View Full Version : Spitfires 75G low maintenance home office tank build
spit.fire
10-25-2015, 01:00 AM
hi,
so lately ive been spending alot of time in my office at home and decided to spice up the room, currently i have a paludarium in the office but decided to go with a full reef to keep my entertained. Hoping to keep it somewhat low maintenance
Equipment:
75g with custom corner overflow
Steel stand (built by me)
Plain old sump
vertex omega 150
hagen glo dual bulb t5ho fixture
apex neptune system
tunze powerheads
Building stand at the shop (1x1 hss), seems a little small but according to autocad it can support the weight no problem
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/DSC04178_zps1j6um7hq.jpg
Side of office cleared out and stand in place
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/DSC04188_zps5qfatpob.jpg
i dont like to put doors on my stands as i find the inner workings of a system just as interesting as the display itself
Tank... so long story short, i dropped it about 15 minutes ago, dont worry i broke its fall, unfortunatly my knee broke the bottom panel :mad2:
this will add a bit of a delay to the build but im fairly certain i have another glass panel that size somewhere in my shop
Lesson learned tho, dont go up stairs while carrying a 75g tank on your own
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/DSC04189_zpsgdqrrbq8.jpg
Ryanerickson
10-25-2015, 01:05 AM
Nice Tyler lol
spit.fire
10-25-2015, 01:20 AM
Nice Tyler lol
ya not one of my finest moments....
i have 2x 4' tanks, i picked that one because the trim was in better shape but after taking some quick measurements the trim off the broken tank will fit the other one :mrgreen:
spit.fire
10-25-2015, 08:00 PM
Through the magic of television we have a tank
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/IMG_4220_zpspzrd6ibi.jpg
get to pick up the sump today
spit.fire
11-01-2015, 12:23 AM
starting to plumb the tank
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/DSC04192_zps9isbvcg9.jpg
Coral, Sir Reginald the third, and Cooper all locked up for getting in the way
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/DSC04193_zpsktooxeqg.jpg
Leak testing the bulkheads
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/DSC04194_zpsnopvr3z1.jpg
sump shot
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/DSC04195_zpsloi6ckki.jpg
spit.fire
11-11-2015, 05:23 AM
ok so ive been asked alot about how i make such large branching rock structures without them collapsing.... so here is my quick and dirty guide to super awesome macdaddy rockwork
Step one
Get inspiration (look at bonsai trees, best place to get ideas imo)
Step two
Pick your rock, doesnt matter what it looks like, the plan is to not see it after you coat it in your corals (i cheat, there was about 200lbs of bleached and acid dipped rock in my garage)
Step three
Find a sturdy base, the base will be what will determine how far you can go with your ideas, the heavier the better as it is what will balance everything
Step four
Start by drilling holes and zap strapping everything together, using anything you can to prop up your structure, the idea here is to make it as strong as possible with the zap straps, dont be afraid to use alot of them
Step five
After you have a structure you're happy with, start filling the gaps between each rock with my special concrete (or other brands, i dont care....) dont be shy with it, the stuff i use grows coraline and corals like crazy so it gets hidden in no time. Also cover any visible zap straps with concrete to hide them
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/Office%20tank/IMG-20151110-WA0003_zpsqgacl09p.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/Office%20tank/IMG-20151110-WA0002_zpsly17teky.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/Office%20tank/IMG-20151110-WA0001_zpsdiveek3b.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/Office%20tank/IMG_4236_zpscualikc7.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/Office%20tank/IMG_4237_zps7ulyd6dd.jpg
And a bunch of pics of my paludarium
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/Office%20tank/IMG_4239_zpspteps6ee.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/Office%20tank/IMG_4240_zps14z8abyl.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/Office%20tank/IMG_4241_zpsnn47ghu6.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/Office%20tank/IMG_4242_zpsfx1rnxpr.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/Office%20tank/IMG_4238_zpsihwmkrlj.jpg
Slyguy00
11-11-2015, 01:47 PM
Nice rockscape write up Tyler. I like what you did with that one. Now hurry up and get that thing running:mrgreen:
spit.fire
11-11-2015, 07:24 PM
Nice rockscape write up Tyler. I like what you did with that one. Now hurry up and get that thing running:mrgreen:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/Office%20tank/IMG_4245_zpsjrml8mwk.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/Office%20tank/IMG_4244_zpshxsg70dl.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/Office%20tank/IMG_4243_zpscqrai989.jpg
rock in the tank
sump pic
ive been having problems with the paludarium and slugs, pulled 6 slugs out of it in the last week, i think they hitch hiked in on a plant i got from a plant shop
will be starting to mount some of the corals will be mounted on the weekend
Slyguy00
11-11-2015, 07:59 PM
Looks good dude!
maron6977
11-15-2015, 06:19 PM
Ya, looks really cool . Can't wait to see with some frags .
rusty shackleford
11-15-2015, 08:27 PM
Good luck getting work done
I can't even watch a movie properly with my tanks in the room lol
spit.fire
11-17-2015, 05:21 AM
added some coral and a fish
i LOVE triggers
ive decided to go with a somewhat predatory tank
my goal for fish if i can get them to cooperate:
pink tail trigger
indicus trigger
some sort of non dwarf, non koran angel
and some pictures
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/Office%20tank/IMG_4249_zps2bbcj8bq.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/Office%20tank/IMG_4248_zpsuwykwzwj.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/Office%20tank/IMG_4247_zpscrfthaif.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/Office%20tank/IMG_4246_zps6jhskyro.jpg
Wildechild_01
11-17-2015, 04:05 PM
That is some impressive rock work, I will have to keep those tips in mind for my rebuild. Triggers are amazing, interested to know how they fair with the corals in the tank.
spit.fire
11-17-2015, 04:12 PM
The trigger keeps knocking the montis off the rockwork
Skimmer Juice
11-17-2015, 06:17 PM
tanks looking really clean I like it
spit.fire
11-19-2015, 02:56 AM
Just wanted to show off some of the rockwork that I and Albert were commissioned to build recently.
Beer bottle for scale... I'm not an alcoholic.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/DSC04267_zpsckslvgba.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/DSC04264_zpsecm0ezqk.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/DSC04263_zpsmqa5a8k7.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/DSC04266_zpsekhncouj.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/DSC04265_zpsnhuejpuk.jpg
spit.fire
11-25-2015, 05:36 AM
quick video update
added a hawkfish, clownfish, and kole tang
bunch of corals, easy sps, lps, and softies
https://youtu.be/-S8rc-C81sw
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