75g Acrylic tank w/ 40g sump (Journal build thread)

[rickztahone]

the size of the wood that you have used to support ;-)

I used all 2x4's

[marinum]

thanks

[rickztahone]

progress report (without photos ):

I finally ordered my background! Yay!
I got my DJ strips in and I painted the inside of the stand earlier today. I just have to screw the panels in place and route any items I need to run and I should be done. Next step will be plumbing. I should be able to glue it all up soon.

[Mgus]

What did you get for a background? I almost started a thread about backgrounds yesterday trying to figure out what to get.

[rickztahone]

A whole bunch of update pics:DSC04373.jpgDSC04374.jpgDSC04375.jpgDSC04376.jpgDSC04377.jpgDSC04378.jpgDSC04379.jpgDSC04380.jpgDSC04381.jpgDSC04386.jpg

[rickztahone]

DSC04387.jpgDSC04388.jpgDSC04389.jpgDSC04390.jpgDSC04392.jpgDSC04393.jpgDSC04394.jpg

[rickztahone]

Obviously that is a whole lot of pictures lol.

The first few pictures show me working on the behind the scenes electrical work. Hole saw to cut the 2x4's and routed the extension cord through there. I wanted to run each dj strip unit on its own outlet just in case. I have not filled up all 8 slots, but have used up 5 so far. I hope to not have to add more stuff down the line when the tank is full. I anticipated anything I may need and even have an emergency air pump plugged in JIC.

Further down you see the panels up with the dj strips in as well as the grommets to hide a bit of the wires.

Grommet on the outside of the stand for aesthetics

With the 40 breeder in place, I must say, it is quite cramped! I still have enough room to get to the switches, but just barely.

I layed out the pump and heaters without the sump to get an idea of the space they occupy.

Made my own spray bar. I may have to buy some street elbows because I am not liking how low the spray bar is getting. I also made 2, one with larger slots, the other with smaller ones just in case the one with larger slots is too much. Left small gaps on the second one for rigidness.

I also added an extra piece to the sump. This eggcrate section will allow me to use filter floss to capture most incoming nasties before it hits the first media section. Following that will be an area of just poret foam and under that will be media bags with ceramic rings.

Welded some hard plumbing as well. Still need to finish up the runs but I got tired. Should be done in the next week or so though. Background comes in on the second and I still have to paint the tank bottom.

Hope you enjoy! If you have any questions, just ask

[alcastro]

Great job Rick, question last pic. To left on the wall there is a pipe tee out to two flex hoses. Are those for fill the tank

[rickztahone]

Great job Rick, question last pic. To left on the wall there is a pipe tee out to two flex hoses. Are those for fill the tank

yeah, out of sight I have a temperature mix valve and it feeds that single output. Water comes out of tap at a cool (or not so cool) 82F. However, with these new discus I will age my water and not do straight tap. I want to eliminate all variables here and aging is a sure fire way for me to do that. Good eye

[alcastro]

We need to set that up in my house, second round on tequila shot lol

[rickztahone]

We need to set that up in my house, second round on tequila shot lol

It isn't that difficult. You can buy the temp mix valves off ebay for $20 or so, can't quite remember but I've had it for many years. The flex lines were a lot more expensive than the valve though and the pvc was super cheap. I will end up cutting most of the pvc up since I will have the true union ball valve now to do the draining in to the drain which is the line to the right of the tap water return. I will pump up the water to the DT from a storage barrel.

[rickztahone]

Painted the bottom with the trusted Rustoleum texture paint. I had never done this but I bought 2 different colors of brown. One darker than the other. The idea was to try to simulate small little sand hills to give it depth. It actually looks a lot better in person than it does in the pics. The key was to not go heavy handed on the darker color. I'm happy with the way it came out. I also received the background. I cut it (wasn't easy!) to accommodate for the overflow. Hopefully in the end I will not be able to see any of the white coming through. I can not install the background until I've bleached the tank though. I should be able to do that soon though. I need to bleach the sump as well. Stay tuned

DSC04426.jpg
DSC04427.jpg
DSC04428.jpg
DSC04429.jpg
DSC04430.jpg

[rickztahone]

75g.jpg75g_1.jpg75g_2.jpg75g_3.jpg

[jimstreet]

Great build! I really like that background, what is it?

[rickztahone]

Great build! I really like that background, what is it?

It is a background I got off Amazon but it is made by universal rocks I believe.