DefDad's 75g Build

Today I picked up a used 75 gallon tank with stand and sump. The sump does not fit in the stand properly so the first part of this build will be to midify the stand. I plan on moving the doors from the outside to the center and move the shelves that are in the center to the outside.

Tank



Stand



Sump and Mag7 pump



Stay tuned...

 

Now wait a sec, when did you decide to upgrade!? I'm very jealous! Sure didn't take you long to want to upgrade from the 46. Can't wait to see what you do with it

 

Score! Should be a nice upgrade. After seeing your 46g bow take off this should be a good one to watch!

 

excellent defdad

is this an upgrade or are you adding a second reef tank?
Steve

 

Thanks. I am keeping the 46 for now. I will probably make this a FOWLR and will either keep the 46 as a reef or go back to fresh with it for my daughter and get a 30g or 40g as my reef. So it's not really an upgrade, just a solution for my urge to get other fish that are a little too big for a 46g. If I keep the 46 as my reef, I will do a stand upgrade for it so the sump can go inside instead of behind. Having it behind is a PITA.

I just finished tearing apart the new stand to start the mod. It doesn't look like it will be too hard. The hard part is going to be moving the 46 because that is where the 75 is going. But that is still a way off. I'll try to keep up with pics as I rebuild the stand. Sometimes I just get so into a project that I forget about the camera sitting next to me.

The other reason I got this is because it was dirt cheap. $175 for tank, stand, sump, and pump!

 

Stand Mod

I tore apart the stand last night. Made it easy to get in the house too.



I started the mod today. The sump is 24" wide so I am making the center opening 26" wide. The first thing I did was mark the top and bottom pieces to drill the holes to secure the vertical boards that the doors will hinge upon.



In order to get the stud anchors out I had to push them through the boards. I will fill and sand these holes before painting.



Got the holes drilled out and the anchors and studs installed. This was a lot of work just to move 2 boards about 3" outward, but it worked.

 

Starting to reassemble the stand.



Got the relocated boards up and stopped to make sure the sump fits.



When I went to put on the front piece I realized there are studs that go into the vertical boards so I get out the drill again and move them.



Then I install the front and top.



Next will be to mount the doors and cut the shelves to fit.

 

very cool, can't wait to see more

 

Here is a pic the previous owner had sent me before I bought it. You can see why I am modding the stand. I don't think my wife would want that in her living room. He was thinking about getting a different stand for it but upgraded to a 125g instead.

 

More Stand Work

I did some more work on the stand. Added wood for door mounting.



Hung the doors with new hinges and added new knobs.



Filled in the holes and started sanding.



I think it's coming along nicely.