Everything is Bigger in Texas, 5500g Reef

[Skynyrd Fish]

Do you stand in the tank to build the scape?

 

[zukihara]

Found you a UV...

 

[CapAquaATX]

Just wait until you see the actual UV haha.

We did have to get into the tank to aquascape and have a ladder to both get in and get out

 

[Bato367]

If I had a tank that big, I'd put a model replica of the Black Pearl in it.

 

[dca22anderson]

Love to see the aquascape! Epic build!

 

[McPuff]

Definitely eager to see this build continue! Wow.

 

[Sarcazian]

Awesome build.

The owner can go snorkling to relax at night or better yet weekly diving to handle regular maintenance. lol

 

[CapAquaATX]

Sorry guys, been busy but I'll try to continue on this evening. The tank will need diving ~twice monthly to keep it looking pristine, place corals, etc.

 

[Devaji]

Sorry guys, been busy but I'll try to continue on this evening. The tank will need diving ~twice monthly to keep it looking pristine, place corals, etc.

supper cool build!

is Doc. T gonna do that or is that on you?
with an SPS domanite tank I would be worried about shampoo and oils from the body messing with the corals. how are you going to handle that?

 

[metzer]

following along

 

[CapAquaATX]

supper cool build!

is Doc. T gonna do that or is that on you?
with an SPS domanite tank I would be worried about shampoo and oils from the body messing with the corals. how are you going to handle that?

He is going to handle diving first but we have a dual regulator that will technically allow both of us to be in there at the same time.

For the shampoo, oils, etc... I'll try diving first thing in the morning (in a wetsuit) after showering and not putting on any deodorant, hair product, etc. We also have dual huge MRC fluidized reactors running carbon so that should take up anything weird that gets into the tank.

 

[Frogspon]

I imagine when you own something like this you are a bit of a celebrity at your LFS?

There is an LFS around me that will automatically great you at the door with, "Hey, welcome in! What size tank do you have and what's in it?"

This is because they have people during lockdown that essentially used LFS as hour long family field trips, when they didn't even have tanks. But as a tank owner, it puts me off because it's like they're sizing up your purchase power and worthiness of their help.

Alway wondered what the other spectrum is like when you have a tourist attraction aquarium worthy tank.

 

[CapAquaATX]

So fast forward to May 28th, 2020 and our Marco rock has arrived. I personally love the rock of Marco, the density, and Joe C assured me that they would be able to source some massive pieces for this project. My general concern was that I'm not a big fan of cementing rocks together and I didn't want the tank to look like a pile of rubble. I was NOT disappointed @uniquecorals

We ended up order 2880 pounds of their XXL shelf rock and the pieces arrived completely intact and packed immaculately. Large individual pieces were bubble wrapped and I was just totally blown away by the entire experience. The biggest piece weighed somewhere around 200-250 pounds and it made aquascaping something this big both fun and very easy.

Idea for the aquascape is a single underwater ridge with caves, overhangs and to keep the entire structure fairly low to allow plenty of waterflow over the top of the structure and plenty of room for staghorn growth. We also wanted clear paths around the outside of the structure for maintenance access and flow pass through.

Let me know what you think, the last picture is me in the tank for scale!

 

[CapAquaATX]

Here is the the drainset before the life support room was poured as well as the MRC sump in production

 

[New Jersey REEF]

So fast forward to May 28th, 2020 and our Marco rock has arrived. I personally love the rock of Marco, the density, and Joe C assured me that they would be able to source some massive pieces for this project. My general concern was that I'm not a big fan of cementing rocks together and I didn't want the tank to look like a pile of rubble. I was NOT disappointed @uniquecorals

We ended up order 2880 pounds of their XXL shelf rock and the pieces arrived completely intact and packed immaculately. Large individual pieces were bubble wrapped and I was just totally blown away by the entire experience. The biggest piece weighed somewhere around 200-250 pounds and it made aquascaping something this big both fun and very easy.

Idea for the aquascape is a single underwater ridge with caves, overhangs and to keep the entire structure fairly low to allow plenty of waterflow over the top of the structure and plenty of room for staghorn growth. We also wanted clear paths around the outside of the structure for maintenance access and flow pass through.

Let me know what you think, the last picture is me in the tank for scale!

That’s a monster! How tall is that guy in the tank ? 7 feet tall tank, that guy must be huge, but yet tank dwarfs him

awesome build, tagging along!

 

[PanchoG]

Awesome build, following.

 

[CapAquaATX]

That’s me and I’m 5’10”. I’ll get an update coming soon

 

[MartinM]

Also following!

 

[CapAquaATX]

The project went on hold for the next few months as Coronavirus slowed construction down, made travel stop, etc. The site was extremely busy with the aquarium framed, foundation for the new garage poured, walls put up, the entire addition went up.

Pictures of the frame work around the aquarium as well as the pit where the below ground 3000 gallon saltwater reservoir would go. The fiberglass options were exceptionally expensive and the general contractor was very confident he could pour a concrete reservoir and then fiberglass that for us. I think have 3k gallons of saltwater available for emergencies is absolutely crucial because the system is so big that if you got into a jam, you couldn't borrow water from somewhere else.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Uh. Crazy. Lol.
D