DIY Concrete Aquarium 5,000 gallon - Anderson Family Reef

[homer1475]

I wanted to see you catching that clown. That video cut out right before.

It did not look happy. LOL

 

[dca22anderson]

Front view

 

[dca22anderson]

Side view

 

[mizimmer90]

Uncut video of the dive to remove all the bubble tip anemones and extra rock on the floor of the tank

Amazing!! Thanks for posting this!

How often do you take a dive?

 

[dca22anderson]

Amazing!! Thanks for posting this!

How often do you take a dive?

I clean the viewing panels weekly with the big mighty magnet and dive it every 3 or 4 weeks.

If I notice a coral has fallen to the depths and is not going to survive (plate upside down, hammer in between rocks, lobo next to a rock nem, blasto upside down) then I make a note - I will dive in and sort that out sooner than later. If the coral falls and is going to survive then it can wait.

Honestly, it’s a lot more preparation, work and clean up than I anticipated. I also need to coordinate the dive with a spotter (knowledgeable reefing buddy) so they can help move things around, keep an eye on me, the sump, skimmer and gear while I’m on the dive.

I do love spending time spacing out the corals and adjusting the flow for long term success.

I make a list of things to do when I dive so the time is spent well and I don’t forget anything.

It’s also fun to interact with the animals in there. Some fish don’t mind my presence and others duck for cover. One bites me.

I want to go in with food each time so they get used to me being a non threat.

I do learn things each time I dive the tank that make it easier. The first few times I tied the air hose off to the clip on my back and the hose knocked hammers and broke them all up while I was moving around in there.

Funny story - I went in to zip tie some more hammers on the walls of the reef. Ended up mounting 3 new hammers and the hose knocked off 3 that were already placed - net zero for the effort! LOL

This last dive I didn’t tie off the air hose to my back, just let it go up to the surface straight from the regulator. That worked much better.

 

[mizimmer90]

I clean the viewing panels weekly with the big mighty magnet and dive it every 3 or 4 weeks.

If I notice a coral has fallen to the depths and is not going to survive (plate upside down, hammer in between rocks, lobo next to a rock nem, blasto upside down) then I make a note - I will dive in and sort that out sooner than later. If the coral falls and is going to survive then it can wait.

Honestly, it’s a lot more preparation, work and clean up than I anticipated. I also need to coordinate the dive with a spotter (knowledgeable reefing buddy) so they can help move things around, keep an eye on me, the sump, skimmer and gear while I’m on the dive.

I do love spending time spacing out the corals and adjusting the flow for long term success.

I make a list of things to do when I dive so the time is spent well and I don’t forget anything.

It’s also fun to interact with the animals in there. Some fish don’t mind my presence and others duck for cover. One bites me.

I want to go in with food each time so they get used to me being a non threat.

I do learn things each time I dive the tank that make it easier. The first few times I tied the air hose off to the clip on my back and the hose knocked hammers and broke them all up while I was moving around in there.

Funny story - I went in to zip tie some more hammers on the walls of the reef. Ended up mounting 3 new hammers and the hose knocked off 3 that were already placed - net zero for the effort! LOL

This last dive I didn’t tie off the air hose to my back, just let it go up to the surface straight from the regulator. That worked much better.

Lol, growing pains! Yeah, that sounds like quite the ordeal to make a dive.

It's awesome that you can become one of the exhibits in your aquarium!

Excited to see how it evolves!

 

[dca22anderson]

What happens when you have too many nems and spend a few hours removing them from the display?!

They split in the holding tank!! LOL

 

[dca22anderson]

Few top down pics through the viewer tonight…

 

[mehaffydr]

Looking Great Dave. I need to make another trip to SLC and see this again.

 

[dca22anderson]

Looking Great Dave. I need to make another trip to SLC and see this again.

Love to have you visit again!! Come on over anytime!! I’ve made some good progress since your last visit!!

 

[dca22anderson]

These are the two resident clams in the system…

 

[dca22anderson]

Just making a mount for my Super Feeder auto feeder…

 

[blaxsun]

Just making a mount for my Super Feeder auto feeder…

Do we want to know what your pellet food bill is every month?

 

[acesfull44]

Thanks for sharing the videos. Awesome.

 

[dca22anderson]

Feeder is rocking!!

 

[dca22anderson]

Do we want to know what your pellet food bill is every month?

Just ordered a few hundred dollars of pellets but is lasts a few months…

Thanks for sharing the videos. Awesome.

My pleasure, I love this stuff!! Glad you like it!!

 

[Sean Clark]

I was looking at the first pic for the feeder stand and was thinking "where are the zip ties?" Scrolling down... there they are.

 

[dca22anderson]

The square drop down is not needed on this tank (built for sitting on the rim of a previous glass tank) so I may end up cutting that off or just cutting a new platform to screw on there because it will hit the concrete top rim if I need to roll the lights out of the way…

 

[dca22anderson]

Some blue light pictures from tonight from like 5 feet away with my phone… LOL

 

[dca22anderson]

A few more of the top of the reef without the nems!!