T-Cam’s 75 Gallon

[tcampbell23]

what’s up ARC,

I’ve been a distant member of this community for the better part of almost 10 years (wow, I’m old enough to say stuff like that now) and Ive been in and out of the hobby for just as long. I remember hopping online and reading people’s build threads for hours just gawking at the pictures, craftsmanship, patience and commitment that some hobbyists had to their tanks (and the amount of $$$ they spent to get there LOL). I I remember just sitting and soaking up information and being able to spew facts about parameters, fish illness, treatments, cyano, bubble algae, snails breeding, sps, lps, zoas, equipment, and the list goes on. You named it, I knew something about it. Reefing is something I was passionate about and I was overwhelmingly fascinated with. I have learned a lot from some of the more veteran members of this community and even made some great friends along the way. I’ve seen some of my favorite tanks being built, at their peak, and then their inevitable tear-downs as interest fades and life happens. Safe to say, I’ve been around for a long time and while I may not know many of you personally, you have played a tremendous role in shaping me into what I hope to be a quality reefer this go around. This community and some of the other online communities have been extremely helpful to me and I knew one day I’d want to be able to return the favor. I hope this thread inspires some young 14 year old kid that’s up past their bedtime reading it, much like many of you guys (and gals) did for me. I’m not sure who’s cutting onions but I’ll wrap this long intro up with a huge and heartfelt thank you to everyone here. This community is amazing and the wealth of information here means more than you know. So thank you, ARC!

Let’s get reefin!

I’ve had many many tanks over the years ranging from a dorm room 15 gallon column (hopefully the pictures attach) to a 120 gallon that’s been running for nearly 8 years now (it’s at an ex girlfriends parents house. I’ll get the pictures some day ). Along that journey, I had a 75 Gallon tank that I think was the best example of all of my reefing knowledge coming together. With that being said, as I was planning to get back into the hobby, I decided that a 75 gallon was the perfect size for me as the maintenance was really easy (10 gallon water change once a week is ~10% when you factor in sump water volume) with the 10 gallon water tanks I have laying around from my previous stints in the hobby. i spent a little while scourging the for sale threads here and stumbled across a 75 Gallon rimless tank with a starfire front and stand for a steal. I had no real intentions of using the stand as I have just about always built my own stands and that wasnt going to change this to around.

I think this post is a little long winded so I’ll upload this one and keep ranting in the next one. Stay tuned!

 

[tcampbell23]

Alright boom, tank secured. Now to build a stand. One of my favorite things about this hobby is how many other sub-hobbies can stem from it. Along with finding a love for photography, videography, reefing helped me realize that I love to work with my hands and create things.

I’ve built a few stands in the past but none of them ever materialized into a real piece of furniture like I know that I can produce. This go around, I was determined to do that so I went outside of my comfort zone and built a stand out of 3/4” sheet plywood instead of a 2x4 frame that I was accustomed to. However, quickly realized that I just don’t have the facilities and tools, and skills necessary to properly handle 4x8 sheets of plywood and I didn’t want to outsource a single bit of this build. I wanted to do everything from start to finish. With that being said, my first attempt at the stand seemed like it may be able to turn into something but upon closer inspection, none of my ends where square, the whole thing wobbled like a seesaw, and the long cuts with a circular saw didn’t give me the clean, furniture grade edges that I wanted. I wasn’t happy with the direction this product was going and decided to scrap this whole thing and start over. About $160 went down the drain, sucks but, even with the materials for the new stand, I’m still cheaper than buying one and I get my custom 36” height that makes the tank come up to my armpit. In addition to that, I converted the first edition to a much needed work bench in my garage So I’ll count that as a win in my book.

 

[tcampbell23]

With the first edition stand as a work bench, I squared up my miter saw and got to cutting. 8 2x4s later, I had everything I needed to get the frame put together. I skinned it with 1/2” plywood on the sides and 1/4” on the front. I added 3.5” trim on the horizontal surfaces and 2.5” on the vertical surfaces to match the upgraded trim of my home that I’m in the process of renovating.

I painted the whole thing with white primer and then taped off the inside to paint the outside black.

I’ve still got to build some doors and get them installed and do some more painting but I’m happy with where the stand is now and while it’s not perfect, it looks dang good compared to some of the other stands I’ve built in the past.

 

[tcampbell23]

When I first got into aquariums, it was freshwater therefore everything was about the fish and I would load my tanks up with whatever cool looking fish I could find. However, now that I’m knee deep into reefing, Ive realized that having a good idea of the livestock I want to have long term, allows me to build the tank to their needs as opposed to trying to modify it later.

With all of that said, I tend to lean towards heavily stocked tanks because to me, the fish are the personality of the tank. This build will likely be no different. I haven’t finished a stocking list but because I know I will heavily stock it, my plumbing and filtration is going to be a big deal.
I’ve got enough room under the stand to put a 20 gallon long parallel to the stand and a 5 gallon perpendicular to that. The plan is for the water to drain from the tank into the 5 gallon that will house 2, 4” filter socks. I’ll place one glass baffle in this 5 gallon and drill a hole in the bottom where the water will go through the socks, over the baffle, and drain through the bulkhead into the protein skimmer section of the 20 gallon long. From there, it’ll overflow the first baffle into a section of just live rock, followed by a section of sand and chaeto, to a bubble trap, and then the return section. From the return, I’ll put a T and gate valve so that a can reroute some of the water back through an algae scrubber that I’m building out of sheet acrylic. The water will run off of the algae scrubber and drain into the live rock section of sump to be reprocessed. Hopefully this old jeBao DCT-12000 can keep up with those needs. If not, I’ll be upgrading return pumps. I’m out working currently so I’ll draw up some sketches later this evening on my laptop and add them to the thread.

There’s a small closet immediately to the left of the space where the tank will be and that’s where I’m going to put my mixing/testing/anything else for the tank station. I may even go as far as plumbing a utility sink into the closet but with a bathroom right across the hall, I don’t know how necessary that will be. At the least, I’ll put a shelf in there that’s at a good height for me to use standing up for testing and whatever else I may need. This closet will also hold my RODI, 2 - 15 gallon water containers, and all of the various chemicals, food, extra equipment, etc that has to do with the tank. It’s going to have to be very well organized to fit it all in but I think we can make it work.

Part of the renovations I did in this room, included painting the entire inside of the closet with semi-gloss and white paint to make the walls easy to clean and a little better resistant to the humidity that will undoubtedly accumulate inside of this closet, despite there not even being a door on it.

 

[york1]

Looks like you are off to a good start

 

[tcampbell23]

I’ve been a lot busier with work the last couple of days than I expected so I haven’t had the time to draw up the sketches.

I’m having a difficult time finding a 20 gallon long which is insane to me. I remember a time where they overflowed the shelves. There’s either none on the shelf or they’re running $50. Is that the new going price for those things?? I remember getting them for $25. Im also looking for a 40 breeder that I can cut up to use for the sump baffles.

Once I get my hands on both of those for reasonable prices, I’ll get started on the plumbing for the tank. In the meantime, I’m sort of at a stand still.

 

[Doberman13]

The best time to buy a 20L would be during petcos $1 per gallon sale. It happens a few times a year. If it was me I wouldn't buy a 40B to cut up. When I made my first sump I went to a local glass company and they cut me 3 baffles for $10 a piece.

Edit: a quick Google search says that the petco sale started February 27th and runs until April 4. These sales are regional so I would check with your local petco first.

 

[Steve Burton]

I've got some glass you're welcome to for the baffles

 

[tcampbell23]

The best time to buy a 20L would be during petcos $1 per gallon sale. It happens a few times a year. If it was me I wouldn't buy a 40B to cut up. When I made my first sump I went to a local glass company and they cut me 3 baffles for $10 a piece.

Edit: a quick Google search says that the petco sale started February 27th and runs until April 4. These sales are regional so I would check with your local petco first.

Well I ended up getting Steves old sump which was a 20L. I’ll look into the glass company for baffles though!

thanks!

 

[tcampbell23]

still chugging along at this thing.

So far I’ve purchased:

- RODI Unit
- DCT 4000 pump (replacement skimmer pump)
- glass hole saw kit
- 4 inch filter sock holder (holds 2)
- 4x4 inch 200 micron filter socks
- 20 gallon long sump

still need:
- Flow pumps
haven’t decided on MP40s, AI Nero, Maxpect Gyre, Neptune WAV, or JeBao. Not sold on any particular brand or pumps just want something that’ll be adequate for an sps dominated tank. It really boils down to whatever I can find a good deal on at the time that I’m shopping

-Kessils
I’m going to modify my 8 bulb T5 fixture with some blue LEDs. I’m thinking 2 or 3 kessils in place of the middle 2 bulbs. I want the tank to have a nice blue shimmer.

once I get my hand on all of the equipment, I’ll get the this thing leak tested again, plumbed up, and ready to cycle.

stay tuned!

 

[york1]

I would go with gyre pumps. Icecap if you have the budget or jebao if the icecaps arent in the budget.

 

[tcampbell23]

Spent an hour or so replacing the pump in my “Redstarfish” (Coralbox/JeBao) protein skimmer. I’ve had this skimmer for as long as I can remember. It was on my first 75 gallon so at least 6 years. I tested it and the pump didn’t work so I upgraded it to the DCT-4000 from the 3000. Ho

 

[tcampbell23]

I would go with gyre pumps. Icecap if you have the budget or jebao if the icecaps arent in the budget.

Ok ill look into it. Any reason why you recommend gyre style pumps?

 

[tcampbell23]

I get really excited every time I get the chance to add an update here.

Today, I finally found a 5.5 gallon tank in store so I grabbed that and built a stand for it and dry fit in into the stand.

the plan is to put one bafffle into this 5 gallon and drill a drain into the side. The reason I’m doing this is to free up the space that the filter socks would take up. Doing this allows me to make the skimmer section of the as small as possible and make the refugium as big as possible. I am going to utilize the space on the other side of the baffle for something, I’m just not sure what yet.

 

[tcampbell23]

Ordered another water container and come to find out they are 15 gallons instead of 10. Anywho, I’m going to build a mixing station and stack these in the closet. RODI water on top and Saltwater on the bottom.

 

[tcampbell23]

Got some Vortex flow accelerators in the mail today. I’m excited to try these out! I’m hoping the return pump can handle the pressure of everything that’ll be attached to it.

 

[tcampbell23]

every day that I have a little free time, I try to do a little work on the tank. Today, I tried to drill the 5.5 gallon for a 1 inch bulkhead and cracked it

 

[hiimsean]

I’ve heard those 5.5s are hard to drill since the glass is so thin. Good thing they’re cheap haha

 

[tcampbell23]

I’ve heard those 5.5s are hard to drill since the glass is so thin. Good thing they’re cheap haha

Definitely a good thing they’re cheap lol. I grabbed another one today as well as a 20L that I’ll use as my QT tank.

 

[tcampbell23]

I didn’t put much effort into drilling the first 5.5 gallon and in return, I cracked the tank. Tomorrow, I am going to cut and drill a template for the drill bit and be a little more patient while drilling. Hopefully, by this time tomorrow, the tank will be dry plumbed and if time permits, I’ll have the mixing station all finished up as well.