Project Bonsai

[Erik]

To christen the new DIY forum, Justin Lane (The Saltwater Kid) and I spent a good part of the day creating a new aquascape for his BioCube 29gallon tank. He wanted that Bonsai look as seen in a few Reef Central threads. Jason at the Pet Advantage was kind enough to donate the acrylic rod as long as we documented our progress and did a good enough job to inspire others to try and tackle the project...

All in all, our materials were:
Dewalt 1/2" drill
3/8" concrete bit
1/2" concrete bit
3/8" and 1/2" acrylic rod
A lot of reef epoxy
A lot of black zip-ties
Chisel
Hammer
Assorted Pliers

We started the project at:


Our base rock with bit ready to go:


Hole drilled for acrylic rod:


Hole drilled through rock that was going on top of the base:

It is very important to make sure you drill at the right angles. It's also very important not to drill too close to the edge on very porous rock, as it tends to split. I'd give the piece of rock you're about to drill the brittle test. Grip both sides with your hands and if it feels like you can split/break the rock, toss it in the trash or the sump. It's not going to make for good rock.

Zip ties saved the day, without them, we'd still have a pile of rock... Luckily, I brought an assortment of bits which included smaller cement bits. I believe the one we ended up using was 1/4" It was just big enough to get the zip-ties through.



Coming together, although I think we ended up scrapping that overhanging piece as it didn't pass the brittle test:

[showjyr]

Nice...I demand more pics

[Erik]

Bonsaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!


We ended up zip tying a few other shelves, but unfortunately, I don't have pictures of it. So here is Justin, getting ready to put the final structure in the tank...


I'm holding my breath here:


In the tank:



Top down, you can see some of the different shelves here:


So, started at 10:18am, rock was in the tank at 2:06pm. Total time, 3 hours, 48 minutes.

[Erik]

I'll let Justin post some more finalized shots. He'll get some once the water clears up.
Hopefully all his corals made it. He had some pretty cold water that he was putting corals into

[showjyr]

Should look pretty cool when it clears up....that brain looks pissed.

[Erik]

Should look pretty cool when it clears up....that brain looks pissed.

All of his corals were extremely upset... Unfortunately, it wasn't the best situation for them.
If anybody else does this, I'd suggest a separate heated space for your corals while you're redoing your display.

[The Saltwater Kid]

I believe we can declare Project Bonsai a success!!! The water is still a little cloudy...especially after I had to epoxy some corals onto rock (you have to rinse that 2-part epoxy that PA sells VERY well or you'll have a reddish cloud in your water for a few hours but it certainly does look nicer and more like coralline then the other stuff they used to carry). The good news is I don't think there were any casualties as far as corals go...some are EXTREMELY pissed off but nonetheless all look as though they'll make a full recovery . If any of you are looking for some really nice and green Frogspawn or Pink Tipped Hammer I took the opportunity with all the corals out of the tank to make some frags and I'll post in the For Sale forum with pictures and prices once the tank stabilizes. It does appear that I have quite a bit of die-off on the rocks themselves as most of them look pretty white from being out on our porch and exposed to the chilly winter weather during the process but I have a lot of coralline in my tank so I'm sure they'll color up again quickly. I promise I'll post pictures once the tank is looking better. Once again I'd like to thank Erik for all of his help as I certainly couldn't have done it without him. I think this is a prime example of what the VMA is all about...fellow saltwater enthusiasts lending a hand to each other when in need. Hopefully this project will spawn more creative thinking and member collaboration in the future!!!

[joanstone]

That looks great, I look forward to seeing more photos as it clears up and corals get over it. I would really like to do some work like that when I set my tanks back up, I'm impressed and I'll be looking for advice.

[saltyvt]

I am going to tackle this same task very soon, I too was mesmerized by the thread on Reef Central. Looks good!!

[ReefTycoon]

Love the aquascape !

[Cultivated Reef]

Wow, Im impressed to say the least. Vermont should be known as the purple mountain state with all that coraline
Greg

[The Saltwater Kid]

Well, without further ado here is a pic of the finished Project Bonsai...



The pic doesn't really do it justice because it looks really cool in person. I'm still figuring out coral placement...mostly the Clam and the Dendro but that will work itself out eventually . I love how this makes my tank look full but in actuallity it is just the opposite as there is a ton more room for fish and corals and this design really opened the tank up as far as not having rock take up major real estate in a small tank. It took a long time and was a little hairy at times...lol...but it was fun too and I'm definitely happy with the finished product . Now it's someone elses turn, let those creative juices flow!!!