75g Build...finally!

So I've had my little 20g nano for a while...it was supposed to be my toy and test while acquiring the necessary things for a larger tank. Well now I've began acquiring what is needed and I'm going to start my build. I'll update with pictures as I go along. Any comments are greatly appreciated!

1st off is the unfinished stand. A friend helped to build a stand that is much sturdier than store bought stands and more versatile and useful, but costs about the same price after supplies and such...the stand measures 50" L x 20" W x 36" T. I wanted the tank a bit taller than normal and there will be about 1" on each side of the tank. Also, we built an extra door on one end to be able to slide the sump tank in & out if needed....the regular doors on the front are 29" tall too, which will make for much easier sump/skimmer/fuge maintenance...

It's not quite done...attaching two 2x4's to the back, which will also cross over top of the tank and create a place to hang the light fixture (48" 2x2502 MH & 2x110w VHO & moonlight LED's - Hamilton fixture). After that I will paint it black to match the trim and backside of the tank...

What do you think so far?

 

Great start, excellent work

 

Subscribed! Very excited to see this one come together. I'm also in the process of upgrading from a 20g to a 75g. Will also be building a stand like yours. Love the way yours is coming out. May just have to copy some of your work if you don't mind ;D.
Great job, keep it up.

 

nice work on the stand tripn. that will look very good done when painted. also your glass is empty, you need a refill .

 

Got my light today...a 6 month old Hamilton 2x250w MH & 2x110 VHO...this baby will put out some light! I guess I'll have to mount it pretty high over the tank...10" maybe? And the ballast is almost 30lbs!

I also painted the stank today, but wasn't able to get pics. I'll post those tomorrow.

Will also be painting the back panel of the tank too...

Lights!

 

Got some pics of the painted stand...I'm a little disappointed at the outcome, but it's still nice. This is after two coats...a little sanding, one more coat, and good to go!

I added some 2x4 "arms" to suspend the light fixture from...

Also, I decided no to paint the back side of the tank. Someone suggested using window tint. So I bought the darkest self-application (2.5% I think) I could find and went to work. The picture is a bit deceiving, but it turned out great! And the best part is if I ever decide to sell the tank, it will peel right off!

I have a 700gph rated overflow box from "glass-holes" and will install once the tint adheres completely...

 

Nice work. The stand looks great.

 

Great start - the stand looks good and I like the side panel. What color temp are you gonna do with the MH and T5's? tagging along...

 

Right now the MH's are 10k and only 6 months old. When they need replacing I'll probably use some Phoenix 14k as I hear they're great bulbs. And the other bulbs are actually VHO's (T12 I think?) and they're super actinics.

 

A boring day...sanding and repainting some dings that occurred during the move...more to be revealed tomorrow!