Anderson Family Reef - Concrete Aquarium 5,000 gallon DIY

[dca22anderson]

You can't leave us hanging, what's in the Christmas present(s)!?

I've been asking around for and looking for a large tang (at least they grow large), one of my favorite tangs that I have had a few of in the past but now they are hard to find... Dussumeri tang!!

The last one I purchased grew into a yellowfin surgeonfish

Here he is all 2” of him:

Here is a picture of him in the QT:

 

[Sltloser]

That is extreme exciting! I'm so jealous, I think they are one of the most beautiful tangs out there! I saw my first one in person when I was at the Waikiki aquarium over a decade ago. I wish they stayed smaller so more people could enjoy them, but I'm glad you have a well sized aquarium for him .

 

[dca22anderson]

Finished the reactor stand…

 

[dca22anderson]

Finished the extra tank above the Hospital tank stand…

 

[dca22anderson]

Little blue lights end of the day action…

 

[dca22anderson]

Started moving the water barrels to their new homes under the stairs…

Tested my water after a make shift 300 gallon water change to empty the mixing barrel (soon to be the flow through water change barrel)!

 

[dca22anderson]

 

[dca22anderson]

My son helped me clean the mixing barrel tonight… made me replace the cold water with hot water then asked me to shut the lid… made a little sauna in there and he worked way longer… LOL!!

 

[dca22anderson]

Tucked the 210 gallon RODI top off barrel under the stairs to free up a little more room in front of the 80 gallon and 40 gallon holding tanks… also going to flow through the 300 gallon barrel for some small water changes.

 

[dca22anderson]

Here are some full lights fish pictures from tonight:

 

[dca22anderson]

Here are some full lights coral pictures from tonight:

 

[gmflex]

Awesome job.. Took me all day to read all 145 pages.. Well worth it.. Will continue to follow your thread.. I subscribed to your YouTube channel also..

 

[dca22anderson]

Awesome job.. Took me all day to read all 145 pages.. Well worth it.. Will continue to follow your thread.. I subscribed to your YouTube channel also..

Thanks for checking it out! It's been a fun journey that's getting better each month!! LOL

 

[Bpp124987]

Dude how are you going to get into that acrylic lowboy above the glass hospital tank which is above the sump number two?!?!

 

[dca22anderson]

Dude how are you going to get into that acrylic lowboy above the glass hospital tank which is above the sump number two?!?!

Good question... LOL!!

I have a 3 step ladder I use all around the fish room to look into the water changing barrels and to access the high tanks... that was one of those things I thought... do I really need that... and then I did it anyway...

It could be used for a lot of things like a hospital tank, a refugium, frag grow out, or even just a shelf to store things... I had those tanks on hand so I tossed that bad boy up there...

I got all the parts to plumb in the 80 & 40 gallon tanks, 300 water change barrel, manifold to feed the carbon reactors and CaRx & Sulphur Denitrator... it's going to be a fun plumbing job to get all those things functioning properly. I will be able to take each one off line and service them individually once I'm done.

Fun project to break in the new year!

 

[H2OHOH]

I have been watching this build for awhile, excellent work.

now that you have had it up and running…how would you say your routine maintenance has been? More or less than you were hoping?

i suppose with a project like this it may not get routine. I know I seem to be tinkering with mine all the time.

 

[dca22anderson]

I have been watching this build for awhile, excellent work.

now that you have had it up and running…how would you say your routine maintenance has been? More or less than you were hoping?

i suppose with a project like this it may not get routine. I know I seem to be tinkering with mine all the time.

Thanks for chiming in…

It’s getting better… best move was getting the big magnet to clean the viewing panels!! I haven’t been in the tank for months!!

I’m always tinkering down there but even the feeding takes a decent amount of time. I feed 5 sheets of nori in the morning, mixed pellet feeder goes off twice daily, I then feed 14 diced up big shrimp when I get home from work, then some large pellets and algae wafers when the moons go on… repeat daily.

I enjoy it so it’s not too bad. I have some corals that are recovering and starting to grow back and that’s encouraging!

Here is a mystic monti that is growing back from the edge:

At some point I will need to treat for those daisy polyps that are snuffing out some of my corals!

Little wins and big fish keep me coming back for more!! LOL

Big fish loving the space:

 

[dca22anderson]

Finished plumbing in the 80gal, 40gal and 300gal with drains and returns. Each one can be isolated and taken offline for servicing. Built out the manifold for the each of the four reactors. Added a 65 gal fish tank to the main frag tank rack. Moved the barrels under the stairs out of the way. Have a little clean up to do but I love it so far.

 

[Bpp124987]

Bruh you crazy!

 

[dca22anderson]

This is my late night hand feeding with just the moon lights on… kind of a cool view of the fish and reef