DIY Concrete Aquarium 5,000 gallon - Anderson Family Reef

[dca22anderson]

Sorry you lost the two. Can you put a large piece of sponge filter over the intake to prevent it happening again?

Good idea! (Those two were super small and a little frail) I moved them into a 40 breeder (from a 20) so they should have more room and the ones that are left are bigger and stronger…

 

[dca22anderson]

Nice Progress! But now I'm starting to get mad at Bill and I don't even know him! Maybe we should all start calling and texting him. LOL

Are you sure you don't want the monster Palani? I saw it this weekend and it could barely turn around in a 300g tank! I think we should either...

A. Fly it back to Australia and let him free, or B. Drive him to Utah and put it in your tank!


I picked up the Goldenheart. And he's one of my biggest fish! You can see how small he looks beside the Palani. He went in my eel tank. And I'm getting a Leucistic Zebra I'm pretty excited about. (see pic). Also going in the eel tank. Hopefully my Dragon Eel will play nice.

I started reading your posts when I was working on my 800g. It gave me a lot of inspiration. Thanks so much for keeping us updated. Now I'm eager to see some fish go in! (Besides the Koi. ) LET'S GO BILL!

Steve

If I thought it would work I would love to get everyone to help encourage him to finish up the gear!!

I vote for option “B” LOL!!! He does need to be in a giant aquarium or the sea!!

That zebra eel is way cool!! Never seen one of those before and I’ve seen a lot over the years!!

Stoked you like the thread! Happy to share what I love with others specially those that know how challenging this hobby can be!!

I agree, Koi gotta go outside! Can’t wait to see the big tangs swimming through the reef!!

Thanks for chiming in Steve! Your tank looks great too!!

 

[GBRsouth]

Nice Progress! But now I'm starting to get mad at Bill and I don't even know him! Maybe we should all start calling and texting him. LOL

Are you sure you don't want the monster Palani? I saw it this weekend and it could barely turn around in a 300g tank! I think we should either...
A. Fly it back to Australia and let him free, or B. Drive him to Utah and put it in your tank!

I vote for option “B” LOL!!! He does need to be in a giant aquarium or the sea! over the years!!

Has to be option B! Option A will have Australian Customs arresting you for bringing it back, even if it was here before! They literally will be the Tang Police!

 

[dca22anderson]

Has to be option B! Option A will have Australian Customs arresting you for bringing it back, even if it was here before! They literally will be the Tang Police!

Good point!

 

[dca22anderson]

My wife took a 50 minute video of me putting in the plywood around the ceiling trying to catch me on film falling into the soup.

I'm happy to say I didn't fall in but I did have a cool interaction with the diamond sturgeon. I'll add that link to the thread as soon as I get the video uploaded! It's pretty cool!

 

[dca22anderson]

Anderson Family Reef - ceiling work with Diamond Sturgeon

youtube.com

 

[dca22anderson]

**Warning** This is the uncut version (50 minutes of nonsense) of the installation of the ceiling 1/2" plywood with my wife helping and narrating... view at your own risk... if you think you want to build one of these please watch this first and reconsider!! LOL!!

Some things are said and done on here that I don't recommend... Enjoy... oh and my wife is not pregnant with twins!!

In all seriousness it's kind of a great video showing how cool my wife is and why I am able to build this crazy project.

 

[Bpp124987]

Looks comfortable…

 

[dca22anderson]

Looks comfortable…

The worst… glad that’s over!! Next time I’ll do that part before I put water in it!! Oh and have a higher ceiling!!

 

[GBRsouth]

You need that ceiling to be a motorised lift up job!

 

[Bpp124987]

The worst… glad that’s over!! Next time I’ll do that part before I put water in it!! Oh and have a higher ceiling!!

I feel like the ceiling is too low. You should just take an afternoon and raise it

 

[Ashish Patel]

Current view, next up - grind, fill, drill, epoxy, silicone in the viewing panels then… water test!!

This is the Best DIY project I've seen in any hobby! Taking on the challenges, uncertainty, safety concerns, etc is what really impresses me.

 

[dca22anderson]

This is the Best DIY project I've seen in any hobby! Taking on the challenges, uncertainty, safety concerns, etc is what really impresses me.

Sometimes... we do things... we shouldn't... LOL!!

It's been an amazing process and I have learned a ton of cool new stuff. Keeping the hobby fresh and interesting for sure.

Thanks for following along!!

 

[dca22anderson]

Working on the catwalk overlook with a floor drain!! Also get the sink delivered today!!

 

[dca22anderson]

Sink is here! Going to be a fun evening installing those items!! I can also fire up my big RODI unit too with the sink in place!!

 

[dca22anderson]

now some plumbing…

 

[AlexG]

now some plumbing…

Are you going to make a 5 gallon bucket trap for the sink so you don't need to worry about sand or other larger heavy items going down the drain?

 

[Fudsey]

Are you going to make a 5 gallon bucket trap for the sink so you don't need to worry about sand or other larger heavy items going down the drain?

Please explain this 5 gal bucket trap.

 

[AlexG]

Please explain this 5 gal bucket trap.

I have been using 5 gallon bucket trap for over a year now without any issues. Almost time for a cleanout which I am not looking forward to completing. I have a extractor pump for my basement plumbing and I did not want sand or other objects to break/clog that pump so I built the trap pictured below to prevent sand or other small rocks from making there way to that pump.

 

[dca22anderson]

Are you going to make a 5 gallon bucket trap for the sink so you don't need to worry about sand or other larger heavy items going down the drain?

I should that's a great idea.

I am really careful not to put anything down the drain but I like the redundancy...

I will be doing my water changes using this drain to dump a few thousand gallons down at a time... wonder if that matters...