4' x 3' Reef build - The new BIONIC Reef!

[envy]

nice cant wait to see it when up and running

[SoLiD]

Nice work. :thumbs_up:

[joelb]

you should build a plenum behind all that structure deep in the sand bed.

[Texreefer]

not a big fan of plenums, besides I will have a 24"x24"x8" deep sand bed in my refugium

[Texreefer]

tank was placed back in wall today.. with a lot of luck I will have all my stuff back in it tomorrow..:hypnotyized:
BTW, the light you see in it is natural sunlight late evening
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/DSC01709.jpg

[acropoorer]

Mike,
Like the free form ability of what you are doing. Where do you get the foam and what is the cost? Also, did you look into aragacrete(sp?). I'm planning a new 340 gal and wanted to use some of your ideas. Any place online I should research?

Thanks,
Dale

[joelb]

great success!! i cant wait, i was starting to miss your corals.

[Texreefer]

14.5 hours later it is up and running.
I saw some of my corals today for the first time in about three months.. many of them look very bad, and some i'm sure will not make it with the stress of the move.
I'm going to be dealing with a nasty bubble algae and hair algae outbreak. The next couple of days will be spent placing stuff in their permanent spots, geting reactors and controllers back on line and cleaning out my garage because it looks like a 200 gal aquarium exploded in there.

[clone]

sweet cant wait to see a pic before the algae outbreak.
and on the bright side at least your back up and running.

[aggman]

wow, and i have been whining about my measly 20 hi nano...sure hope this one works for you. :bigsmile:

~alex

[Gilbert]

how do you get rid of bubble algae???

[joelb]

now watch it rain for the next 2 weeks streight and a big black rain cloud just floats right in between the sun and your tank.:confused:

[Texreefer]

Golbert, I have not found a very effective way to do this.. sailfin tangs, emerald crabs, manual removal.. none are 100%

here are a few pics with my bad camera.. everything is not placed yet but its getting there.
left side
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/DSC01712.jpg

right side
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/DSC01711.jpg

full tank
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/DSC01710.jpg

[joelb]

that looks like it was worth the wait. i know you already know but when ace switched over from MH lights to the sun it took about 2 weeks or so for the corals to really start coloring up again. i wonder if that will be the same with your setup.

[LoneStar]

The foam job looks great once the sand and livestock is in. Lots of potential with the way its setup! Once things settle down and things brighten up, you gotta get Ace over there with his camera :wink_smile:

[clone]

the foam work looks great but even better with the corals.
it that a vortec?
great job

[Texreefer]

2 Vortecs:shades:


the foam work looks great but even better with the corals.
it that a vortec?
great job

[Paul28]

Been away for awile but im back **** mike you been through hell good to see you got the tank up again looking good :applause:

[Texreefer]

Been away for awile but im back **** mike you been through hell good to see you got the tank up again looking good :applause:

Was wondering where you went...its back up but i'm in fo a bumpy ride.. things look bad and I just lost my Teal Nobilis this morning and my Tri color Millie is not far behind

[RayAllen]

Congrats Mike, Glad to see you up and running.

[envy]

Tank looks awsome the pics don't do justice it doesn't show all his hard work. Hell of a tank i wish it were mine, nice setup. I really liked the sun light thing you have going on there. Well worth the wait and hard work. Thank you for the lights. They fit perfect over the 135.

[ErikH]

I really admire all of your hard wordk and dedication. Your tank looks great. :)

[Mr Cob]

Mike,

The tank looks great! Congrats!

FOAM STRUCTURE: I see you went black this time. Doesn't look like pond foam... Did you use Krylon spray paint? Also, did you use a resin or sprinkle the aragonite on when the paint was wet?

One more question, do you seal the foam structure to the glass. What do you use to do this? I'm thinking of sealing my next one. My current one just sits in the tank not touching any glass.

Ooops another question: Where are you getting the wieght from? Do you fill your pvc inside the structure with something? That's an idea if you don't.

Thanks,

[Texreefer]

FOAM STRUCTURE: I see you went black this time. Doesn't look like pond foam... Did you use Krylon spray paint? Also, did you use a resin or sprinkle the aragonite on when the paint was wet?

foam is painted with Krylon in several layers of different colors and sand was sprinkled on throughout


One more question, do you seal the foam structure to the glass. What do you use to do this? I'm thinking of sealing my next one. My current one just sits in the tank not touching any glass.

The foam is adhered to glass using silicone.


Ooops another question: Where are you getting the wieght from? Do you fill your pvc inside the structure with something? That's an idea if you don't.

This is 3" PVC with flanges at the ends for support, its heavy.. I thought about filling with sand but really no need, plus my fish can swim all through the structure.

[Texreefer]

Thanks Eric

[Mr Cob]

Thanks, you did a great job! I like the idea of keeping the PVC open ended for the fish to swim through.

[Texreefer]

Here are a few "better" pics with the sun:

Clams and Acans
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/DSC01714.jpg

The "Valley" between the two reefs
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/DSC01713.jpg

and a full tank shot. much more clear today. but still bad camera
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/DSC01715.jpg

[Submariner]

Wow! As usual, incredible work. Glad things are finally going smoother for you. VERY glad you decided to stick it out and stay in the hobby (err... lifestyle).

[Texreefer]

Wow! As usual, incredible work. Glad things are finally going smoother for you. VERY glad you decided to stick it out and stay in the hobby (err... lifestyle).

Well for now. don't want to get off track here, but we are going into a debt settlement program. I am barely keeping this thing afloat. we are eliminating credit cards so I will not be able to purchase anything for it unless i have cash. so.. I might be selling a few things here and there to keep it running

[Texreefer]

Not much sun the last couple of days:confused: however, things are starting to recover nicely, I'm starting to see color and things are just looking good.
All Hail the BIONIC Reef:bigsmile:

[Paul28]

You half to be loveing the new electric bill too, Looking good

[Texreefer]

Mangrove box Pics. the top of the box is about 3" under the water
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/DSC01717.jpg

it is about 11" square
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/DSC01716.jpg

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/DSC01718.jpg

[sly fox]

looks great! orry to hear times are hard :(

[Texreefer]

Its been one week and WOW! some of my corals that were mud brown bright green or purple.. in just one week,,,, they do not miss the MH at all! I cant wait to see what it looks like in a month

[Texreefer]

Thought it would be cool to show my three tank pics side by side
This was the "plywood" Reef that Won me Tank of the year!
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/DSC01076.jpg

The new tank that started to lose a seam after only three months
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/DSC02118.jpg

and Finally the "Bionic Reef". hopefully this will return to the glory of the first ones
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/DSC01715.jpg

[cpreefguy]

Looking good, I like the mangrove box!

[drgnbttrfly]

Finally catching up on the thread after making a short notice move...and resetting up my tanks..

Sorry about all the troubles you have had.

I do really like the new foam structure...I think I may consider adding something like that to my FOWLR that already has some LR...but I can't afford any more large pieces.

Questions...did you ultimately end up paying for the repair to the vortech?

:photo:Do you have pics of the foam structure..pre-foam? I was just curious what it looked like before so I can get some ideas.

[Texreefer]

Questions...did you ultimately end up paying for the repair to the vortech?.
No, they repaired it, then I sent it back and Marine Depot shipped me a brand new one


:photo:Do you have pics of the foam structure..pre-foam? I was just curious what it looked like before so I can get some ideas.
I don't have any pre foam pics,, was too anxious to get it finished:shades:

[greenmako]

looking great! can't wait to see it in person

[Texreefer]

Just a quick update.. corals are doing great , here is the very, very bad news, I have found a couple of spots of bryopsis that i am trying to deal with. but the worst news is that I am losing the tank very quickly to a plague of bubble algae, i'm talking thousands and thousands.. covering everything from the rock to the foam to the pumps. it is unbelievable how fast this stuff has spread.. my course of action is this.. I'm going to add about 8-10 emerald crabs, bust or remove every bubble i can get to, cut way down on feeding and skim very agressively. If this does not work I will let it go till the tank is so ugly I cant stand it and sell everything!

[RayAllen]

And to think all of this started with wanting to upgrade to a bigger tank. Im betting you miss the ol tank of the year. Hope you can get everything in check Mike. Good luck.

[coraline79]

I think it can get crazy if you put more than one emerald crab in a tank. Just what I have heards. I have found that lights out will kill off you bubble algea, bryopsis can been removed with algea X from what I understand if it isn't much, just expensive.

[Bill S]

Mike,

If you are going to get some emerald crabs, get some nudis too - David's putting together an order from reeftopia.

The results from Algae X are VERY mixed. Some catastrophic reports.

Mike - hang in there... I think we need some group therapy around here.

[Texreefer]

Yeah, no more upgrades for me... ever! The emeralds are just gonna have to work it out. I'm not gonna spend money on miracle cures,, if there was one then Bills tank would be bryopsis free. I just pulled out a rock with about 10 palys on it that was covered in byropsis and threw it in the trash

[Texreefer]

Mike - hang in there... I think we need some group therapy around here.

I propose a tuesday night support group:bigsmile: I have plenty of beer,, we can all stand around and cuss at me tank:angel:

[coraline79]

I have to say your move is probably the best. The algae x is good from what I heard, but I have started boiling my rock that has been covered with it.

[brewercm]

To make sure mine was all gone from my last rock I through it all in a trash can and put a couple of swimming pool tablets in with a pump. Left it there for about a month or so then rinsed all real good before reusing the rock.

[princer7]

When you pop the bubble algae, do you have a UV sterilizer to use on the tank?

[Texreefer]

When you pop the bubble algae, do you have a UV sterilizer to use on the tank?

nope , and cant afford one.. I will be lucky if I can come up with some money for the emeralds

[BIGBIRD123]

Dang the luck,Mike. I wish there was something I could do to help. Seems like frustrations are at a premium right now. I have a 9w UV you can use but I don't know if it would be enough.

S

[caferacermike]

DON'T POP IT.

I cannot believe nobody has said it yet. Basically bubble algae fills with spores causing it to expand. When you pop it you release thousands of spores into your tank. You must very carefully remove it from the rock without popping it.

You know the answers are the standard lights out and heavy/frequent water changes.

Good luck.

Any chance you feel it's from using natural light? I'm adding the mechanical butterfly dampers to mine so I can control the amount of light that comes in every day.

[Bill S]

Mike, I've got a 25w unit sitting in the garage, with a relatively new bulb in it, that you are welcome to use.

[Texreefer]

No stranger to bubble algea:bigsmile:,, I'm way past the don't pop it stage.. poping them and continually removing them before they get big may be my only option.. no, i don't think the sunlight is a cause,,


Bill, I might come get it and try it out

DON'T POP IT.

I cannot believe nobody has said it yet. Basically bubble algae fills with spores causing it to expand. When you pop it you release thousands of spores into your tank. You must very carefully remove it from the rock without popping it.

You know the answers are the standard lights out and heavy/frequent water changes.

Good luck.

Any chance you feel it's from using natural light? I'm adding the mechanical butterfly dampers to mine so I can control the amount of light that comes in every day.

[Texreefer]

Talk about a trip down memory lane.. It has been about 9 months since the fatefull decision to tear down the original plywood tank.... 8 months worth of broken skimmers, chiller disasters, back to back tank cracking disasters, and now I have been up and running for just under 3 months.. Its hard to believe that I have several fish(including a green mandarin), a clam, and corals that are almost 3 years old and have made it through all this

[sharkboy]

any updated tank pics?

[Texreefer]

Here is a little Picture tour
the original plywood tank right after setup, note yellow tang
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/beforealgae.jpg

same tank year and a half later
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/DSC01076.jpg

here you can tell i had cut original hole to eventually fit new tank
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/DSC01445.jpg

first new tank before it cracked
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/DSC02125.jpg

and finally after a second cracked tank i'm back in business
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3239/3101106789_84ea262ec4.jpg?v=0

and I still have old yeller.
Thanks for playing,,,,..... goodnight!

[DrMark]

Glad you are.
Glad the tang and you made it through it all.

[sharkboy]

nice comeback!!!

[dustint21]

Looking GREAT!

[SoLiD]

I'm Glad you hung in there, Mike. Good Job :thumbs_up: