Fish Aquarium Progress #7
It is very exciting watching the progess of the aquarium now that it is in the livingroom. Seems like things are going so much faster now...it won't be long before it is complete and it is full of fish. I can't wait!
James and I worked on painting the aquarium black this week. 
I think it looks really sharp. James also worked on the hood, so now the light doesn't blind us when we look at the tank. 
Before I took this picture, the tank had been full of water... When I was painting the hood though, a little bit of paint dripped into the water, and we had to let all of the water out and fill the tank again. As you can see, we've filled the bottom with sand- 300 pounds of it.
Would you believe this thing holds 250 gallons of water? The entire aquarium with stand and all weighs about 3,000 pounds in all when filled with water. 
James and I found this large piece of driftwood about a year ago when we were fishing. We really wanted to keep it in case we found a use for it one day, so we decided to take it back to our car. A year later, it turns out we have a really nice use for it. It looks beautiful inside this aquarium. Unfortunately, it floated when we put it in the tank the first time...so to weigh it down, my husband put a rock on top of it. We're hoping it will become waterlogged after a while. 
The rock he used to hold it down was this baby otter I painted several months ago. I was planning on selling painted animal rocks like these on Etsy there for a while but ended up getting too busy.
i'll probably post another progress picture on the aquarium soon. My husband is going to be building cabinet doors in the front of it to keep all of our supplies in. He also is going to build his own filters to use in the tank, since it's so large and it would cost a fortune to buy them.
By the way, the total expense that James has put into this project is about 250.00. Most of the wood he got was donated by friends and he only had to buy a few boards, and the tempered glass so far. Even the 300 pounds of sand was technically free since he got it with the rebate card I got from Lowes after buying my oven!
Categories: My Husband's Hobbies
Tags: aquarium fish tank fish aquarium plywood fish tank DIY fishtank DIY aquarium
LOVE the otter, how adorable... That tank is HUGE, my hubby would love to have one like that, maybe when our house gets finished he'll tackle it. It looks like it going to be awsome when it's all done.
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Hey I have a question... won' the sand make it hard to keep clean? Never heard of putting sand at the bottom of a aquarium...just curious and also will the painted walls on the back release toxins into the water with the fish? So many questions because I love aqauriums and you both are doing a great job just a few questions!! Can't wait to see it with fish in it!!!!
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My brother in law has a tank with sand on the bottom. I think as long as you have a filter, it should be as easy to maintain. His stays pretty nice. You are welcome to ask as many questions as you want!
The painted walls have a sealant over them that should keep toxins from getting to the fish- but we did have a test fish, a guppy, in the water for about 4 days, and the guppy seemed to be doing just fine! I moved her out when I dripped paint into the water and had to drain it and refill.
We will put her back in it and continue testing to see what happens...then after about a week or two, if she's still okay, we'll add more fish.
It's supposed to be fine though...we're just taking a precaution so we dont waste money on expensive fish!
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Holy moley! 3000 pounds! I suppose you must know your floor will hold that! I surely hope so anyhow. I cannot wait to see it done!
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haha Warren!
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It's truely a great job...well done
It's a joy being married to a "handy-mand" I know too..
Kirsten from DK
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The driftwood should become waterlogged and stay down eventually, but it might take a while. We had a small - 6inches or so - piece in our fish tank, and we had to soak it for ages before it would stay. But the rock will work. I wish we had room for an aquarium that size!! Probably better we don't though.. We don't have a very good track record of keeping fish alive.
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LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!!!!
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I was wondering, what do you use for the filter? And how many gallons does the tank hold?
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