75 gallon Planted Office Tank Journal

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geekpryde

AC Members
Dec 30, 2008
419
0
0
Maine, USA
It has begun! My 75 gallon Planted Office Tank Project has started and I am going to piece this together over the coming months. This thread will serve as my Tank Journal, although it is going to take many months and thus, progress will be slow. I hope that in the end, someone viewing this thread will be able to go start to finish and see as I progress to a beautiful tank. Or maybe they can watch a train wreck as it happens? We’ll see….
I bought a very old used tank and stand from craigslist, and you can see more about that in this thread, where I struggled with buying a used tank and a used stand:

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=222503

So here is the equipment I currently plan on buying (subject to change):
Tank………....75 gallon glass tank (used)
Stand……..….Fiberboard Stand (used)
Filter………....EHEIM Classic External 2217 or maybe 2215
Substrate…..7 x 20 lbs bags of Eco Complete Black, with some small patch of cosmetic sand in front
Heater……….2 x 200 watt heaters, probably the brand by Eheim.
Lighting…….fixture from catalina aquarium, between 1.5 and 2 watts per gallon
CO2………....NONE
Food………...from Kens Fish Foods
ChemicalsPrime, NO plant food (I think eco complete will be enough?)
Fish……….....Mixed types of schooling Rainbows, probably by from Aquabid
Plants……….Mixed plant assortment of medium light plants. I wanted a heavily planted look, but without CO2. Specifics to come later.

Anway, probably not much to comment about now, but I am going to take ALOT of pics, probably a pic a day, until this tank has a mature planted look, so stay tuned.
 

geekpryde

AC Members
Dec 30, 2008
419
0
0
Maine, USA
Here are some photos of the the supports I am adding that sit directly beneath the load bearing sides of the stand. These shots are with the stand flipped upside down, so these supports directly touch the ground.

One of the pics is a repeat from the thread I linked to in a previous post, the other two are new.









Tomorrow I am going to silicone the cracks bits of the tanks plastic rim.

If there is nice wheather this week, I am going to bring the tank and stand outside and find a very level surface to fill the tank. I will let this set for the 10 hours or so I am at work, and then drain it. This will be the only real test of the tank + stand's ability to deal with 700 pounds, so we'll see what happens.
 

FSM

Pastafarian
Mar 30, 2008
354
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0
Georgia
Eco complete doesn't provide many nutrients. Root tabs will help, but you should probably still dose fertilizer

A 2x54W fixture would work well. More is going to be a nightmare without CO2.

Eheim 2215 isn't going to provide much flow. I would use a larger canister, or a nice HOB filter like an aquaclear 110.


good idea adding the supports, btw, that stand looks very poorly designed. How stable is it?
 

geekpryde

AC Members
Dec 30, 2008
419
0
0
Maine, USA
Eco complete doesn't provide many nutrients. Root tabs will help, but you should probably still dose fertilizer

A 2x54W fixture would work well. More is going to be a nightmare without CO2.

Eheim 2215 isn't going to provide much flow. I would use a larger canister, or a nice HOB filter like an aquaclear 110.


good idea adding the supports, btw, that stand looks very poorly designed. How stable is it?
Thanks for the suggestions. I figured someone was going to speak up if 1.5-2 watts per gallon was too much without CO2. I will lookinto 1 wpg instead. I thought that eco-complete had enough nutrients, but I will dose liquid ferts if that is the consensus here.

Regarding the eheim, what about the 2217, would that be enought alone? I could probably use the 2217 in conjunction with a power head or a small HOB.

The tank was very scary at first, but with the supports I have added, I am feeling alot better about it. I am only using liquid nails, but I think that will be fine. I am also adding one more brace tomorrow, and that will be it.

This stand is definately for a 75 gal, I just hope it wasnt some cheapo for like a snake tank or a lizard tank, maybe that was it was so flimsy looking to start with? (plus if you read the post I did in the newb forum, you will see that the prevous owned had modded it, in a bad way).

I am making a trip tonight or tomorrow to inspect a new stand, and see how much they differ in design for ideas in case my used stand needs additional work.

Thanks for the comments, and people, keep them coming. I am basically a newb, so point something out if I overlooked it.
 

geekpryde

AC Members
Dec 30, 2008
419
0
0
Maine, USA
I took a 30 min lunch break and laid down the silicone. I noticed the more I worked it the worse it got, so next time it will be a couple of passes up and down with the little tool I made, and done. Also, most people wait to peal off the painters tape? I pulled it off a after 5 mins, and have a nice clean line.




Here is the tool I fashioned out of a credit card (the fake kind that comes with junk mail). This worked great IMHO, as it was stiff enough, yet with some flex depending on how hard I pushed down. (are we allowed to say 'that's what she said' jokes?)

 

geekpryde

AC Members
Dec 30, 2008
419
0
0
Maine, USA
My kids came to the office to help me work on the tank and stand (ages 4 and 7). I decided I was feeling ambitious, so we started getting ready to paint the back of the tank. Every time I read about someone painting the tank, they always use flat. I accidentally bought gloss, so I decided to try it. I went with a dark blue, which I think will look nicer than black, but we'll see.

I cleaned the back outside of the tank with windex and a razor.




I then rolled it on a cart outside to paint real quick. I know this first coat looks like crap from the back, but I think it looks really nice from the frontside. I like how the opacity varies. I may not even do a second coat I like it so much.

I wonder why everyone always uses flat paint?






Here is a shot looking through, with the paint still very wet.


 
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