RockRash's 75 gallon build

[RockRash]

I've posted pictures here and there of my progress on my tank. It's a top fin 75 gallon I bought on sale at petsmart. I'll be using a 40 breeder for my sump.

I drilled the tank a few months ago ( this has been a slow build) and installed my overflow and bulkheads.

More to come.

 

[RockRash]

I painted the back of the tank black and got to work on my rock work.

 

[RockRash]

I finally got around to starting my stand this week. I was hoping to finish up today but ran out gas for the welder. All the stores were closed when I ran lucky I found a welding store not to far away so I can exchange the cylinder tomorrow and get back to work.

This is where I'm at with the stand. I'm planning on using wood and magnets for the covering so I can have easy access to the sump.

 

[RockRash]

The equipment I'll be using. There's a reef octopus skimmer behind the reef mat. Vectra s2 for the return pump and 2 mp40s for the flow.

Right now I have 2 AI primes on the tank. I know I'll need more light I'm just not sure if 2 more AI primes will be enough or if I should add 2 hydra 32s. I have the tank sitting on the bar in our dining room right now. I turned the lights to red and added a skeleton fish for Halloween lol.

I'm hoping to have the tank on the stand some time this week so I can start plumbing. I'll update when I make more progress.

 

[Fenral]

Love the rockwork! I am just curious: what is the stand made of? (Wondering about how you plan to use magnets...)

 

[RockRash]

Love the rockwork! I am just curious: what is the stand made of? (Wondering about how you plan to use magnets...)

Thanks! It took us almost 3 weeks of gluing, mortaring eventually braking it down to come up with it. The stand is made of 1 1/2 x 2 1/2 x .083 steel. I'm planning on drilling plugs in the wood panels so the magnets sit flush and will hold the wood to the stand. I built the stand to support a 120 gallon if I ever decided to upgrade in the future.

 

[Fenral]

Ahh, that explains the magnets. I hope you're planning on putting about 300 coats of Rustoleum or the equivalent on that frame then. After a while, even my stainless steel lab tables started to corrode from the salt.

 

[RockRash]

Ahh, that explains the magnets. I hope you're planning on putting about 300 coats of Rustoleum or the equivalent on that frame then. After a while, even my stainless steel lab tables started to corrode from the salt.

Yes, I haven't decided on paining it or having it powder coated. There is a powder coating shop a few miles away. I figured I'd load it up in the truck and get a quote once I finally finish it. If its really expensive I'll be applying copious amounts of rustoleum lol.

 

[RockRash]

I finished welding up my stand today. I'll be adding plywood to the top and bottom and painted it.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I finished welding up my stand today. I'll be adding plywood to the top and bottom and painted it.

Can't wait to see what it looks like once the wood is added!

 

[RockRash]

We got a lot done this weekend. We got the stand painted, we are doing a purple themed stand and plumbing ( purple is my wife's favorite color). We went out and bought some rustoleum oil paint and mixed it to try and get as close to the purple PVC for the plumbing ( we soon found that was impossible so we will different shades of purple lol. We started painting on Thursday we did 3 coats in total 24 hours between coats. I have to say I really miss having a garage doing projects like this in the house is a pain lol.

Hers the stand. Our corgi Zev had to be in the picture lol

We also so the top and bottom wood cut. We used marine grade plywood from our local lumber yard. We also had them mix up a violet ( closest to purple we could find) wood stain. Ill be sanding the top coat tomorrow after it dries and add 2nd coat. It looks blue in the picture but it really is more purple lol.

 

[RockRash]

Can't wait to see what it looks like once the wood is added!

Well I've been nervous about the wood. I bought my first welder at the age of 15 (23 years ago) and can build almost anything out of steel. Wood, not so much lol, however I did learn a lot staining the top. I wasn't too worried because the tank will cover 95% so and imperfections won't show. I'm going tomorrow after work to buy a sander to prepare the wood for the stain. Its amazing how things show up after stain lol. Hopefully by the time I tackle the outside I'll be better at this whole thing.