[Fat Tony]

Well the build begins for the 75... I am starting with a custom stand finished in Mahogany with matching canopy, a Perfecto RR tank with 1 corner overflow and a custom Acrylic sump. Heres what i am starting with...

after about 4 hours of cleaning and a couple gallons of Vinegar (mixed with about 50 gallons of water) here is what the sump looks like now...

and my new Octopus NW200 skimmer

 

[Hop]

Wanted to be the first to say... SWEET and I can't wait for more

 

[Fat Tony]

thanks Hop... i am so excited. My lighting setup is going to be a temp setup with a couple of old Greenlee fixtures until i can get all the necessary T5 equipment together to put a 6 bulb retro together...but i think i am going to make it wet this weekend...just have to goto th HD and get some plumbing garb. More pics to come

 

[Sndwave80]

Nice, I like the stand (white inside).

 

[bogey]

The sump cleaned up nicely. Nice cabinet!

 

[Loverotties]

Looking good!

 

[hng]

Great job with the sump Tony! WHile at HD, you should pick up some parts to do a gate valve mod on the skimmer. Unfortunately, you'll probably have to order the gate valve itself - I couldn't find it locally anywhere.

 

[Fat Tony]

that was the plan Hoang, but now you've ruined it for me LOL... i was hoping to gate mod it before i started the tank, but oh well...i have to pick up some 1" fittings and some 1.5" stuff for the gate valve mod. wanna come by and help plumb it up..LOL

 

[DarthOcellaris]

this should be good

 

[hng]

Sorry about busting your dreams of the gate valve! I will have to check to see what sized pvc I used. I think it was 1.5 in pvc fittings. Check out Leveldrummer's thread about modding the octopus, he does a great job of giving the step by step instructions. My advice is to be gentle with the dark standpipe that comes out of the skimmer body - you definitely don't want to break that thing.

 

[Fat Tony]

thanks Hoang and Darth... Sump is wet and skimmer is running...LOL

 

[Doug1]

Looks good, I love 75s and that canopy should be sweet with T5 lights.
Sorry bout the edit, but since this is a build thread and hopefully just the begining I fixed a few mispell's for clarities sake.
Have fun with the new tank build

 

[Fat Tony]

Thanks Doug...LOL

well i got a lot done today, i got it all plumbed and i am filling the Display tank as i type... will get pics shortly of all the progress...

 

[Fat Tony]

well i promised pics, so here they are... BTW the pics are taken with my new Nikon Coolpix L11 Digi cam... the FinePix S1 Pro is just too cumbersome to take snapshots with all the time...

the tank about a 3rd of the way filled with fresh water

full sump area with water and skimmer going...

left side of sump.. if you look the the top right you can see the nifty little pipe supports i bought... i really like them... i still have a couple of items to do on the plumbing, like put in a couple unions, but for the most part it is complete...

right side...

skimmer running...

that's it for tonight... will continue to update as i make strides...

 

[Doug1]

Dayum Tony you ain't messing around are you
Are those pipe supports non-mettalic?

 

[Fat Tony]

yep..they are plastic... no i don't play... started around 10:30 EST this morning and will go until the tank is full tonight sometime, so i can add the rock back tomorrow..

 

[Doug1]

yep..they are plastic... no i don't play... started around 10:30 EST this morning and will go until the tank is full tonight sometime, so i can add the rock back tomorrow..

Thats a brutal schedule, reminds me of day before Thanksgiving 2000 when I had to set up the 75 because the 55 leaked big time and everything was in tubs all over the living room. Oh and to make it more interesting, I had to have it up and running and drive 250 miles for thanksgiving. glad you aren't under that kind of pressure

 

[Fat Tony]

no not under that kind of pressure but the wife has threatened me with death if i don't get it all cleaned up and the carpets shampooed tomorrow by Sunday dinner time at the inlaws...LOL oh yeah, and the Skins and Dallas are playing tomorrow..w00t...GO SKINS!

 

[Doug1]

no not under that kind of pressure but the wife has threatened me with death if i don't get it all cleaned up and the carpets shampooed tomorrow by Sunday dinner time at the inlaws...LOL oh yeah, and the Skins and Dallas are playing tomorrow..w00t...GO SKINS!

Dude I believe I would take my mess over that pressure anyday, at least my wife was 5 hrs away and wouldn't see the tank till I went and got her

 

[Fat Tony]

LOL...i'm sure it'll be done by then... i may not sleep but it will get done...LOL

BTW the tank is about 2/3's full...w00t!