Are there any DIY Reefers ?

[Henn]

Hi all, I have a Different Tank Build that is a complete Marine Water System. It all began with several outdoor marine Ponds. It took 7 years to develop the system. The last 5 years were with the same base Filter System in three Marine Ponds. All the stuff is Off the Shelf from Building Supply Stores. It does not need Live Rock, it does it all ( Anaerobic and Aerobic ) and Mechanical Filtering. There is a Protein Cannon included in the design. The whole System costs less than a good frag. The Seahorse tank took 6 hours ( silicon cure time). The first Demo Tank ( a Different Tank Build ) was Hard Coral Ready in 7 days. There seems no interest in using a simple but complete system. Reef builds are just Equipment Lists now. After finding little interest in a Reef Tank, I made a Seahorse sanctuary Tank using the same Technology. Same result different day.

Please give this new system a chance. It is able to take a Nitrate Level of 150 ppm and reduce it to 45 ppm in 24 hours. Another 24 hours and Hard Coral. It uses the parts from two Fresh Water Foam Filters put together differently. The addition of a 3 ml dropper ( trimmed ) and an Air Pump complete the Protein Cannon. The Foam Cores are replaced with a Bio Active Fabric ( knitted Ribbon Shade Cloth ). New Cores are wound on the original Spindles. A 5 volt USB Pump sits atop the Filter Complex. This System will catch on. It is simpler and provides far better efficiency than Live Rock. Study the pictures and join me. These are the only prototypes of this method in existence so far. Be a part of that Famous Leaning Edge of Technology.

 

[BeltedCoyote]

Very interesting. Following

 

[susan ingram]

That is super cool!!! I’m a pond person myself, freshwater as it usually gets too warm in the summers and too cold on the winters. I’m interested in how you did the saltwater outdoors. Please DM me!!

 

[AdamD76]

I didn't follow any of that. Do you have more pictures?

 

[burnetb1]

Also very confused here.... and interested.
Marine ponds? are you referring to the tanks in the images or do you have actual in or above ground marine ponds in your yard?
Do you have previous build threads that could help explain your system?
Cost less than a good frag? also very vague.... are you saying like $40 or like $150
Are you claiming a nitrate drop in 24 hours then another 24 and your good to add coral? so are you saying a 48 hour cycle?

So many questions, but I am very interested.

 

[Henn]

There are 750 gallons of Marine ponds and 400 gallons of Fresh Ponds here. There are lots of lovely creatures living as natural a life as possible. It is the purpose of this place to breed the minimum number of creatures to sustain the Reefing experience should our world continue to burn. There are Lettuce Nudibranch that occasionally make it to adulthood and the Dwarf Seahorses are doing well. The Molly Fish are an invaluable help in Fresh or Marine ( live bearing cleaning crew ). The Pencil Urchin and Brittle Star Tanks have yet to produce. In 5 years there has only been one Peppermint Shrimp survival. There are two Reef Fish Habitats { green chromis and pajama cardinals ) running here as well. It is not a commercial effort, it is bore of the heart and a desire to try and learn how to breed these beautiful creatures.
The reason for releasing the Different Tank was to get someone to breed Peppermint Shrimp. The Tank is designed to allow the Adults to Spawn and then remove them. The Tank should do everything else.
PS>> The Ponds all have the same system. The Bio Cores ( Shade Cloth ) don't care what Bacteria they host ( Fresh, brackish, or Marine. Wrap 12 feet of Cloth around a Pond Pump, shove in a Pot, and put in the Pond. The Marine Ponds have a simple Protein Cannon that runs on Air. The Seahorse Tank had it's Bio Cores pre loaded in the main Maine Pond ( parent child picture ). The Seahorses went in one day after it was filled. Pre loaded Bio Cores alone should change Tank Seasoning. The term is meaningless when the Bio Cores can move a Seasoned System in a Cooler. It took 6 weeks for the Crushed Coral in the Different Tank to get active. The Tank had Hard Coral in 7 days because of the efficiency of the Fabric Cores.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Following

 

[burnetb1]

Those ponds are awesome! Very jealous. Definitely couldn't do that where I live.
Love what you have going on, keep up the conservation and research!

 

[Henn]

Thanks, just for the record, the smallest Marine Pond using this system was 35 gallons. It was a 35 gallon Hard Shell Pond from a Garden Center. It had a Tulle Fabric Refugium that covered half the top area and dipped in 12 inches. It fits in a Garage ( 48 inch square for all ) and produced a breeding Dwarf Seahorse population. One 90 Watt overhead Grow Light, aquarium heater, small pond pump, and one air pump. People go crazy when they look in expecting Carp and see Seahorses. The system runs clean enough for hard coral if that is your thing. I used it to recycle my Tank Water. Pull 5 gallons ( or go direct like me ), drain 5 gallons from the tank. Dump the Tank Water into the Pond. Put the fresh Pond water in the Tank. There is a small plastic hose and USB Pump that will reach any tank on the property ( in the house ). The Pump goes into the Pond and the other end of the hose goes into the Tank to the depth of Change wanted. A quick run of the pump primes the hose, shut off pump and siphon empties Tank. When drained, run USB Pump to fill Tank. The system will also drain LFS Water Carboys from the car to Tank ( just prime system and let Tank Water spill into a drain.

PS>>> Just added a real Reef Light to the Different tank. They look very different than in the Ponds.