200 Gallon Peninsula Build (Custom)
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- Thread starter SEPDXReef
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- 200 gallon peninsula
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Build Update - 07/31/2022
After 2 1/2 days of making, mixing, and filling water into the tank we are finally full. Total water volume (with no rocks, sand, or equipment other than powerheads, return, and skimmer came close to 230 Gallons.
We had a bit of a stressful day yesterday once the tank was full as the 6’ length of glass has a decent bow on both sides that total to about a 1/8” at the center. We made a stop into the LFS to ask if this is something to be worried about and the owner assured us that it is Normal and that he has seen far greater bow in tanks that continued to function properly for years. Needless to say, we will definitely be keeping an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t grow over time. For anyone who is wondering, I did quite a bit of research yesterday and the only rule-of-thumb that I could find regarding when to be concerned with tank bow is when the bow becomes equal to or greater than the thickness of your glass. I couldn’t find any data to support the claim but it made us feel better nonetheless.
Now that the tank is full we turned our attention to the aqua scape and equipment. For scaping this reef tank we took to Pinterest and various other online imagery locations to hone in on a look that fit a 6’ peninsula style tank. After a few weeks of looking around we landed on what we call a ‘double triangle’. The intent is to have two completely separate rock structures that both start at a peak on each end of the tank and slope downward toward each other at the center where they cross. This gives the effect that the scape is continuous when looking at it straight on, but when viewed from an angle, there will be a separation of the structures to allow a swim-through and some visual depth.
To create the scape we began with some old live-rock that the LFS had dried out for a few months. All of the rock pieces were mostly Marco rock with a few old pieces of pukani and coral skeletons. We decided to give the rock a quick rinse with RO water in our old mixing brute trash can.
We created a template out of cardboard of the inside dimensions of the tank drawn in pencil (hard to see in the image).
We then took a ruler and taped the water lever line on it with blue electrical tape so as to reference the water level when creating the peaks of the scape.
From there we began to stack and balance the rocks together until we reached a desired shape.
inally, we used Marco mortar to secure the structures. Note here: we definitely did not use enough mortar so fingers crossed we can get it into the tank one (or multiple) piece .
Yesterday we were also able to remove all of the equipment from our existing system that will be installed on the new tank which includes an Apex, Trident, DOS, EB8 Power bar, Tunze ATO, and BRS Media Reactor.
Today’s Tasks
We are going to attempt to place the rock in the tank as well as 160 pounds of special grade Caribsea sand. If we have time we will also be installing all of the remaining electrical components in the sump.
Let me know if you have any questions! Feel free to drop some tang and shoaling fish recommendations as well if you have any.
Happy Reefing!
After 2 1/2 days of making, mixing, and filling water into the tank we are finally full. Total water volume (with no rocks, sand, or equipment other than powerheads, return, and skimmer came close to 230 Gallons.
To create the scape we began with some old live-rock that the LFS had dried out for a few months. All of the rock pieces were mostly Marco rock with a few old pieces of pukani and coral skeletons. We decided to give the rock a quick rinse with RO water in our old mixing brute trash can.
We created a template out of cardboard of the inside dimensions of the tank drawn in pencil (hard to see in the image).
inally, we used Marco mortar to secure the structures. Note here: we definitely did not use enough mortar so fingers crossed we can get it into the tank one (or multiple) piece .
We are going to attempt to place the rock in the tank as well as 160 pounds of special grade Caribsea sand. If we have time we will also be installing all of the remaining electrical components in the sump.
Let me know if you have any questions! Feel free to drop some tang and shoaling fish recommendations as well if you have any.
Happy Reefing!
Last edited:
OP
OP
Build Update - 08/04/2022
Progress on the tank has slowed down this week as we are nearly complete with the bulk of the system. Since the last update we have the rock and sand installed and most of the gear in the sump.
We have yet to receive the Reef Mat or set up the Neptune DOS pumps as there is no livestock in the system yet.
Upcoming:
We placed a few filter fabric pieces that were in use in another tank into this system to help seed the beneficial bacteria in the tank. We plan on introducing a few fish (1-3) in the next week or so along with a consistent amount of starter bacteria to get the tank cycling. From there we will slowly continue to add fish until we reach a stopping point somewhere around 50% stocked. Once the system has time to settle in to the amount of fish introduced, we will add the CUC and introduce the first Zoas.
We will share our current stocking list plans as soon as we finalize the list
Happy Reefing All!
Progress on the tank has slowed down this week as we are nearly complete with the bulk of the system. Since the last update we have the rock and sand installed and most of the gear in the sump.
We have yet to receive the Reef Mat or set up the Neptune DOS pumps as there is no livestock in the system yet.
We placed a few filter fabric pieces that were in use in another tank into this system to help seed the beneficial bacteria in the tank. We plan on introducing a few fish (1-3) in the next week or so along with a consistent amount of starter bacteria to get the tank cycling. From there we will slowly continue to add fish until we reach a stopping point somewhere around 50% stocked. Once the system has time to settle in to the amount of fish introduced, we will add the CUC and introduce the first Zoas.
We will share our current stocking list plans as soon as we finalize the list
Happy Reefing All!
Very cool, will be following along. @Kerber13 I have no doubt we'll be taking on something that requires floor bracing as soon as we have out own place 
Ain’t that the truth. I love you’re rockwork @SEPDXReef. I consider reefing an art form and rockwork is one of the hardest things to create because it needs to be the bones of your piece. You did a great job. Following along!
Let me know if you need a lighting solution, I make custom light mount for DIY setups.
I specialize in suspension rails and frame setups. Tanks looks Awesome BTW, Peninsula style is my favorite.
I specialize in suspension rails and frame setups. Tanks looks Awesome BTW, Peninsula style is my favorite.
OP
OP
Thanks for the support @Kerber13. Our goal was to creat two separate structures that ran past each other in the center of the tank so the scape looked like one when viewed straight on. I will try to get a few more angles to share soon (from the end, top down, etc.)
OP
OP
STOCKING TIME
We moved our two Darwin clowns from the Waterbox 70.2 into the peninsula a week ago today. We performed a full panel of testing on the existing display and the new peninsula and the parameters are all extremely close. Ammonia is 0 ppm and nitrate and phosphate are present. Time to start introducing additional fish!
Give us your recommendations on tangs as that is the first group we want to begin with.
Happy Reefing All!
We moved our two Darwin clowns from the Waterbox 70.2 into the peninsula a week ago today. We performed a full panel of testing on the existing display and the new peninsula and the parameters are all extremely close. Ammonia is 0 ppm and nitrate and phosphate are present. Time to start introducing additional fish!
Give us your recommendations on tangs as that is the first group we want to begin with.
Happy Reefing All!
Attachments
Exciting update! I really like the white tail tang, I think they are the prettiest of the bristletooth tangs (Ctenochaetus).
White Tail Tang
White-Tail Tang (Ctenochaetus flavicauda) Minimum Tank Size: 70 Care Level: Moderate/ Intermediate Temperament: Semi-Aggressive Reef Compatible: Yes Water conditions: Temp 72-78F, pH 7.8-8.5, Salinity 1.022-1.026 Maximum Size: 7" Diet: Herbivore Origin: Tahiti Family: Acanthuridae
www.marinecollectors.com
OP
OP
What amazing colors! We just saw a nice Cole tang at the LFS today and it has inspired us on the bristle tooth tang variety. This white tail is much more impressive in color. Thanks for the share!Exciting update! I really like the white tail tang, I think they are the prettiest of the bristletooth tangs (Ctenochaetus).
White Tail Tang
White-Tail Tang (Ctenochaetus flavicauda) Minimum Tank Size: 70 Care Level: Moderate/ Intermediate Temperament: Semi-Aggressive Reef Compatible: Yes Water conditions: Temp 72-78F, pH 7.8-8.5, Salinity 1.022-1.026 Maximum Size: 7" Diet: Herbivore Origin: Tahiti Family: Acanthuridaewww.marinecollectors.com
View attachment 2787222
OP
OP
Build Update - 8/14/2022:
Corals in the tank! We introduced a hearty green toadstool leather and some king Midas zoanthids a on a nice piece of live rock that has been in our display for over a year. Within 10 minute the leather and all Zoas were open and happy.
We also completed all of the dosing lines for Alkalinity, Calcium, Magnesium, and Kalkwasser. Next step is to prime the lines and set the dosing schedule.
We will also be adding a small powerhead in the return chamber of the sump to reduce the precipitate forming at the dosing feeds.
Current Stocking Wish List
Tang Gang
Powder Blue/Brown (haven’t decided on which)
Clown Tang
Orange Shoulder Tang
White Tail Tang
Gem Tang (or Marine Beta or Tamarin Wrasse)
Wrasse Class
China Wrasse
Lineatus Wrasse
Twin Spot Wrasse
Other Fish
Banggai or Blue Eye Cardinal School
Mandarin Goby
Bicolor Blenny
Gulf Signal Blenny
Scooter Blenny
Citron Goby
Snowflake Eel
Inverts
Halloween Urchin(s)
Flame Shrimp
Existing Livestock
Scopas Tang
Six Line Wrasse
Flame Tail Blenny
1 Green Chromis
Cleaner Shrimp
CUC (snails, conch’s, etc.)
Desjardini Sailfin Tang
Please let us know your thoughts!
Thanks All and Happy Reefing!
Corals in the tank! We introduced a hearty green toadstool leather and some king Midas zoanthids a on a nice piece of live rock that has been in our display for over a year. Within 10 minute the leather and all Zoas were open and happy.
We also completed all of the dosing lines for Alkalinity, Calcium, Magnesium, and Kalkwasser. Next step is to prime the lines and set the dosing schedule.
We will also be adding a small powerhead in the return chamber of the sump to reduce the precipitate forming at the dosing feeds.
Current Stocking Wish List
Tang Gang
Powder Blue/Brown (haven’t decided on which)
Clown Tang
Orange Shoulder Tang
White Tail Tang
Gem Tang (or Marine Beta or Tamarin Wrasse)
Wrasse Class
China Wrasse
Lineatus Wrasse
Twin Spot Wrasse
Other Fish
Banggai or Blue Eye Cardinal School
Mandarin Goby
Bicolor Blenny
Gulf Signal Blenny
Scooter Blenny
Citron Goby
Snowflake Eel
Inverts
Halloween Urchin(s)
Flame Shrimp
Existing Livestock
Scopas Tang
Six Line Wrasse
Flame Tail Blenny
1 Green Chromis
Cleaner Shrimp
CUC (snails, conch’s, etc.)
Desjardini Sailfin Tang
Please let us know your thoughts!
Thanks All and Happy Reefing!
IME I wouldn't put a snowflake eel in a tank with shrimp. When I got mine he only ate live ghost shrimp until I weaned him onto frozen shrimp. I keep him well fed so he doesn't bother the snails, the conch or the fish but he would hunt down and eat any shrimp in a heartbeat.
OP
OP
Thank you for your input, we hadn’t heard this before about the snowflakes and we are re-thinking adding them as we love our inverts as well.
OP
OP
Stocking Update - 08/27/2022
Today we made a few changes to our socking list and picked up our first round of CuC and Tangs. Thanks to the advice of Chojubai (following the thread) we picked up a White Tail Tang and a Nasso Tang.
Our Tang Gang list has now changed to
- Nasso
- White Tail
- Orange Shoulder
- White Cheek
More photos to follow!
Happy Reefing!
Today we made a few changes to our socking list and picked up our first round of CuC and Tangs. Thanks to the advice of Chojubai (following the thread) we picked up a White Tail Tang and a Nasso Tang.
Our Tang Gang list has now changed to
- Nasso
- White Tail
- Orange Shoulder
- White Cheek
More photos to follow!
Happy Reefing!
OP
OP
Build Update 8/29/2022:
All dosing lines have been hooked up, primed, and programmed through the apex. Still quite a bit of tuning to do but we are planning on trying to maintain as close to the following as possible:
Alk= 8.0-8.5
Cal= 420-440
Mag= 1300-1400
We have added a small powerhead right at the location where the dosing lines enter the sump(challenging to see in the photo). This should help reduce the precipitation of the dosing chemicals from occurring.
The Reef Mat 1200 finally arrived at our LFS and we were able to get it installed over the weekend. The acrylic sump rim needed a small modification (with a jigsaw) to use the hang-on mounting style of the roller mat. So far the mat has been pulling a good amount of material out of the water.
The next decision wilL be whether or not to add a small Refugium directly after the roller mat in the remaining space in the first sump chamber. If we do add a Refugium, we will use black egg crate to keep the chaeto from finding its way in/onto the Reef Mat. We will also likely use some type of shroud on the Fuge light to reduce light spillage onto the Reef Mat and Skimmer.
Looking forward to seeing coraline growth so we can begin to move a few more sensitive species from our current Display into the new system.
Feel free to respond with any questions or comments on the system.
Happy Reefing!
Alk= 8.0-8.5
Cal= 420-440
Mag= 1300-1400
We have added a small powerhead right at the location where the dosing lines enter the sump(challenging to see in the photo). This should help reduce the precipitation of the dosing chemicals from occurring.
The Reef Mat 1200 finally arrived at our LFS and we were able to get it installed over the weekend. The acrylic sump rim needed a small modification (with a jigsaw) to use the hang-on mounting style of the roller mat. So far the mat has been pulling a good amount of material out of the water.
Happy Reefing!
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