26 gallon Red Sea Max Nano Peninsula Build Thread

[JohnNYC8]

Day 159:

My phosphates are settling into a lower range. I measured .11 on the Hannah ULR checker. I'm still adding 4 rounded teaspoons of RowaPhos to my carbon bag in my return chamber every 6-8 weeks. I've been changing my filter socks more often as well.

I'm having an issue with one of my gonis swelling up at night and not opening in the morning. I asked for input in a thread here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/goniopora-didnt-open-today.1014305/

I'm still at half the recommended dose of trace elements and I'm not seeing any nuisance algae. Based on the feedback I get from the goni thread I might scale back to a quarter dose or pause the addition. I might also do an extra water change this week. We'll see how things go.

Here's a shot from Day 158 of the emerald crab going to town on my rockwork:

 

[StripeCore]

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Picture from Day 142

Picture from Day 102

Hello everyone, I'm cycling my tank so I decided to join the community and post a build thread. I have experience with freshwater aquariums but this is my first saltwater tank.

My goal is to build a nano reef with 2-3 fish, a clean-up crew, soft corals, and one or two SPS corals when the tank is more mature. I plan to move slow so I can maintain a stable environment. I'm sure there will be ups and downs along the way but that's all part of the adventure.

My ultimate goal is to create a stable, fun, and attractive environment for my fish.

The tank will be on a countertop with most of the viewing done from one side. There's 4" behind the back of the tank to allow for airflow as recommended by Red Sea. I set aside a healthy budget of time and resources for the tank so I hope to share some cool updates.

Current Set-up:

Red Sea Max Nano Peninsula 26 gallon​

20lbs of CaribSea Arag-Alive Fiji Pink Sand​

CaribSea LifeRock Nano Tree​

3 pieces of CaribSea LifeRock to fill out the aquascape (about 15 pounds total including the Nano Tree)​

A 78* fixed temp heater to get the tank started​

Day 1: Dosed with Dr. Tim's One and Only and started the cycle with a few pellets of food (brought ammonia to 1.2, Nitrite to .05, Nitrate to 20 after 8 hours). I have the LED light turned off, the skimmer turned off and the filter sock out. The water was very milky but it cleared in 24 hours. I have pictures of how milky it was if anyone is interested.

Day 3: Dosed again with Fritz Turbo Start and Fishless Fuel ammonia to get a more diverse array of nitrifying bacteria (brought ammonia to 2.0, Nitrite to 0, Nitrate to 5, PH at 8, Alkalinity a little low at 6.5). I turned the return pump off for 30 minutes after adding the Turbo Start to let all the good stuff settle. I turned the skimmer on since the initial food is starting to break down, added the RSM included carbon, but still have the LED light off and filter sock out.

Day 4: Today, joined Reef 2 Reef to share my journey

Future additions:

Epoxy or glue to lock-in the rockwork after it settles (everything passed the push down gravity test when placed)​

Nero 3 powerhead for higher flow​

ClearView lid (possibly with evaporation covers)​

3D printed filter upgrade kit from eBay​

Some bio balls or cubes to create more surface area​

A better heater with adjustability and maybe redundancy​

A battery backup solution for my return pump​

A dosing system​

I'm testing with a Red Sea Max Marine Care Multi Test Kit

Here's the tank cycling with my little island for a zoa garden in the front

Lots of room in my aquascape for fish activities and coral placement

And here's the money shot. For those wondering, that's a tape measure being used to hold down the skimmer lid. I'm having a hard time fine-tuning the skimmer but I'm getting it under control.

Great Pictures

 

[JohnNYC8]

A cool shot of Ravioli the starry blenny and the clowns hosting in their mushroom from Day 159:

 

[wjcastiglione]

Setting up one of these right now. What’s your final livestock list?

 

[Shanephillips27]

Setting up one of these right now. What’s your final livestock list?

I’ve had mine set up for a lil over a year now and only fish I have are 2 clowns and a royal gramma. You can definitely get more fish in there I’d say at least three more small ones but my female clown won’t allow me to put anything else in the tank so that’s why. However my nitrates stay right around 1.1 and phosphate 0.03 so definitely a few more fish would be doable.

 

[wjcastiglione]

I’ve had mine set up for a lil over a year now and only fish I have are 2 clowns and a royal gramma. You can definitely get more fish in there I’d say at least three more small ones but my female clown won’t allow me to put anything else in the tank so that’s why. However my nitrates stay right around 1.1 and phosphate 0.03 so definitely a few more fish would be doable.

I was thinking 2 clowns, a goby, a royal gramma, and a flame hawk.

 

[Shanephillips27]

I was thinking 2 clowns, a goby, a royal gramma, and a flame hawk.

Sounds good to me either add the clowns last. Or add multiple fish about 2 to 3 weeks apart.