Setup your tank ...

Okay this is not meant to be a flame war or my way is right yours is wrong kind of thing but more of a place for ideas that others can learn from ...

So here is the scenario: You have acquired a 75 gallon tank 48" x 24" x 18" and that is all, but you have all the money you need to set it up as you dream of doing how would you do it?

Tells us what you would use and how you would stock it fresh water of course...

I like my canister filtration so I would do an FX5 and custom plumb in line heating so that the tank would be free and clear of equipment. The intake and custom spraybar returns would be incorporated into a 3D background for the most realistic look.
Probably a Designs by nature product: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I also like the look of real wood in the tank and would purchase a large stump or branch of Manzanita from: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Lighting always seems to be the overlooked factor by freshwater guys, but since money is not an object I would use a reef controller set up:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

And then I would do DIY LED's from these guys:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

My stand and canopy would have to be custom built by myself of course out of a nice hardwood... maybe a Cherry wood with a rich stain.

Well as for stock, its only a 75g so no monsters but a CA/SA cichlid of some type for sure. Possible single male Argentea.

So that would be a bit of my idea. Some things like a 3D background I would have loved to do on my 210g but was limited by budget so I just went with simple black. This is the one thing I wish I had spent more money on.

For my tank I would first build a cabinet that encloses the tank on 2 sides and part of a third and is part of a larger cabinet hosing the LCD and sound system. Think L shaped in a corner with the tank on one wall and the rest on another.

3D DIY background with on 2 sides one long one short and about 1.5' of the other long side since this tank would be viewed from the end and part of one side. I would be going for something like this... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
but smaller scale for the background.

All plumbing would be built into the background wall so nothing would be seen. I would probably use a HW404 for the filter with a split spray bar to keep the flow down. DIY inline heater or I may break down and buy one still to be seen and a CO2 reactor inline. Pressurized CO2 on timer of course.

The tank would be planted with vals and crypts in a slope fashion from the book case end down to the viewing end with a grass field at the viewing end. Lighting would be done with LED's on a cycle timer to actually give the effect of moon and sun cycles.

Substrate would be mineralized topsoil capped with SMS and there would be some manzinita branches coming from the heavily planted end out over the grass field.

Stock would be centered around 3 pairs of dwarf cichlids or possibly Discus.... so think black water and would be using peat in the filter to give me that nice tannin look.

Interesting choice of incorporating the LCD and sound system... What exactly do your fish like to watch? Mine like River Monsters and aspire to become big scary fish when they grow up.

Mine are more into shows like tanked hoping that one day they will grow up or get to live in a phone booth ....

With the fact that the show is being seen on TV, you think they could do better. The worst one was the Beer Keg Tank with African cichlids and the coral/sports decor. Hated that one on so many levels.

There was a rumor out for a little while that the phone booth tank was up for sale on craigslist. Maybe the people thought they could get some big money for it since it was on TV or else they really hated it.

Still is fun to watch and they have some really creative ideas not that I would do any of them...

Since we are talking dream tanks...

Ever see this? [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

And incorporating your idea of home entertainment and fish:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

75 gallon and all the money in the world?

Easy.

Smash the 75 with a golden hammer and hire the crew from Tanked to build me a totally enclosed (except for the passage in and out) bedroom..inside a 75,000 gallon tank..with a 50" plasma TV, my XBox and my bed

Spyral wrote:75 gallon and all the money in the world?

Easy.

Smash the 75 with a golden hammer and hire the crew from Tanked to build me a totally enclosed (except for the passage in and out) bedroom..inside a 75,000 gallon tank..with a 50" plasma TV, my XBox and my bed

Didn't say all the money in the world I said enough to set it up.... Now you don't even have a tank to work with...

Seen both of those the one over the bed would be a bitch to maintain and the other is kind of dull you can't see the tank at all... plus it both look like crap since you can see the plumbing...

You said all the money you need. Well, I need $185,000 to set it up.

kthnx.

Rethinking my filtration for the 75g, since money is not an issue in this scenario. I would go with the Eheim 2180 with the built in heater instead of the FX5.

FX5 nice 3d background and a group of Tropheus.