DIY Concrete Aquarium 5,000 gallon - Anderson Family Reef

[dca22anderson]

Any news on that? Do you think your sump will ever get finished?

No, just a group of folks in my same boat that are pushing litigation… so lame… he’s gone silent and took down his website…

Getting to your OCD isn't it!?!! That's why he left it like that, he's messing with your mind!

Yes! Next one I will build a concrete sump against the back of the tank out of the gate with tons of room for all the gear!!

 

[tcarstens4]

dang that’s rough hopefully you can get some of your money back :/ sucks when that kinds of crap happens

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

dang that’s rough hopefully you can get some of your money back :/ sucks when that kinds of crap happens

Haha. It's a boss move:

 

[rmorris_14]

Tried to get sch 80 parts but my local shop didn’t have all the pieces so I had to grab these. Going to test this out and see how it does in the pump cave here…

 

[dca22anderson]

Just finished the dive… can you see the tip of the pump?

 

[Sean Clark]

It looks so small now.

 

[dca22anderson]

Testing at 20% and it’s like a tornado in there… Holy Smokes!! This is AMAZING!! There is detritus everywhere!!

 

[dca22anderson]

Panta Rhei Hydro Wizard ECM 75 @ 20%…

Seriously check out those fish surfing the current!! Aaaaand that’s only at 20%!!!!

 

[Bpp124987]

Just finished the dive… can you see the tip of the pump?

I can. But, just the tip

 

[dca22anderson]

I can. But, just the tip

It fit perfectly right in the cave I made for it back when I was designing the rock work!! So stoked right now!!

You can see it if you look hard. Once the corals grow in it will be even harder…

 

[tcarstens4]

Wow that is some serious power!! The fish look so happy to swim against that current

 

[Fudsey]

Hopefully no one gets sucked into the intake of it....

 

[tritonpower]

Panta Rhei Hydro Wizard ECM 75 @ 20%…

Seriously check out those fish surfing the current!! Aaaaand that’s only at 20%!!!!

Looks like a fish treadmill. That is amazing

 

[dca22anderson]

Hopefully no one gets sucked into the intake of it....

I got the fish screen on it... looks well built and has small holes that look to be fish safe... Fingers crossed:

Panta Rhei ECM 75 Hydro Wizard Honey Comb Basket: Designed to increase the surface area of water flowing into the pump as well as to protect the impeller from damage due to things being sucked into it. If you have snails or small fish in your aquarium you will want to use this. Considered a must have in a reef tank setting. Fits tight and fish would have to be pretty small (baby Cardinals) to go through those honeycomb holes...

 

[Jerry Barnes]

Just curious if you have a whole house backup generator? Or, maybe you have reliable power such that its not necessary.

 

[dca22anderson]

Just curious if you have a whole house backup generator? Or, maybe you have reliable power such that its not necessary.

I need one… but our power has been very reliable over the last 20 years I have lived in this neighborhood…

 

[dca22anderson]

Golden Dwarf Moray Eel Sighting under the blue lights…

 

[samson78945]

Wow!

I haven't been on here in a long time and this was the first thread I wanted to look at. I decided to start all over and 3 days later, I am at the end. Unreal build, attention to detail, and ideas. I only wish I had the imagination you did to create such a wonderful system! If I ever build a custom tank, I think I am going to hire you to help.

Now that it is up and running, how close was your estimate on power consumption / cost? Would you have done anything differently?

Absolutely amazing.

Best,

Sam

 

[djf91]

Golden Dwarf Moray Eel Sighting under the blue lights…

These guys need to be target fed right? What does he eat?

 

[dca22anderson]

Wow!

I haven't been on here in a long time and this was the first thread I wanted to look at. I decided to start all over and 3 days later, I am at the end. Unreal build, attention to detail, and ideas. I only wish I had the imagination you did to create such a wonderful system! If I ever build a custom tank, I think I am going to hire you to help.

Now that it is up and running, how close was your estimate on power consumption / cost? Would you have done anything differently?

Absolutely amazing.

Best,

Sam

Thank you for checking it out Sam and for your kind words!

I love this stuff and have for years! Finally was in the position in life to give it a go!! (I’ve had a SW tank since I was 10 - turning 50 this year)

It’s so fun working to get the tank up to speed for all the livestock. I have some mystic monti starting to color up on some rock from the 720… super excited about what that will bring in the future!

I would love to help you build your dream tank one day!

So my wife is paying the power bills (by design) as they come in (ignorance is bliss) With the rate hikes and me keep adding gear it’s getting up there. I’m over a few hundred dollars a month of my target spend.

Here are the top three things I did to save money:

1- heat exchanger using my two hot water heaters already in the house

2- gravity fed the skimmer directly from the tank overflow (use to feed it with a HH gold)

3- swapped out 400 watt MH lights for LED Cannons at 165 watts

One thing I would have done differently would be to build a big concrete sump against the back of the tank at the same time as I was building the tank. With Bill not coming through on the sump, and the big commercial sump builders super high pricing I have had to daisy chain a few bins and tubs together to make it all work which has added to the complexity and leak point potential. Eventually I will just build a giant sump that houses all the filtration gear in one spot. What I did so far is working good but I do want to simplify it some day so it will work great!!

Thanks for checking it out and coming along for the ride!

Best, Dave