75 Gallon Tank (56k)

So as some know... I own a tissue culture lab. I needed space in there for more growing racks. So I had to tear down my 75g tank that was growing submersed plants to use for material to steralize and grow in TC. Having just bought the tank last year I didn't want to throw it away. I decided to move it into my apartment; which is not big enough for another 4ft tank. The move lined up with needing to build a new stand since my ~8mo daughter is very close to being mobile. My existing 55g community tank (which she LOVES) has no doors and I was going to have to build a new stand anyways.

Project became to build a simple stand, and move the 55g into the 75g. Add some plants. Call it a day.



Then the PetSmart thing with the fx6 happened. And I picked one up for like $125. And I decided to kinda... Have fun with this.


My mom had driftwood near their pond in their yard that she gave me. The stand has been a live project- nothing went by plans. As I went, I changed from having stain, to being barn colors. From being simple inside... To having fully integrated wiring and paneling inside and lighting in it. From no wood... To BIG wood. From "I'll use my existing lights" to preordering a pair of NilocG prizms.

Planned expansions on this .. include a full prove array (holder is built, just need the probes); pH, orp, temp, EC/TDS.. in addition to the Milwaukee controller. Also going to be adding an ATO system (relays already installed inside cabinet). Raspberry pi running reef-pi logging everything in real time. I also have to finish building my co2 reactor, my design. I need to 3d print some parts for it and simply haven't had the time to tinker with my printer to fine tune it to get the right.

As of right now... Plumbing includes a bypass to provide back pressure to supply a UV system (I modded it to have a power switch), and the CO² reactor via the probe holder. Co2 is a 15# tank, running on fzone regulator. Initially it'll feed an inline diffuser until my reactor is completed. I also built an inline heater from a 300 watt eheim Jager. There's flow meters on the filter outlet (to track when filter needs cleaning), and on the supply lines for both the CO2 reactor and the UV. Those will be monitored via the raspberry pi.

Lots of pictures. Will post more as I progress, plant, and then continue with the extra touches (like my lights when they come in).

The whole thing is built out of 1/2" plywood, casing a stand I built using 2x10 boards that I ripped into 2x5s. Paneling inside is 3/8" plywood.



I have a LOT of plants, as one would imagine with a tissue culture lab growing them. This is going to be very heavily planted. I'm waiting on Han Aquatics to get Landen soil back in stock. The lighting is going to be hung from a custom made iron hanging system. Standard community fish (platies, bn pleco, SAE, amano, etc). Bright and active and engaging for my infant daughter to watch. We have the 55g community... They're getting move into this and then I gotta get some more fish too.

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OH. The background.

I collected a ton of slate from slag piles at a local slate cutting company. We have several slate formations here that are beautiful.

I bought a tile saw. I'm cutting thin strips to reduce weight, and using silicone to hook them to the back of the tank so it looks like a big stone wall. Also have local rock and quartz from the same slate formations I'm going to incorporate into the scape. That's my project tomorrow actually. I'm finishing the doors, mounting them, and cutting many many many little strips of slate of different thicknesses and color to have to make background.

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Slate cut, washed, and dried. Doors about 90% done. Gotta finish up paint now that Ive assembled em completely, do hinges and handles, mount the magnetic bar on inside to hold tools on the left one too. Slate is gonna take a bit to do, since I can't stack too high at once without giving the silicone some time to dry a bit and grab so the wall doesn't collapse

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Just need substrate, my new lights to arrive to replace the T5HO fixture... And some finishing touches (door handles, slate to weigh the wood down) and it'll be good to go!

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