's it for now. More will be coming along soon enough tho!


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## Guest (Apr 17, 2011)

Nice, looking forward to more pics


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## e46markus (Dec 9, 2010)

Looking good man, you going to use your 55g for anything?


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## TheSpaz13 (Apr 9, 2010)

e46markus said:


> Looking good man, you going to use your 55g for anything?


Not sure right now, I've wanted an elong for a while now so I might go that route. But one of my friends did mention that he wanted a bigger tank so I might sell...its a toss up completely


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## TheSpaz13 (Apr 9, 2010)

Added more, lemme know what you guys think


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## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

really enojoyed your journal and the detailed pics. the outcome looks amazing man. the stand you built is legit


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## e46markus (Dec 9, 2010)

Really nice job on the stand. Do you have a timeline for when you want to get everything up and running?


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## TheSpaz13 (Apr 9, 2010)

Originally was aiming for last weekend but with the pile of school work I've had to push it back. I'm probably going to get everything set up next Saturday but won't be done until the week after, I still need to do some shopping, I'm planning on planting this one so I'm going to need substrate plants and a light


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## e46markus (Dec 9, 2010)

Sounds good bud, it'll be nice to see the finished product.


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## kongy911 (Apr 20, 2009)

that is a nice build. i was so into the story. im gonna wait for the pics now.


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## FishermanCanada (Feb 12, 2007)

Excellent workmanship. I especially like the breed of aquatic life in your 75. Does he use the whole tank or just sit in a corner like some breeds?


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## Smoke (Sep 8, 2010)

That's a big feeder


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## Piranha-Freak101 (Dec 8, 2010)

^^^


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## TheSpaz13 (Apr 9, 2010)

So sorry for the slow progress so far guys...been busy with work and school final semester and I got 1 week left.







So an update...the stand is still sitting in my garage, hasn't moved an inch...and I lost a red so now I'm down to 2, it's been a rough week for keeping fish. So now I'm going to have to find a couple of 5-6 inch reds for new roommates (for those wondering, nobody stocks them). But on a better note, I'm tossing the idea around of building a custom hood with built in t5s. I did a rough material estimate on that project and it came out well under $100 which is WAY under what they normally go for



FishermanCanada said:


> That's a big feeder


Hey, they're hungry...can't let them to hungry. My mother was a not satisfied with that meal tho...


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## e46markus (Dec 9, 2010)

Sorry for the loss man, just becomes a hastle now finding reds that size in your area.

Good luck on any exams you have, just finished mine this week







keep us posted.


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## TheSpaz13 (Apr 9, 2010)

Added some more to the original post guys...enjoy!


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## e46markus (Dec 9, 2010)

looking really good, congrats man.


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## bob351 (Oct 23, 2005)

Love the organization and aquascape amazing job so far


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## davery08 (Mar 4, 2011)

Great set up! Loved reading everything 
Would you have an estimate of how much it cost for everything? Tank, filter, powerhead, wood for stand?


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## TheSpaz13 (Apr 9, 2010)

davery08 said:


> Great set up! Loved reading everything
> Would you have an estimate of how much it cost for everything? Tank, filter, powerhead, wood for stand?


Oddly enough, I have been keeping a pretty good record of everything so far here's how it broke down for me.
Tank (off of craigslist with 4 powerheads, 2 penguin 350s, air pump, stones & accessories) 140
XP4 (new) 225
Stand 50ish
Total 415

Remember though, I had A LOT of the stand stuff in my garage. I just did an estimate off of home depots website and it came out to just over 100

I'm also selling off most of my old stuff to recuperate the costs. I got rid of a powerhead for 10, some random deco for 25 and my 55 and stand for 150. So all told it cost me 230 out of pocket for the tank filter and stand, not counting whats going into it, all the plants and flourite and stuff. It was a lot of money out of pocket but something I have been really thinking about for a while now.


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## TheSpaz13 (Apr 9, 2010)

bob351 said:


> Love the organization and aquascape amazing job so far


Thanks man, I'm going to get some C. Parva for the foreground but I need to make sure I have enough light for that first...I might just throw it in and see how it goes...worst case it gets pulled out, no big deal


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## TheSpaz13 (Apr 9, 2010)

So I finished off the aquascape yesterday. The palm in the corner isn't doin too hot so I'm thinking its going to be replaced, maybe a large sword in its place? Not really surr, but the little guys love hanging out of there





















So can anyone guess what piece of deco I let my gf put in there?


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## Da' Manster! (Sep 1, 2009)

Looking good, Spaz!...Your setup rocks like a MINISTRY concert!!...


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## bob351 (Oct 23, 2005)

skulls or rocks... i actually like skulls in a piranha tank as corny as it is, esp when there is a full size skeleton of somthing in a huge pygo tank, its quite comical









The tank is coming along great though, cant wait to see some p's in there.


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## Smoke (Sep 8, 2010)

you should hang a hammock onto the palm trees for the Ps to relax







j/k coming along nicely


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## the_w8 (Jul 28, 2003)

Looks real nice. i like the stones. I'm guessin mama wanted the skulls in there


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## Piranha-Freak101 (Dec 8, 2010)




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## TheSpaz13 (Apr 9, 2010)

Not really the biggest and best update in the world but I figure I would throw something up here just for kicks. I wanted a power head for current so the reds would have something to play in and this is what I ended up with 







Its a good size and moves alot of water for only being a 75 gallon tank but there's still dead spots so its no big deal. Here's a couple in the tank, the thing is huge


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## sick of chiclids (May 25, 2010)

love the evo series. i have a 1400 on my tank. if you think thats huge, you should see the previous line. my brother has an HK 5 on his reef tank. thing is the size of a softball!


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## TheSpaz13 (Apr 9, 2010)

I actually did check out one of the older models, they had one on sale right next to this one. The thing was huge, I couldn't imagine looking at it in this tank, maybe something bigger like a 125 or something but on a 75 it took up WAY too much space. I actually have a smaller one on my 29gal rhom tank and the thing works like a dream, I hope its bigger brother is just as good


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## Piranha-Freak101 (Dec 8, 2010)




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## TheSpaz13 (Apr 9, 2010)

So its been a while, but a lot has been going on in the 48"x18" penthouse in my living room. First was a little rooftop remodel; a new roof and new lighting. Got all glass lids for $50 from a LFS and found a new HOT5 online for $60, and the whole tank took on a new appearance. The T5s are crazy bright and are probably going to do wonders for the plants, but the reds aren't exactly used to their new lights yet.

Lights on
View attachment 202798

Lights off
View attachment 202799


I'm in love with what these two upgrades did to the top of the tank, the whole thing looks incredibly clean whether the lights are on or off. Oh and the site I got the lights from was aquatraders.com, they have a lot of great stuff there for reasonable prices. I thought a HOT5 setup was going to be too costly to be a possibility for me...but what do I know anyway. Here's the exact one I got.

Fast forward a couple of days and I'm browsing craigslist for a couple new reds to add to the two that I have and BINGO. After well over a month of looking and waiting I managed to find someone selling two 3" reds for $35. I wasn't really too sure of the size since mine are a little bigger then that and I wasn't really looking for expensive feeders, so I told the guy I would take a look and explained my dilemma. When I got there this is what he had
View attachment 202800

Now the bottom of that cooler is about 8" from one side to the other and you can pretty clearly see that those reds are closer to 6" then 3". That meant the deal was two 6" reds for $35...I'm in, was looking for this for a while and any store wanted $65-$75 EACH, I couldn't pay him fast enough. The only trick came when we were transferring the fish into the cooler. One of the little guys go stuck in a whole in the net and the thing got hooked around his gill plate. It was an interesting experience playing with scissors and pliers half an inch away from a fishes eye and well within biting distance. Either way, it took some time but I got him out and now they're all livin it up! Here's them in the tank, all four are under that piece of driftwood on the far right.


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## bob351 (Oct 23, 2005)

Is it just me or do pygos look so much better from above... although i do like my arowanas from above so i might be bias to fish from above. Nice looking reds and great deal don't find many people underestimating there size


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