75g Stand and Canopy?

I just purchased a 75g tank and want to build the stand and canopy my self. I've seen some threads on here with decent looking plans for a stand. BUT, I want to use a 40g breeder tank as the sump/fuge combo. It has the same footprint as a 75g, so I'm not quite sure what to do as far as the stand plan.

Maybe I should nix that idea and use a 30g long?

Also, looking for a canopy plan to house 4x48" retro fit T5's, maybe even 2 more in the future. I'm not looking for anything spectacular in design, just basic with do. I'm going to paint it black when done, unless staining is cheaper.

Does anyone have any suggestions or a link to a good thread?

Thanks so much!

 

There are some good plans on this site. A consideration I had when modifying my 75g canopy setup was: I don't have a chiller, and I removed the top from the canopy so I could lift the MH light kit up with some decorative wooden 2x2s to control temp. We just measured and built a cabinet to house the sump/fuge, using a 20 long worked, plenty of room for lights and such for housing breeder cages to raise peppermint shrimp. I just needed to make sure there was room in sump/fuge for protein skimmer, large return pump and phosban reactor. Plywood and 2x3s are the wood used, we didn't make a schematic, but I'm sure you can find one on here. Happy reefing!

 

I have a 72 and used a 30 gallon long. I designed it to have the inpuut on one side and it flowed throught the fuge and then the return @ the end. If i had to to it again i woulf have the fuge on one side, intake on the other and the return in the middle.

 

Good point on overflow portion of tank. Do you have a drilled tank? I'm assuming so. I have flexible tubing from overflow, bottom drilled tank, it's loud. I'd go with PVC piping and a control valve to minimize noise.

 

It is drilled, but not a corner overflow. It's a DIY kit from glasscages...it's going in the middle top portion of the tank, so the drain will come straight down then a T to the left for skimmer portion and right for the fuge. The center will be a return pump area.

 

if your return pump is submersible, then you're fine with the 30 long.

using 2x4's for the support for your stand takes away 5 inches from the length of the stand's opening and 3 inches from the depth of the inside - so your sump footprint has to fit in 43x15 inches. if you use nailing strips (simple stand plans on rc) or 4x4's for support, you lose even more space under the stand.

for my 75 i've got all external pumps, so i had to use a shorter/taller tank (29 gal). even still, the return pump sticks out the side of the stand a little.

 

My return pump and skimmer will be fully submersible.

 

Have you had good experiences from glasscages. I am looking into buying a 265 from them.

 

I need to edit...it is glass-holes.com

And YES, great experiences. The guy at my LFS won't order drilled tanks anymore...he always drills them and uses DIY kits from glass-holes. Great stuff from what I've seen.