Tyguy7760's 75 Gallon Tank Build

It looks great! I'm actually getting some hoplos in about a week so I would love to see yours! How big are they and how much did they cost you?

 

One is about 2.5 inches one is almost 3. They were 15 each. I got the marbled because I have kuhlI loaches and the brown hoplos get about 10 inches and I was afraid they would eventually eat the kuhlis. They are being pretty shy right now but I have seen online this is typical but the hoplos will eventually be very outgoing.

 

A few quick pics

 

A few hoplo pics plus kuhlis









I see you

 

Hoplo: No you don't see me...
I love those pictures!

 

Aren't those Megalechis thoracata?
Love the look of them!

 

Yes they are. They were labeled spotted hoplo locally. They are becoming a bit more outgoing after a couple of days. At first I didn't even see them for the first few days but one has been cruising the tank much more openly. The fact these are one of the least shy catfish but are not predatory is what attracted me to them

 

Small update. I painted the bones of the construction and put the sides on. I've also stated working on the face. It's almost ready to at least set up

 

It's starting to look like a tank stand

 

Update on Tally. I picked up a quart of high gloss white paint as well as the face board I forgot to update earlier, as well as the moulding and hinges for the doors.

Current tally: $400 for Tank, Glass lids, 48 inch led light, driftwood, rocks, sunsun404b canister filter, filter media, media bags, 2x4's, drawer materials, Plywood for face and sides, moulding, paint, and hinges.

 

Wow, that's a really nice stand. I wish I could have built my stand to look half as nice as yours does.

 

Thanks! It is my first wood working project. So I'm pretty surprised it actually turned out as well as it did. I learned a lot and made a ton of mistakes and wasted lots of time but it's finally in the home stretch of being completed.

 

When I upgrade my 55, hopefully to either a 75 or a 125, I plan on building the stand for it also. Hopefully it will come out as nice as your stand is

 

Looks awesome!! I used to build and restore furniture and I thought about building a stand for some of my other tanks but just haven't made the time to do so!! Would love to get into making them

 

Well it has taken me several months as you can see through this thread. But I only get about 1-2 hours a week to work on it with a family and work and life in general. The right tools go a long way

 

Yea I know the feeling. It took me months to build the stand for my 55 gallon and I didnt have all the tools I needed either so that made it a lot longer to build. Next time around, I will make sure I have all the right tooks

 

Yes the right tools make a big difference!!

 

A good miter/chop saw, my dad's table saw, and my brand new router (bought for this project) has saved me a lot of hours of mistakes.

 

The doors and drawers are cut and routed.

 

All of the moulding and trim is cut and put on the tank stand. Only thing left is paint and installing doors and drawer facings

 

Wow, it's really coming along nicely! I love the trim on the edges. Was it your wife's idea?

 

Haha no I put that on to cover where the face board and the side boards come together. However, it was her idea to put the little strip of moulding at the very top above the chair rail to cover up the edge of the plywood.

 

What a great team you two make.

 

Lol thanks. I put on the first 2 coats of paint today. The wife will be doing the last coat add she is a much better painter than I am

 

I'm sure you two will be really proud of the finished product! I really can't wait to see it all done w/ fish, plants, etc.

 

Lol me to. My wife will be especially glad for it to be done so I can focus on her projects

 

No wonder she's helping you get it done faster. lol

 

This stand is seriously beautiful. I'm going to be building the stand for my new 75 gallon tank also and will be using pictures of your stand as inspiration haha. You did a really great job, I can't wait to see it painted and the tank stocked/planted.

 

Well hopefully you will do a better job on the drawers than I did. My drawers do not open and close very easily. Which is a great child proofing mechanism which is why I left them. But I did something wrong when building out the sides for the drawers to run against. They may not be perfectly straight or something else. It also helps if you don't cheap out on the runners for the drawers. Pay the extra and get the really nice ones...not the cheapo ones. But thank you for compliment.

 

I hope I can do close to as good of a job you did. I've never built drawers so it will be a new project for me. I hope it can do it without messing up that bad lol. But thanks for that, I'll make sure to buy some good runners and not cheap out lol.

Your welcome. What color did you paint the stand?

 

Your welcome. What color did you paint the stand?

I painted it white. Originally it was going in the living room and my wife wanted it to match the mantle of the fireplace and the built in bookshelves we have which are all white. So I bought wood with the mindset of it being painted so I didn't worry about the grains. But I've struggled with algae buildup in my 36 gallon that is in the living room (one wall of our living room is pretty much all windows so there is a lot of natural light), so I decided to put the new tank in the office. If I had it to do over I would have gotten some nice grained wood and stained it but painting it white is definitely going to be a lot easier.

 

Update: I've finished constructing the doors and put a couple of coats of paint on it. Now all that's left is to put the finishing coat on and put it all together

 

I can't believe that was your first woodworking project. Impressive! I have enough trouble putting together furniture when they come in a box with pre-made pieces and instructions!

 

Haha...in many ways this was easier to put together than some of the pre-fab stuff. Ever try out ikea furniture? sheesh! Thank you for the compliments. I'm hoping to have the stand done and moved in the house in the next 2 weeks...we'll see if that happens.

 

Haha...in many ways this was easier to put together than some of the pre-fab stuff. Ever try out ikea furniture? sheesh! Thank you for the compliments. I'm hoping to have the stand done and moved in the house in the next 2 weeks...we'll see if that happens.

Oh ikea is the worst. Speaking of which...



This cracked me up.

 

OMG that's hilarious. lol

 

I just came across this today (now i'm all caught up on the 75 build). Better late than never... Looks great! Can't wait for it to be stocked!

 

Looks fantastic. Much nicer then the one I'm building

 

Gorgeous stand! I too am now caught up in the build and wanted to share my experience with storing my 55 gal. and the equipment. I don't remember which brand aquarium however, the tank, lighted hoods, marine land canister filter, along with two power heads were stored out in our garage for the past 9 years without climate control and much to my surprise when setting it up again around three months ago, there have been no leaks or fixture issues even the bulbs were still working. I didn't trust using the filter until recently and was shocked it's working like a top.

So, wanted to share in hopes this might give you some piece of mind after all of the hard work you've been putting in!

 

Oh ikea is the worst. Speaking of which...



This cracked me up.