This is a different Reef Tank

[Henn]

Hi all you fellow Reefers, My entry into this fine group was over my Dwarf Seahorse Breeding Pond. There are 750 gallons of Marine Ponds here. With two separate Breeding Corrals and perhaps 100 or so Ponies. It was time to share the methods. The marine ponds are a little too high in Phos for hard coral. The Gorgonia, ricordea, and Macro Algae do great as well as lots of great Frags. All Frags look drab in sunlight and there is so much Plankton that the water is golden green under UV at night. Any attempt to see the Colors Pop at night is stopped by the Green Glow of living water. I have no Reef Tank. I miss Hard Coral. The Reef Tank described below already works in all the ponds. Here is how to build the simplest, cheapest, and most effective system possible :>) Such a statement is only possible because there is no function left undone and no possible reduction in parts. There are two key points about the design and materials. The Bio Cloth must be HDPE Ribbon Knitted Shade Cloth. Only a Knitted Ribbon forms the low oxygen junctions that support Anaerobic Processes ( Nitrate removal ). Any old Bio Ball does aerobic ( ammonia/ nitrate ) breakdown. There is no low oxygen Depth to a plastic surface. The Foam Cores that are Not Used have never done Anaerobic and get loaded up. Winding new Bio Cloth Cores provides a semi permanent solution. The material is a course filter that does not load up ( good flow ). It has huge surface area for aerobic activity and all the plastic to plastic low oxygen zones for anaerobic.
The original Foam Units ( fresh water ) do not have a Protein Scrubber. To make a complete Marine System, the second Foam Unit is turned upside down and snapped onto the lower Filter Unit. It becomes a Protein Scrubber because a trimmed 5 ml Dropper is shoved up the upper tube ( picture makes clear ). It bypasses the foam from reentering the Bridge and forces all gack to leave by the now repurposed Air Ring in the upper unit.
As is seen the water being pumped up is not allowed to get back until it crosses the Bridge. The Air goes up and the Water goes across and down.
Control is achieved by one Air Valve. The System Picture shows the Air Stone glued down. It is the lowest Air Feature. The Air Lift Filter mounts are glued about 1 1/2 inches higher. The Air Valve only limits the Air to the Filter/Scimmer. At full Air to the Filter, the Air Stone is minimum and the Scimmer dumps 1 gpd. it is about 10 gph through the Filter when there is Air appearing in the Downspout. It is running at about 4 gph now and 1 cup per day Skim. It was started Saturday 6/20 with a commercial Bacteria load. It got two filtered mud dumps from the Main Pond bottom ( hydrogen sulfide type deep mud quickly transferred ) provide some living Low Oxygen Bacteria to get going. The Molly Crew was day two. They are my favorite crew and will stay after the Tank is seasoned. It takes one cap of Ammo Quell each Morning and Night for 5 days. The Bio Cloth colonizes much fast than Rock.
I included a picture of the Big Protein Cannon in the Main Pond. It dumps about 1 gpd. Behind are two 400 gph pond pumps wrapped in the magic cloth. Both the Ponds and the Reef Tank have no blades or larval hazards. All current is from Water Entry. The pumps are low suction on the surface as are the Bio Cores of the Tank System. I will post some better pictures if there is any interest. Lets test out the possibilities. This system makes quality Marine Systems possible for very low cost. It should support an interesting Reef Tank with lower Phos than possible in the Breeder Ponds. Happy Reefing
PS: the picture of the layout on the table shows the Dropper used and a second System for comparison with the installed unit.

 

[Devaji]

I am curious to see how this goes. keep us updated

 

[Henn]

This whole forum thing is confusing me. Do I answer all replies? Is one answer seen? I was asked to post now wear do I update the original post?

I am going back to member tanks and just update.

 

[Henn]

Hello all, The different tank build is on schedule for the first coral pieces on Saturday ( 06/27/20 ). That will be the 7 th day since beginning. That is just one difference and this update is to cover some of the original 2 days ( 06/20/20 ). There is a picture that looks awful from the first day. This method adds Plants the first day and then removes them after 24 hours. This is why.
1. The first day the water is perfect and sterile. The sand is sterile. The Bio Bobbins are sterile. After filling and starting the Air Pump ( only moving part ) the tank gets a shot of Commercial Tank Starter. In addition the tank gets an infusion of Hydrogen Sulfide Mud from the main pond. This if done fast can transfer working Anaerobic Bacteria ( saving spore time ). As soon as the water clears ( 2 hours ) the Macro Algae is added. The pure water now will not hurt the algae and it carries lots of organisms. The picture will show the mess. I did not include the picture in the first thread because it looks crazy unless the reason is known. The tank is left running overnight. ( 06/20/20 )
2. The second day starts with removing the Algae. Any organisms have gone into the sand and some micro nutrients are left. This begins the most important step. After the tank clears ( 2 hours ) a small group of Molly Fish is added. The Tank is left to run overnight. ( 06/21/20 )
3. The Molly Fish were not fed after entering the tank ( any of several fish will work ). Overnight they eliminate waste and Ammonia, Nitrite, and nitrate are present. This would have killed the Algae or most any other tank mates. This is when the Mollies get 1/2 a teaspoon of Ground red Shrimp and the tank gets 1 cap of Ammonia Lock. The tank gets another cap of Ammonia Lock at night. ( 06/22/20 )
4. The same routine of Lock and 1/2 teaspoon Ground Shrimp in morning and Lock at night. This is the peak day for Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate. ( 06/23/30 )
5. The peaks were over by morning and the readings were dropping. By 6:00 pm a test strip is unresponsive. I ran more sensitive tests and took a picture. Nitrite was 4 ppm and 24 hours later it was .25 ppm, Nitrate was 10 and now it is 4. ( 06/24/20 )
The reduction in Nitrite shows that the Aerobic is running. That is usually not a problem as it can happen anywhere. The Nitrate reduction is the important indicator. The Anaerobic has to be working and that means that the tank is already working. The critters that came in with the Algae are used to living in dirty sand so they can survive the peak with the Mollies. It is midnight ( 6 hours after the test results and the readings are zero on an API Test strip after 5 minutes ).
The Tank will run as is until Saturday ( 06/27/20 ). It should be ready for the first hardy test coral from the Marine Pond. There is a picture of the Coral Pieces that are up for selection. They all have great color under tank light. It will be good to SEE them again. Some have been in the Marine pond for years.

 

[Henn]

This small preamble is to assure anyone looking for Nitrate Removal, you need to follow this thread. This test was to demonstrate a new material that colonizes with bacteria and begins working within hours. If somebody does not need the free Protein Skimmer included in the design, it may be omitted for use in an existing system. The tank shown below was washed out on Saturday ( 06/20/20 ) and had a custom Marine System installed. The thread will detail the steps. This system already gives me excellent performance in the Fresh and Marine Ponds.
Please note: The Aragonite Sand is not seasoned. It will proceed like any other old style system. In 6 weeks the Anaerobic bacteria will have finally migrated through the porous stone. All exchanges will be Gas Diffusion or Osmotic. This is too slow. This Nitrate problem has gotten worse with Fake Coral. It has no porosity and will not host Anaerobic bacteria ( so to plastic, glass ). The Bio Bobbins here are like hi rise apartments ( low Oxygen envelopes ) for Anaerobic bacteria. The large pore size allows for fast flow and the aerobic surface does Nitrite, and ammonia. The rotifers and other small stuff keep the halls clean. The Plastic Foam Filters that were used are an example. The All Plastic Foam has no Anaerobic Places. It can not do anything about Nitrate. It loads up with greasy stuff. Throw away the aerobic Foam and wind your own Nitrate Destroyers, stick them in your problem tank, run the air, season them, and expect them to begin crushing the evil Nitrate. The design adjusts to fresh, brackish, or marine by using whatever Bacteria that is waved in front of it.
Nitrate removal by controlled flow through Anaerobic micro galleries. Please spread the news. Most all of the sad stories about tank and ponds all relate back to our ancient adversary, the evil Nitrate. By perfecting this technique we can eliminate a great deal of those sorrows. With all due respect to my fellow Reefers:
We must stop whining and start winding. This is not a setup or a newbie dream. It took a long time to know the material that was needed. A very complex weave. It ended up a twisted HDPE Knit. It may be that with flow and uniform Anaerobic compartments, this stuff is orders of magnitude more efficient than stone reactions. It is certainly faster. Sometimes trade secrets or private knowledge must be surrendered for the common good. It appears that the Nitrate miseries have placed me in such a position. Use this apparatus to reduce the stress on your tanks. Use it outside and breed seahorses or coral. The tank system was designed to breed pelagic lava. It will not hurt the larva and produces the necessary sounds to encourage their decent. The Bubble Deflector and Curtain will spin a refugium if desired.

 

[andrewey]

All I can say is that I'm happy that you're happy. Enjoy your tank

 

[Henn]

Thanks, please see the latest and last post. I still don't think the implications have sunk in. The Nitrate issue and the Reactor Speed were the main reason for sharing. This may look simple but it has nothing to wear out or replace. IT self adjusts from fresh to marine because it is primed on site with the correct bacteria. It is also the only system that can be safely run by a newbie without major Nitrate load. My load doubled in two hours. There was almost no lag. Nothing wears out and it runs on air.

 

[Anchor]

INteresting gonna follow this.

 

[andrewey]

You might consider chatting with @brandon429 - they might be interested in what you've written, but more importantly, you have nearly identical writing styles and I think they'd get a kick out of it!
Cheers!

 

[Henn]

Hi all, this is the 7 day Marine Tank. The Nitrate Reactor was finished coming on line by 6:00 am Friday ( 06/26/20 ). With stable tests there was no reason to delay ( all photos are in threads ). Without feeding the tank, I went out to the Marine Pond and got the frags ( the container with gold water is pond water, the color is plankton and algae ). After dropping the frags in they all got fed.
If you build a system please try Graded Suspended Feeding. All the systems here and all the creatures are fed at once. This system has worked for years and saves time and is far better for all the creatures. The concept is based on providing a Graded Size of food particle. In the Tank it must be flour for the sponges, meal for Zo's, or chucks for Mollies or Crabs. Now comes the biggest constraint. The food must be Neutrally buoyant. It circulates throughout the tank, it feeds everything, there is no hogging. A Sun Coral in a cave gets some. It all disappears. What food works?
Dried Red Shrimp can be ground quickly to make a size melange. It is all Neutrally Buoyant. It take several hours to clear. It is gut loaded shrimp particles. Nothing in the System has any problem. Grind and re-hydrate. The 275 gallon ponds get 3 TBSP each, that is all they ever get ( there is 160 sq ft of magic cloth in each pond wrapped around a pond pump, the Tank has 6 sq ft ). The new tank got 1/2 TS at first and now 1 TS.
I will be posting a series on making proper seahorse corral tanks. Something must be done for the Sea People.

 

[BighohoReef]

I'm so confused and very curious I want to know more!!! It would be amazing if you could do a write up on your system. I'd love to see your ponds and the process in more detail... I live in the Pacific Northwest when you say pond I think of murky, cold, dirty water... hence my confusion. Looking forward to reading more!

 

[Henn]

hi there, When most people think of ponds here in LA they are smelly and somewhat nasty. The ponds here are like lake water. There is a Turtle Rescue Pond with Molly Fish and Fresh Water Shrimp. There is also an aquatic plant pond just for shrimp. They are all descended from LFS Stock. The threads start with my Marine Ponds where there are several Dwarf Seahorse Breeding Colonies. They are well over 100 strong. They share the Corrals with Breeding Lettuce Nudibranch. The first threads were the Seahorse/Pipefish Forum. The confusion may be that the ponds all run on the same simple filter. Salt or fresh the filter system runs for years without maintenance. For the Salt Ponds it was necessary to develop a Protein Cannon ( skimmer ). All this stuff was OTS but no body was listening about the Nitrate Destroyer that makes all my pond work possible.
SO: I designed a complete Marine System that cycles in 6 days ( the module ) not the 6 week normal Coral Sand Delay. The System is a miniature of my dual Marine System. It is made with two $12 Fresh Water Foam Units, a 50 ml Dropper, 6 tie wraps, and two 6 ft by 6 inch roles of Home Center Shade Cloth. If nobody cares about Breeding Seahorses and growing Soft Coral in the back yard, maybe they will try a $60 Tank System that includes a Protein Skimmer and Nitrate Destroyer. It may work better than most full blown systems. If you build a System and want a great Canadian Proof Pond, install the System in a 35 gallon Pond Form that is on some foam in the house. One overhead Reptile Grow Light ( 90 ) watts and the Seahorse Corral ( Tulle Mesh Corral ) and you can Breed Seahorses. That was my initial success. The Tank that was built is really a Breeder Tank. Without the Coral Frags it circulates Pelagic Larva until They land ( mature ). Throw in two Peppermint Shrimp. After one Spawns, get them out. The Larva will swim until they molt. Follow the Threads for Henn. They have some good pictures.

 

[Henn]

Hi all, here is where the Different Tank build is all grown up. The only issue was that doubling the Life Load ( frags ) on Friday ( 06/26/20 ) caused the Nitrate Portion of the Reactor to over amp slightly. It ate all the Nitrate available and got ahead of the Aerobic Activity. One Zo started closing at 10 pm that night. There was a small amount of Hydrogen Sulfide in the Protein Dump. That was the indicator. Only the Anaerobic Bacteria in the Closed Cells could have made that gas in a new tank. I dosed a small amount of Ammonia Lock to be safe and turned up the Reactor Air. It dumped about 1/2 gallon overnight. The double load ( frags ) and a double breakfast was a little too soon for the Aerobic. Today it was OK so I added some cleaned Crushed Coral to start getting an Old Look. It is my hope that after seeing this Reactor work and the Simple Marine System Assembly, some of you will build a Tank or Marine Pond. This setup should let anyone so inclined to get started for very little investment. It does Hard Coral.
PS: I discovered today that the Main Marine Pond ( Dwarf Seahorse Coral ) is full of baby Nudibranch. They are all different sizes. The Ponys did not eat all the Larva. If the Pencil urchins or Brittle Stars do the same, it will make me cry.

 

[Henn]

The Device worked. The Aqua Scaping started yesterday. Check the latest post. It doesn't look bad for Marine Pond Frags and a System that was dry last Friday. I will not stop pushing this new technology. There is too much loss because of Nitrate Pollution. If people only make one and put it in an operating system, they will benefit.

 

[Henn]

Hi all, This is an update about the Nitrate Reactor Tank Test. Before continuing about the Tank, The Nitrate Reactor has proven to be very effective. If anyone came here for the Nitrate Reactor Design, it is in the Threads and it totally works. If the only problem with your tank is high nitrate this design will fix it. The only part needed is the New Fabric Cores on the original Foam Core Spindles. The reactor took 3 days to show activity and then took the startup Nitrate on the following profile. Added Fish day two with no feed. Next morning 10 ppm. Fed fish and took reading in 24 hours, 20 ppm. Fed fish, 24 hours 40 ppm ( peak yikes ), Next morning the reading was 4 ppm ( Friday 06/26 ). Based on this I added the first Frags. Next morning 1 ppm. I added more Frags. Next day 0 ppm Nitrate. This is how the Frags almost died. That night I noticed a withdrawn Green Star. A test, Ammonia 5 ppm. Oh No, the Nitrate Reactor reading fooled me. The Nitrate reactor Core Material was doing a great job with Anaerobic ( Nitrate ) but the Tank Aerobic ( Ammonia and Nitrite ) Processing was still stuck on the old 6 week seasoning of the Crushed Coral. Also the new Nitrate Reactor works so well because of flow. The Crushed Coral has no forced flow. The latest Tank photos of day 10 show the new test solution for the Aerobic Issue. One of the Reactor Cores was removed and replaced with an original Aerobic only Foam Core. The single remaining Reactor Core is holding the Nitrate at Zero ( 24 hours ). The Aerobic Foam has lowered the Ammonia to 2 ppm. If the Tank reads 0 ppm Nitrate and less than 1 ppm Ammonia tomorrow, this thing totally works. With this unit a Crushed Coral base would not be needed. If the Foam Core goes into operation as fast as the Anaerobic Reactor Core there will be Stag Horn in two days. One change right off was the Foam Filter gives the water a fine Polish.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Interesting system.

 

[andrewey]

I applaud your enthusiasm and you're off to a good start with your trials, but I would suggest that maybe you do your testing/proof of concept without animals in the tank? It seems a bit cruel to subject your fish to 5ppm ammonia.

Also, in case you weren't aware, in a newly cycling tank, the presence of nitrite will impact the nitrate readings

 

[Henn]

Thanks for your comment: About the Different Tank System
It has been operating in 750 gallons of Marine Ponds for 5 years. There are no nitrates in the system because of this material. There is 160 sq ft of Knitted Ribbon HDPE in each 250 gallon pond. It is twisted and Wrapped around pond pumps ( 400 gph $ 20 ) that output from a hose. The hose is all the current ( 2 ips over the ZO Bed ). The units get serviced each time a pump wears out. The Filter Cloth is Not Rinsed but just rewound. The critters do all the filter cleaning. The Tank System is just a miniature of the Marine Ponds. My Lettuce Nudibranch reproduce, my Gorgonia are splendid :>), the Dwarf Seahorse Corrals are approaching max capacity ( 180 at 60 / corral ). The Frags are all from the Pond except for the Ricordea that are undergoing position training. It was time to show people how to completely destroy Nitrate. That is done. Days vs Nitrate 1 / 0 , 2 / 0 mollys in, 3 / 30, 4 / 45 ( mollys can go ph 8.6 KT 17 SG 1.05 ), 5 / 4 , 6 / 1, 7 / 0 there are no detectable Nitrates in the tank. Issue now. The Ammonia went nuts ( Aerobic ) and is being detoxified. The Aerobic cannot keep up with the Reactor Core ( another myth busted, Diffusion Flow of Aerobic Activity in Crushed Coral is almost as bad as Anaerobic. When Nitrate reached Zero, I took one reactor off ( Anaerobic Nitrate Fabric ) and put the original aerobic Foam Core on the open spindle. That was 36 hours ago. If the Aerobic Foam with Flow can do to Ammonia and Nitrate what the Anaerobic Reactor does to Nitrate, this will be a system that does not require any real Crushed Coral and fully cycles in 6 days ( in case the aerobic bacteria used in the first day was Ammonia Bacteria deficient, I fed the Tank ground tilapia and fresh ground whole shrimp today. Most fresh seafood smells like ammonia anyway. Yes, it sounds odd ). The single Anaerobic Reactor Core has kept the Nitrate at Zero. If the New Aerobic Core starts up the same way the Ammonia should fall within another 24 hours. If not, it is only finding the way to increase Aerobic Activity. Evil Nitrate was dead here 5 years ago. His minions Ammonia and Nitrite will soon be sleeping with the Fishes :>)
I always do what I say, they haven't got a chance now. PS : The Fresh Water Foam Filter was always known for polishing water. It's doing that already.

 

[Henn]

Hello there, this place is an animal sanctuary and the Marine Ponds are just a part of our reverence for life. Your concern is noted but perhaps you are not aware of the techniques here. The fish are Mollys and are the most valuable workers in the Aquatic Systems. The Tank is just a small duplicate of the Marine System. Mollys can survive 8.6 ph , 120 % salt , 17 KT. They go from Salt to Fresh with no adaptation. They live bear all the small Marine Fish Food needed and will soon provide the new Hippocampus Erectus Pond with fry. The idea that Tanks must Crash and Cycle for weeks is based on old technology that is based on Osmotic and Diffusion rates. The actual readings that the Mollys experienced was a high of 45 for Nitrate on the third day ( only hours ). It went down to 4 in 24 hours, and 1 after 24 hours more. On the 7 th day the Nitrate Level was Zero, just like the Marine Ponds. The Ammonia Issue was unexpected. Ammonia is Aerobic and there was Tank Starter ( aerobic ) from day one. When the Ammonia showed up the Frags were in??? I can only Detox and wait. An original Aerobic Foam Core that comes with the $ 12 Dual Foam Fresh Water Filters was used to replace one Nitrate Reactor Core. The single Nitrate Core has held the Nitrate to Zero. The forced flow through the Foam Core should handle the Ammonia and Nitrite.
PS: The Mollys gave birth twice while cleaning the new Tank. They also live by the Rule: You keep what you earn. This is now their home and they will be joined by 3 Peppermint shrimp to complete the Crew.

 

[homer1475]

Your doing a scientific experiment, and using API test kits to valid the experiment. That quite laughable.

In my eyes, anything your testing is subjective. We all know API kits don't test very low ranges, or are not very accurate in SW(0 nitrates could be anywhere between 1 and 5 before the API kits even detects the presence of nitrates).

Get yourself some better test kits, then restart your trials.