Magma's 75gal Build

[Magma]

Picked up a 75gal tank a little while ago and now that we have figured out what to do with it I figure lets start the build!

So I put it into place in the living room and started to fill it today. But it worked fine untill I got 3/4 of the water into the tank and it sprung a leak..bottom front middle of the tank...Damn..a 5ft stream of water out a whole no bigger than a pin. I raced to clean it up but still ended up with a fair amount of water on the floor :S wife is not happy.


So back to the drawing boards. I need to re-seal the tank before anything happens. Most of the tank is done now just doing a nice neat job on the edges.

Also painted the back of the tank black just with normal paint, rolled it on and I notice is peeling now but thats fine I have some black spray which I will use later this was just left over paint I had from something else anyways.

Hope to install some plugs inside the stand itself to help keep the mess of wires/power bars away from the back of the tank and inside the stand itself. Possibly some switches onto one side of the stand as well which control plugs for lights, power heads etc.

[Magma]

So today I brought power into the stand. I installed a GFCI Plug and then wired in 3 extra 15amp receptacles just so I can have some easy cable management when i go to start getting the tank setup.

Heres what I picked up:

12/3 Cabtire (bout 5ft)
3 Decora Plugs
4 Gang Box
Flat plug connector

Already had an extra GFCI plug that I wasnt using so saved me some money



Step #1 Mount Box


Step #2 Install Plugs Correctly


Step # 3 Plug in


And Finished!



So after talking to the wife about the tank we decided to get maybe 10-15lbs of live rock for this tank and then get the rest from Eco-Reefer.com. They have a "starter" pack for a 65gal aquarium that would work well for us and will save us a lot of money on live rock and sand. Pack has 50lbs of rock and 50lbs of sand for about 240$ (shipping included) which is a great price. http://www.eco-reefer.com/ We will be ordering this around Xmas since we are in no rush to get it anyways.

After looking into it and the budget again and talking over dinner we might end up going for a easy way out...

Eshopps: Reef Sumps pick up the rs-75 sump and the matching overflow and skimmer from this company that will free up a lot of space under the tank so we can store things and keep clean on the inside.

Now just a matter of pricing out:
Sump--RS-75
Skimmer--PSK-75
Overflow--PF-300


But then again who knows, things could change as well. Just plumbing isnt my thing so I dont want to be ****ing around trying to solve something thats outta my league.

[Rbacchiega]

when it comes to plumbing, keep it simple. Ball valves and union fittings are a good idea, allows for easy change out of parts etc if need be. Some suggest check valves, I don't use them personally, just leave enough room in your sump for back flow if the power does go out and be sure to drill anti syphon holes in your return line (just below water level)....

[Magma]

Build is on hold now

Got laid off due to lack of work, o well thats the trades for yah I get an EI vacation.

Good news is after resealing the tank and testing it with 10gal of water today, no leaks!

Probably add 10-15gal tomorrow to see if that holds as well and keep going till full before I drain the tank to wait for income again.

[Magma]

(bad cell phone pictures in here sorry!)
ok I need help with the sump/refug for this tank the stand is being a pain in my backside...

Heres some pictures of the stand to get an idea of what I mean.

The stand has a divider in the middle with very limited room for anything so I was looking at using maybe the EShoppe sump (model and size RS-75(18" x 10" x 16"))

But then maybe we could do a dual sump? I just dont know...

I was thinking of using the Eshopps sump, skimmer, overflow but I would like to have a place to grow cheato and have more LR/sand there...

So here is a picture of the space I have...
14 deep MAX
26.5 high MAX
20 wide MAX

but I figure to fit it all in I would need to lose at least an inch of all that maybe 2 so workable space is more like

12 deep
24 high (maybe less so I can include the plumbing easyer)
18 wide (to allow for door clearance)


Eshopp Sump Size
18" x 10" x 16"

Skimmer
Diameter 3"
height 19"
Foot print 9" x 4"

Overflow
6" x 3.25" x 10"