60g Plastic Tub Pond Build

[gootswa]

One day cleaning out my garage I found this tub and said it would be big enough for a small pond. BTW I built it all by hand, even sawing.
I started by building a frame out of 2x4s to keep the tub strong.

Next, I got some ply out of my garage and cut it to size and screwed it on the 2x4s.

Next I stained it, painted the inside balck with plastic paint, and brought a homemade overflow box that I made at school (Only thing not built at home.) Added the plants and the stock which includes a Mississippi Map, Painted Turtle, x5 feeder goldfish, a yellow/black/white butterfly koi, and an orange/black/white koi.

For filtration I am using a Pondmaster 1000 with a 500g pump. I feed the fish Terta goldfish flakes and Wardley Pond Pellets. The turtles eat baby turtle pellets that I bought from Turtlecrossing at a reptile show.

 

[Bassinkorea]

That looks awesome....I love it

 

[CVHoover]

wow good work, looks good!

 

[NotoriousSway]

Looks good, I really like the hand made overflow, it looks great but wont the wood rot? I guess there is prolly something you could coat it with that out make it water proof, did you do that? If so what did you use?

keep up the good work!

 

[CJH]

Next I stained it, painted the inside balck with plastic paint, and brought a homemade overflow box that I made at school (Only thing not built at home.) Added the plants and the stock which includes a Mississippi Map, Painted Turtle, x5 feeder goldfish, a yellow/black/white butterfly koi, and an orange/black/white koi.

I really like this project. Looks like something I could build with stuff I have leftover from other projects. And Graptemys are probably my favorite North American aquatic turtles.

A few questions:

1) Like the other poster, I'd like to hear more about the overflow box, which I think is one of the highlights of this project. Species of wood and what sort of sealer you used, etc.

2) Is this box really 60 gallons? I have three different 50 gallon storage boxes in my garage and all appear to be much larger than the one pictured and in fact I have looked for larger ones with no luck.

3) When you say you painted the inside black I assume you mean the inside of the plastic box?

 

[rnocera]

Nice build! I really like it.

 

[shelbyzman]

very creative and cool!

 

[gootswa]

Yes it is plastic, I used special plastic spray paint. The overpflow is made from cherry which is sealed with silicone and senica red 222 waterproof stain. If you put water on it just beads off its great. Basically it is powered by two 660 powerheads with 3/4" tubing surrounded by silicone. I'll see if I can find the sticker that said how many gallon it is. It was like 58.7 or somthing I just rounded to 60. Here is a vid of it in action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXW_N_V18vM
Thanks!!!

 

[gootswa]

All the animals are doing great! The koi go crazy during feeding. And I added 3 more feeders along with two fancy goldfish.

 

[grem89]

looks great! Do you have a UVB lamp built into that planter for overtop that basking area for the turtles? UVB is very important for their shells