# 75 gallon Journal



## Clink51 (Aug 4, 2011)

Hey guys. So since i registered for this website a few months back i thought my 29g was the biggest bestest thing possible. then i got more into fish and decided on a 55... when i realized i can keep more fish in a 75 with the same footprint, i decided to go all in. this will be my journey to get the tank from dirty gass to fully functioning.

To Do List:
Cleaning
UGJ
DIY Canopy
DIY Overflow
DIY Sump

Sand will probably be play sand. Plenty of Holey Rock

Like all the other journals, i look forward to comments, concerns, likes/dislikes and ideas.

Last friday 11/25/11 i bought the 75g with a stand and some extras. Here are some of the wonderful extras....  :lol: :lol: :lol:









Circa 1975









Circa 1995









The Tank









Light and no Center brace.


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## z400 (Jun 30, 2009)

:lol:

A 55 does not have the same footprint of a 75.

But cool upgrade!
A 75 without a center brace?


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## Clink51 (Aug 4, 2011)

i thought it was the same footprint but different height

yea no center brace. should i be worried? the glass is pretty thick


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## TrashmanNYC (Dec 10, 2007)

Clink51 said:


> i thought it was the same footprint but different height
> 
> yea no center brace. should i be worried? the glass is pretty thick


55g is 12" wide and 75g is 18" wide.


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## jackskellington101982 (May 16, 2011)

From the picture it looks like it might be a reptile tank. I cant tell if there was a brace there that was cut off. If you look at the tank right in the middle from front to back does it look like the plastic was cut.


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

jackskellington101982 said:


> From the picture it looks like it might be a reptile tank. I cant tell if there was a brace there that was cut off. If you look at the tank right in the middle from front to back does it look like the plastic was cut.


not all that long ago - it was common to find 4' tanks with no center brace. The bracing came along when the glass thickness was reduced. I have an older 90 with >1/2" glass all around. Can you say HEAVY? The newer tanks with thinner glass and bracing are lighter than the older style.


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## FeTTo (Sep 28, 2005)

jackskellington101982 said:


> From the picture it looks like it might be a reptile tank. I cant tell if there was a brace there that was cut off. If you look at the tank right in the middle from front to back does it look like the plastic was cut.


Well according to his other post at http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... p?t=236847 , this was infact a turtle tank, which means a terrarium..I dont know how well this will support water without that center brace. I personally would make some sort of brace so the glass doesnt flex.


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## Clink51 (Aug 4, 2011)

It was a a filled-to-the-top-with-water turtle setup. it held water for a few years as i was told. when i picked up the tank it was holding water. any other way i can tell if the tank is no good for aquarium use?


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## jackskellington101982 (May 16, 2011)

I would just bu careful and keep an eye on it. It just makes me leery setting up a tank like that if im not shure about the bracing because i have hade one break on me.


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## Clink51 (Aug 4, 2011)

LMAO!!

Well, this is sure to be one **** of an adventure then huh?

Well tonight or tomorrow, i plan to go elbow deep in 5 year old dried red eye slider poop. :dancing:


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## Clink51 (Aug 4, 2011)

finally got my hands dirty and went to work on cleaning the tank.

the good news.. its clean

the bad news is that i dont know how secure the corner seams are. especially with a tank that is 2 decades old. While cleaning the tank i found the inspection date "April 12, 1988" the bottom ooks to have resealed because it looks pretty new, but i dont know how the corner seems are... i honostly dont feel any silicon in the corner. is that normal for the older ones?


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## TrashmanNYC (Dec 10, 2007)

Scrape all the silicone out and re seal the whole tank.


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## Clink51 (Aug 4, 2011)

is there a walkthrough on how to reseal a tank?


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## Clink51 (Aug 4, 2011)

anyone know how-to or where i can go to learn how to reaseal a 75? words of advice are greatly appreciated.


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## Mbunaaddict (Oct 28, 2010)

There are some video's on youtube that show a reseal. I resealed a 55g turned out the seals between the panes of glass were bad so it ended up leaking after 8 months and after going through a move.

It was fairly simple it just takes patients.

Scape out old silicone with a razor or sharp paint scraper. Be careful not to disturb silicone between panes of glass!

clean very well with acetone so there is no old silicone residue. Silicone doesn't bond very well to old silicone BUT has a extremely good bond to glass.

use painters tape to ensure you have straight lines with your new silicone.

apply silicone and smooth with a spoon. remember you dont need to cake it on. sometimes less is more

once silicone is applied remove tape while silicone is wet.

let dry until you no longer can smell that horrible stench

water test in safe area


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## Mbunaaddict (Oct 28, 2010)

Another idea. If you reseal it would be a great time to just install a 4" or 6" peice of 1/4" glass as a brace in the middle of the tank. shouldn't be more than $10 at a big box home improvment store


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## Clink51 (Aug 4, 2011)

how would i put the brace in and what would i silicon it to?


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## Mbunaaddict (Oct 28, 2010)

It would be siliconed to the front and back panes of glass. At the very top.


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## TrashmanNYC (Dec 10, 2007)

Is siliconing a brace in really gonna do anything?


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## Mbunaaddict (Oct 28, 2010)

it could keep it from bowing. It would be more preventative than anything. more piece of mind and wouldn't cost much. *** never done it before it was more or less just an idea. *** seen some other people do it


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## Clink51 (Aug 4, 2011)

the glass is actually very thick, just short of half an inch. but what i think im going to do is getting a new rim with a brace and see what happens. like i said, this tank is from 1988, thats a year younger then me!! lol


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## Clink51 (Aug 4, 2011)

So i resealed all of the corners because the bottom was pretty brand new. if i see a leak, ill tear the whole thing down and try again. Im no whwere near done, but this is marathon so ima stick to my pace.

i also added the center brace by siliconing a 3/8"x4" peice of silicon to to the top of what i calculated should be the center of the tank. pictures will be up soon =) :thumb:


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## Clink51 (Aug 4, 2011)

okay so wow. this hobby sure is crazy. just when you think you have everything ready, life throws twists and turns. heres where i stand:

DIY UGJ - About to be scrapped due to extremely noisy pumps with no return policy. the RIO HF 10 is 660gph each and i have two, BUT, it produces extremely to much rattling and when it gets close to the glass increases 10 fold. so im 80% sure im going to scrap it.

DIY Sump - i received a really good wet dry filter with a over flow and everything. Its a Pro Series Rp3 and was previously used ina saltwater tank. my LFS guy hooked me up and instead of paying the 300+ i got it for 125. anyway its fit for a 100g tank so i dont know if i want to set the sump up anymore PLUS, i have limited space under the stand.

DIY Canopy - this is going on FULL STEAM and should be completed tonight (crosses fingers) im installing into it a 2 light system so i can do a regular light hooked to a timer and a accintic (the spelling is awfull i know) for night time viewing.

Heaters are 2 150w Aqueons.

Sand will be 2 and a half inches

question is, what should i do for water flow at the bottom of the tank? and what would you guys recommend as a secondary HOB filter for the other side?


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## Clink51 (Aug 4, 2011)

Finally got the tank up and running for almost a month. :lol: :thumb:

So here's the update after i left off:

*DIY UGJ:*
Made it work. Received two new pumps (RIO 1700) which give me the same amount of bang for a little cheaper and NO NOISE. it was plumbed using 3/4" although in retrospect, i should have used 1/2". all thngs point in rather then the standard clockwise









Layout









Connected









With the old powerheads

*DIY Sump:*
So i didnt build a sump =(. but like i said, i received a wet/dry from my LFS. Its a Toms Rapid Pro and has been doing an amazing job thus far. I dont have to any pics of it, but yea.










*DIY Canopy:*
Completely DONE. Thank BOB!!









Shell









Door









Closed









Full setup, Painted









Light from Home Depot. I hung it so it was lower to the tank









fill up day









where she stands today =)


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

Clink51 said:


> finally got my hands dirty and went to work on cleaning the tank.
> 
> the good news.. its clean
> 
> the bad news is that i dont know how secure the corner seams are. especially with a tank that is 2 decades old. While cleaning the tank i found the inspection date "April 12, 1988" the bottom ooks to have resealed because it looks pretty new, but i dont know how the corner seems are... i honostly dont feel any silicon in the corner. is that normal for the older ones?


Random but don't feel bad about the date... The 55 I picked up for free from a customer was dated "April 24th, 1983"... Older than I am, and the seals were BEAUTIFUL


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## Azballa7 (Jul 12, 2007)

What do you plan on stocking the 75 gallon with??


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## Clink51 (Aug 4, 2011)

*Chubbs the Jellybean*
I KNOW RIGHT!!! the seems held water, but one was looking a little shaky, so i took them all out, mostly for the experience but also for peace of mind.

*Azballa7*
After doing the fishless cycle, and bringing over an AC from my old 29gallon tank, im slowly starting to add my fish. (Im still very precautious about the cycle even though i did everything as stated) in there right now are 8 zebras and a Comp. im going to be bringing over my other 2 comps today.

as for stocking, A tang tank with 12-15 Cyps (Utinta), my 3 comps, 6 Orange Leleupi (till i get to 2) and T. Irsacae (till i get to 3-ish)

I cant wait for my new lace rock to get here so i can remove some of the lava rock


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## Pizzle (May 24, 2011)

You've made great progress on this project. Congratulations on the reseal. The design of your jets looks very good. What is the reason that you should have gone with 1/2" instead of 3/4"? (I plan to build my first set of ugj when/if I set up my next tank.) The rocks look good. You just need more of them. The heaters are not nice to look at and distract the eye from looking at the fish and decor. Have you tried using just one heater? It is much easier to hide just one heater than it is to hide two.

Your stocking plan is ambitious. You are planning on three species that will each want their own territory in the rocks. It will be hard to set up three distinct rock pile territories in a 75 gallon. I noticed from your sig that you have a multi colony in a 10 gallon. I'm about to suggest something that you probably already have considered but,...how about moving the multi colony into the 75 gallon instead of one of the rock dwelling species? Then you would have a spare hospital tank in the case that one of the fish is unable to get along with the others.


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## Clink51 (Aug 4, 2011)

*Pizzle*
thanks alot !! 



> What is the reason that you should have gone with 1/2" instead of 3/4"?


the reason for the decrease is simply for looks. i had to put in three inches of sand to hide the jets., with a 1/2 i could have def decreased to maybe 2 - 2.5".



> The heaters are not nice to look at and distract the eye from looking at the fish and decor. Have you tried using just one heater? It is much easier to hide just one heater than it is to hide two.


i know the heaters arent nice. im thinking about moving them to the corners and lying them down horizontally to hide them with some rocks. speaking of rocks, i'm waiting on a shipment of some lace rock to use instead of the lava rock that is in there because i want gobies and am worried it will tear into them



> how about moving the multi colony into the 75 gallon


I prefer the multis in the 10 g for a few reasons. a)the 10g is in my room and i enjoy watching them while in bed b) the comps have been known to kill multis in attempts at getting the eggs or the younh c) I dont want my USJ's exposed due to there constant digging d) With Leleupi and Isacae, i dont need more floor actions then that, plus they will stress them out

as soon as my cyps grow a little more, they will be moved from a second 10g, into the 75g

thank you so much for your kind words and opinions. as soon as the update happens, ill show pics =) :dancing:


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## Clink51 (Aug 4, 2011)

Hey guys, havent updated in a while. here is the before and after i promised along time ago.

Thanks to *Anthraxx8500* for the lace rock!!!

Before(lave and one holey rock)









After (Lace rock with same holey in the middle)









with the hood up


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## mamospreng (Apr 26, 2011)

Are you planning on getting more rock? Just my opinion but I think is you could hide those two pumps your tank would be close to perfect.

I'm currently in the process of setting up a 75 myself. Few quotations for you.

1) was the ugj worth it?

2) how much filtration do you have and how often and large are your water changes?

3) what stocking do you have and are you happy with movement color combinations ect.?

4) did the brace work? (is your glass Bowing at all?)


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## Clink51 (Aug 4, 2011)

1) was the ugj worth it? 
yes i think so, it does have a few dead spot, but with all the rocks, that was expected. i def enjoy the way the fish play with the currents

2) how much filtration do you have and how often and large are your water changes? 
every 2 weeks. i have a wed dry filter that is suited for a 120g and i have a AC for a 29g running for extra help aswell as in case i need to set up another tank

3) what stocking do you have and are you happy with movement color combinations ect.? 
My stocking is in my signature
x3 Alto. Comp, x4Neo. Leleupi (Orange)(Juvi)
waiting on my order of Cyp Leptosoma Utinta and Tran Isacae

4) did the brace work?
i never really did much of a brace. its there to hold the glass up but nothing else. the glass is super thick and doesnt need the support (its a veryy old school tank) 
due to some issues with the tank though, im looking for a new 75g =(

thanks for the advice and thanks for tagging along


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## mamospreng (Apr 26, 2011)

This weekend Mr and my mom will be digging into ours and i'm just not sure if she will want me to take the time to put one together she is really excited about getting it running i'm trying to slow her down but she is all go go go. Thanks for the advice.


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