20 Gallon IM Peninsula Build!

[PicassoClown04]

Hey guys, had the tank up for maybe 3-4 months now but really want some sort of documentation of building it. So here goes.


20 gallon IM peninsula tank
Eshopps nano skimmer
AI Prime Light
Jebao Wavemaker
Filter floss
Bioballs
Nano flipper to clean the glass

set up on 2/10/2020
The same day I set it up used live rock and used tank water from a friend’s water change and sump so I completely skipped the cycle. He also gave me a couple of starter frags.
Blue mushrooms
Very small purple acro with green polyps
Random small rock with green growth?? And cool purple macro algae
Some kind of red plate coral
A dying green plate coral
A rock with a bit of pulsing xenia

Pics from 2/17/2020
Bought my first coral! Green star polyps (basic I know but they look cool)

3/24/2020
Bought a lot of stuff really fast and paid another visit to my frag friend. Suddenly I had a whole tank full of coral! Still a 0% death rate.
(Left to right as best I can)
Three sticks of highlighter yellow... acro? Anacropora? Who knows? Not me.
Rock with blue Daisy polyps and the smallest torch you’ve ever seen in your life (like three tentacles) light pink with white tips?
Several heads of branching green hammer (apparently with flat worms which have since infected every single hammer in my tank but that’s a story for later)
Freaky little green acro, dark green with huge lighter green polyps (looks like a Walt Disney in polyp size and growth pattern)
Disk with small yellow shroom (iron man?? I don’t remember what he called it)
A piece of red macro algae
Mohican sun zoas
Miami Hurricane zoas
Pandora’s box zoas
Utter chaos zoas
Large, ugly (at the time) flower leather
Red/green blastomussa
Bicolor torch (bought from ADG)
2 heads Duncan
Another one of the purple acros
An itty bitty nubbin of some kind of highlighter acro idk freebie from another reefer
Blue/red acan
Rainbow acan
Red acan
Highlighter yellow splatter scrolling hammer
Rainbow clove polyps
Green rhodactis mushrooms (2)
4 unknown cyphastrea (guessing) frags
Pink Indo scoly (first BIG purchase)
Red dragon mini colony
Miami sunset chalice
RBTA hiding in back
Green plate coral

LIVE STOCK
1 extreme helmet snowflake (apparently male) <1in
1 extreme Picasso (apparently female) <1in
1 itty bitty <1 in fire shrimp (
1 sexy shrimp

3/28/2020
Participated in my first live sale! Jason Fox
Bought
Contract Killer Favia
Purple Tip Nana- first $5 frag!
Punked out favia
Lime light hydnophora
Rainbow Montipora
Red Hot setosa

4/1/2020
First tragedy- JF shipping got stuck in the mail (not his fault, UPS’s) and the purple tip nana didn’t make it
Zoa count has swelled dramatically, adding a JF gobstopper, wild type ? Gobstoppers, 1 polyp of rainbow infusion, and mandarin

my dad stole my clove polyps cause he nearly killed his and wanted to trade so the new (mostly dead) ones are here by the chalice rock

4/21/2020
New additions!
(Left to right)
Pink goniopora (didn’t make it )
Large orange rhodactis
Blue stripey mushroom? Unknown name
Revived the cloves! Next to the xenia
Orange and green ricordia
New pulsing Xenia colony popped up right in the middle of the tank
Green acan
Very fluffy birdsnest
6/7 heads of purple/green hammer
ZOAS (left to right)
JF gobstoppers
Unknown wild type
Mandarin oranges
Mohican sun
Miami Sunset
Utter Chaos
Pandora’s box
Wild type ? Gobstoppers
Scrambles eggs
Cats eye
Rainbow infusion
JF cry baby

unfortunate event: the orange rhodactis was placed with the green rhodactis and I didn’t know it would melt it now I have three green rhodactis

4/30/2020
Acquired new light! Added AI Prime HD (right)
Noticed a suspect chalice growing on my red macro algae pebble.... may be the same as my larger chalice
Got a replacement goniopora... decided to try again

5/13/2020
Cut my first frags!
1 stalk pulsing xenia
3 frags of Mohican suns (at least 3 polyps each, I don’t believe in tiny frags)
2 heads of green/green hammer

5/17/2020
bought SEVERAL frags of zoas
from a local reefer
30+ polyps eagle eyes
2 polyps vamps in drag
1 polyp blue hornet
3 polyps fire and ice
2 polyps purple monster (with another orange rhodactis)
3 polyps radioactive dragon eyes
Had no idea Eagle Eyes were this itty bitty! I’m more of a larger zoa person

Today!! 5/19/2020
New zoas settled in and took some neat macro shots of a few favorites
Also a fully labeled shot of all my zoas in case you lost track/ wanted to buy some yourself

If you read this far, thank you. If you didn’t, I don’t blame you. I’m just really proud of this because I’ve had a tank since I was 5 (baby read eared sliders) and have always had tanks in the house but this is the first tank I’ve been fully autonomous with, my first saltwater tank, and my 16th birthday present. I hope y’all have enjoyed it just as much as I have!

 

[PR_nano]

Congrats, great coral selection and progress so far. Looking forward to the updates as the tank matures and corals grow. From your list I have to go with the Utter Chaos, they're on my wish list.

 

[PicassoClown04]

Congrats, great coral selection and progress so far. Looking forward to the updates as the tank matures and corals grow. From your list I have to go with the Utter Chaos, they're on my wish list.

I love the utter chaos, and they’re spreading pretty well except that my stupid hermit crabs keep knocking them over and the plug they came on is a weird shape so it’s a struggle to get them to spread off the plug. Brightest zoas I’ve ever seen and my dad (who’s been in the saltwater hobby for 30+ years) is even impressed

 

[PicassoClown04]

5/20/2020
Update! Bought new corals today... whoops. A maze brain and black/pink clove polyps

 

[treedog5]

That went from 0 to 100 real quick lol, I have a question for you. Which chamber do you have your heater in? I have the same tank and I currently have my heater in the middle chamber which is stopping me from getting a skimmer, the heater won't fit in the return pump chamber.

 

[PicassoClown04]

I have it on the left side as close to the intake as possible. Use the nano eshopps skimmer, it’s worked amazingly for me so far and is the only one I’ve found that fits

 

[treedog5]

So do you have the media rack in the first chamber also?

 

[PicassoClown04]

So do you have the media rack in the first chamber also?

I do, I have a rack thing with some bioballs in the bottom and two pieces of filter floss on the very top, easy to clean during water changes

 

[PicassoClown04]

Today... 6/7/20. Bought a cherub angel! Totally in love with this little dude. Saw him eat at the lfs and just had to grab him! More pics after acclimation.

 

[PicassoClown04]

Here he is! In my acclimation pitcher then hiding in my rock work. He’s so itty bitty, maybe 1 1/2 inches I hope he does okay! Anyone have any care suggestions for him?

 

[PR_nano]

Nice fish, I saw one at the lfs but read mixed reviews about it in small tanks. I have a pink streaked wrasse and a firefish which is becoming territorial. I don't want 2 bullying the wrasse. I don't think you have an issue since you got 2 clowns. Keep us updated.

 

[PicassoClown04]

The first cherub died, no idea why. So my LFS replaced him for me (I love that guy) also bought this super blue maxima clam. I don’t have a bubbler that fits this bowl so here’s my wack makeshift aeration technique. Also, the pink goni is starting to show some good extension so I must be doing something right! Super excited.

 

[PicassoClown04]

Clam update and corals! Wanted to show off his pretty pattern

 

[PicassoClown04]

Hey y’all! Got some new corals so figured it might be worth an update. Indo hammers!! Got a big blue and purple wall hammer and a branching pink one. Also got a freebie yellow clove, love that too.

Here’s an updated FTS

here’s the cherub playing peekaboo with me

 

[rob s.]

i must say the best pic has some super cute girls face in it. It's my favorite How do you keep so many corals in a small tank like that? The upkeep must be non stop. I have a small 20 gallon WB and worry that i may not be able to load it up like you have. Any tips as to what kinds do best in smaller tanks? I have a couple frags of Nuclear green candy canes, A christmas porites, A JF PPE encrusting (i forget the name, starts with a C ) a couple of Blastos one small stalk of birds nest, some GSP, an orange lobophylia, and two hammers one 4 heads and one two, and lastely a lords acan. I want to really load it up....any suggestions? Oh yes and some Zoas, JF Kung FU Fighters, eagle eyes, fruit loops, Rastas, and just a plain old green colony that my emerald crab has found tasty been trying to catch him for weeks now. lol

 

[PicassoClown04]

i must say the best pic has some super cute girls face in it. It's my favorite How do you keep so many corals in a small tank like that? The upkeep must be non stop. I have a small 20 gallon WB and worry that i may not be able to load it up like you have. Any tips as to what kinds do best in smaller tanks? I have a couple frags of Nuclear green candy canes, A christmas porites, A JF PPE encrusting (i forget the name, starts with a C ) a couple of Blastos one small stalk of birds nest, some GSP, an orange lobophylia, and two hammers one 4 heads and one two, and lastely a lords acan. I want to really load it up....any suggestions? Oh yes and some Zoas, JF Kung FU Fighters, eagle eyes, fruit loops, Rastas, and just a plain old green colony that my emerald crab has found tasty been trying to catch him for weeks now. lol

Thanks!! Actually, the upkeep is very minimal for me because I understand coral aggression. Also, the long aquascape design I have really helps me space everything out. The best way I’ve found is to use ‘barrier corals’ to help curb aggression. For my purposes I like clove just cause they’re easy to place and transplant, look good, aren’t finicky about placement, and completely non aggressive. I place these between aggressive corals so they can’t sting each other, and since the clove reproduces quickly it’s okay if it gets burned a little bit.

It’s also good to place similar corals together, notice how all my acans are in a group, my hammers are together, my cloves are together with my xenia, my acros are together, etc. Most corals don’t burn members of their species so this is a great way to put many corals together and minimize the space needed to curb aggression. So instead of needing a perimeter around each hammer, you only need a perimeter around the hammer garden. Also placing your aquascape so the upper rocks have a small lip that protects the corals above is good, like how the acans are protected from my hammers below them. Also, place your powerheads so it blows sweepers away from other corals.

As for the emerald crab, they’re suckers for a bit of meat in a simple water bottle trap. Happy reefing!

 

[revhtree]

Looking great!

 

[rob s.]

Thanks!! Actually, the upkeep is very minimal for me because I understand coral aggression. Also, the long aquascape design I have really helps me space everything out. The best way I’ve found is to use ‘barrier corals’ to help curb aggression. For my purposes I like clove just cause they’re easy to place and transplant, look good, aren’t finicky about placement, and completely non aggressive. I place these between aggressive corals so they can’t sting each other, and since the clove reproduces quickly it’s okay if it gets burned a little bit.

It’s also good to place similar corals together, notice how all my acans are in a group, my hammers are together, my cloves are together with my xenia, my acros are together, etc. Most corals don’t burn members of their species so this is a great way to put many corals together and minimize the space needed to curb aggression. So instead of needing a perimeter around each hammer, you only need a perimeter around the hammer garden. Also placing your aquascape so the upper rocks have a small lip that protects the corals above is good, like how the acans are protected from my hammers below them. Also, place your powerheads so it blows sweepers away from other corals.

As for the emerald crab, they’re suckers for a bit of meat in a simple water bottle trap. Happy reefing!

just put a water bottle in the tank with say a piece of shrimp and you think that would work huh?

 

[rob s.]

Thanks!! Actually, the upkeep is very minimal for me because I understand coral aggression. Also, the long aquascape design I have really helps me space everything out. The best way I’ve found is to use ‘barrier corals’ to help curb aggression. For my purposes I like clove just cause they’re easy to place and transplant, look good, aren’t finicky about placement, and completely non aggressive. I place these between aggressive corals so they can’t sting each other, and since the clove reproduces quickly it’s okay if it gets burned a little bit.

It’s also good to place similar corals together, notice how all my acans are in a group, my hammers are together, my cloves are together with my xenia, my acros are together, etc. Most corals don’t burn members of their species so this is a great way to put many corals together and minimize the space needed to curb aggression. So instead of needing a perimeter around each hammer, you only need a perimeter around the hammer garden. Also placing your aquascape so the upper rocks have a small lip that protects the corals above is good, like how the acans are protected from my hammers below them. Also, place your powerheads so it blows sweepers away from other corals.

As for the emerald crab, they’re suckers for a bit of meat in a simple water bottle trap. Happy reefing!

So i got up at about 2 a.m. and found the crab nestled in my bird nest frag eating away! I was able to catch him and now he is resting in a container and going to a friends fish only tank.... very relieved but he did some damage to the bird nest

 

[PicassoClown04]

So i got up at about 2 a.m. and found the crab nestled in my bird nest frag eating away! I was able to catch him and now he is resting in a container and going to a friends fish only tank.... very relieved but he did some damage to the bird nest

Should be fine, birdsnest is a very fast grower, at least for me. I’d expect a full recovery in less than 4 months, probably less than that depending on how much damage the crab did. Glad you got him out though! Kinda hope your friend had a nice trigger to be his tank mate