Calling all peninsula tank owners! Would love to hear your experience and advice

cdw79 · May 25, 2023

I've decided recently I'm going to move across the country to a lower cost of living area, and the first thought that inevitably comes to mind is a tank upgrade. I've been obsessed with peninsula tanks ever since I got back into the hobby, and I'm hoping with the extra space in a bigger apartment I could for one in. I think minimum I'd want a 4' peninsula, and I'd be unlikely to go with anything over 5' long given that it'll still be in a 700-750 SF one bedroom apartment (my apartment won't be massive by any means so trying to not get something so big it overly dominates the place). I've currently got a Reefer 300XL (3x2x2' tank, 65 display) that has been a great experience, but there are plenty of things I wish I'd known, considered, etc. before jumping in.

Trying to get it perfect this time, so looking to solicit any and all experiences. What do you like about a peninsula tank, what don't you like? What brands did you look at and which did you go with (or avoid)? What is the maintenance like, especially as I'd likely be doubling my tank size? How did you achieve good flow and lighting? How did you think about your aquascaping for a tank that's viewable on three sides? Anything you would have done differently or wished you knew going in?

As you can tell, I'm incredibly excited at the prospect of a big upgrade. While I'd say I got things 80% right with my current build, I want to be especially proactive this time to try and maximize the good decisions and minis the mistakes. Really appreciate it!

CasperOe · May 27, 2023

Hi there!

Quite amazed you haven't gotten any reply to this yet! There are so many peninsula tank owners out there.. I do not own one myself, but I was very close when I bough my current tank. Let me contribute with my thoughts from back then.

1. I like the opportunities having three viewing sides give you when it comes to aqua scaping. It is a challenge for sure, but get it right and you will have an amazingly interesting tank to look at. To that, there's not really anything that I don't like apart from the fact that I hate having ANY equipment on my glass - and you have an awful lot of it.

2. Only ever really looked at one brand. I wanted the best of the mass produced tanks, so I went for a Cade. Built like a tank, looks amazing and I challenge you to find one that ever failed.

3. Maintenance is not much different from a 'normal' tank in similar size. You have more glass to clean and more sand to keep on top up- but in return you get the stability from a larger tank. As for water changes, think if you can automate that in a way to take that aspect out of the equation. With a larger tank, you have higher costs regarding salt and dosing, so go with kalkwasser- the cheapest of the ways to maintain your elements.

4. For flow, as I said- I hate having powerheads on the glass. I would however go with 2 x MP40/60 on the back depending on the size - and possibly a gyre on the front glass up on the top somewhere.

5. For lights - nothing special or different from a 'normal' tank. For 4 feet, I light my tank with 3 x Radion XR15 gen. 6 but if you're planning on going in heavy on SPS you need more than that.

Best of luck!

cdw79 · May 27, 2023

Thank you so much for your reply! In hindsight I probably asked too many questions all at once, but I was just excited! I think I'll probably try splitting up a few of these questions and maybe I'll get some better success.

Curious about your choice of Cade- I looked at those and the Red Sea 2nd Generation tanks. I've heard Cade is top drop quality, but also saw that there's now a 5 year warranty on the G2s and apparently they've done a lot of strengthening to their bigger tanks to (hopefully?) eliminate any underlying failure potential. Did you end up going w Cade with whatever tank you did purchase, and if so are you happy with it? Is the benefit basically just the improved reliability?

CasperOe · May 27, 2023

cdw79 said:
Thank you so much for your reply! In hindsight I probably asked too many questions all at once, but I was just excited! I think I'll probably try splitting up a few of these questions and maybe I'll get some better success.

Curious about your choice of Cade- I looked at those and the Red Sea 2nd Generation tanks. I've heard Cade is top drop quality, but also saw that there's now a 5 year warranty on the G2s and apparently they've done a lot of strengthening to their bigger tanks to (hopefully?) eliminate any underlying failure potential. Did you end up going w Cade with whatever tank you did purchase, and if so are you happy with it? Is the benefit basically just the improved reliability?

I did go with a Cade, but not one of their (beautiful!) peninsula tanks.. I went with a Cade S2/1200 because of the attention to detail and overall quality. I was not disappointed, just putting it out there strait away!

You can see my 1200 in my build thread, but maybe this is more what you're after..

This chap has a build thread on a Cade 1500 peninsula tank and a lovely one at that.

Build Thread - Isaac's CADE 1500s2/ Peninsula Reef Build

My new build... I'm setting up this new build thread to cover my upgrade journey (and beyond) from my 70 gallon Artisan II Cadlight to my new CADE 1500s2 Peninsula that I picked up a la @AlgaeBarn a few weeks ago. I'll try to be as detailed as I hopefully was in my previous thread —which is...

www.reef2reef.com

Thunder_reef · May 27, 2023

I have an Innovative Marine 100 Peninsula that I absolutely love. Very high quality and it fit my room perfectly. I don’t think you could go wrong with IM. I really like the access to all 3 sides of the stand. As stated above, be prepared to clean a lot of glass , you will enjoy the view of 3 sides!!!