First Tank - 25g Waterbox Peninsula

[officialreefbros]

Hi everyone!

I have been asking a lot of questions here while I have been setting up my first tank and figured I should start a build thread. It may also help me from doing something stupid ;Shamefullyembarrased

For background, my brother has been in the hobby for just under a year and after watching his tank, I knew I wanted my own. Due to the pandemic, I have been able to work from home often. So what's better than setting up a tank on my desk to watch when meetings get boring.

So far I got my tank and equipment. I am using the following:
_____________________________
Peninsula Mini 25
AI Prime HD16
Nero 3
Syncra Pump 1.0
Duetto ATO
Red Sea Coral Pro Salt
Fiji Pink Live Sand
100W Heater AquaEL
Biofilter Media
Kraken Lid
_____________________________

When setting up the tank I spent a lot of time building the rock. To make something of my own, I ordered way too much rock (40lb Marco Rock, 10lb Shelf, and a Medium Foundation). After a BIG struggle of breaking and building rock, I made this!

After getting it all filled up and to the right salinity, I began cycling it. I used Fritz Turbo Start and Nitrocycle from the Algae Barn Tank Cycle kit to do a fishless cycle.

Currently, I am waiting to hear from my local fish store about the clowns I want to get. The current plan to add in over a long period of time is 2 clownfish, HiFin Goby/pistol Shrimp, Peppermint shrimp, nassarius snails, astrea snails, Maybe hermit crabs, maybe a cleaner shrimp, Firefish or Banggai Cardinalfish or Six Line Wrasse or Clown Goby or Royal Gramma, and WAY down the line some sort of Mandarin or possum wrasse.



Let me know what you think and would love any suggestions/advice/tips. I'm super excited to keep learning this hobby and grow my tank!!

 

[glb]

What a terrific build! Your plan sounds solid. The only thing I’d rethink is the mandarin. Even with a very established tank, there might not be enough pods in a tank your size. Also, I’d check on compatibility for your fish. Liveaquaria.com has a great compatibility chart and also ideal tank size for each fish. Keep us posted!

 

[officialreefbros]

Thanks so much! I'll check it out. That is something I didn't consider, but regardless something to think about way later. I'm planning on getting the clowns and then after a few weeks a goby w/pistol and then will give the tank a while to mature up!

 

[officialreefbros]

Hi everyone!

I have been asking a lot of questions here while I have been setting up my first tank and figured I should start a build thread. It may also help me from doing something stupid ;Shamefullyembarrased

For background, my brother has been in the hobby for just under a year and after watching his tank, I knew I wanted my own. Due to the pandemic, I have been able to work from home often. So what's better than setting up a tank on my desk to watch when meetings get boring.

So far I got my tank and equipment. I am using the following:
_____________________________
Peninsula Mini 25
AI Prime HD16
Nero 3
Syncra Pump 1.0
Duetto ATO
Red Sea Coral Pro Salt
Fiji Pink Live Sand
100W Heater AquaEL
Biofilter Media
Kraken Lid
_____________________________

When setting up the tank I spent a lot of time building the rock. To make something of my own, I ordered way too much rock (40lb Marco Rock, 10lb Shelf, and a Medium Foundation). After a BIG struggle of breaking and building rock, I made this!

After getting it all filled up and to the right salinity, I began cycling it. I used Fritz Turbo Start and Nitrocycle from the Algae Barn Tank Cycle kit to do a fishless cycle.

Currently, I am waiting to hear from my local fish store about the clowns I want to get. The current plan to add in over a long period of time is 2 clownfish, HiFin Goby/pistol Shrimp, Peppermint shrimp, nassarius snails, astrea snails, Maybe hermit crabs, maybe a cleaner shrimp, Firefish or Banggai Cardinalfish or Six Line Wrasse or Clown Goby or Royal Gramma, and WAY down the line some sort of Mandarin or possum wrasse.



Let me know what you think and would love any suggestions/advice/tips. I'm super excited to keep learning this hobby and grow my tank!!

Today I finally got my first livestock!!! I've been shopping around for clown fish and haven't been able to find them in a lfs. Long story short they are trying to order them for me

In the mean time I'm adding in peppermint shrimp! I figure it might be nice to get them used to the tank without the stress of fish and this way they will be ready for any aptasia that could come in! They have been running around all happy and healthy. Now the fun begins, next step nassarius snails and then the clowns!!

 

[OldRed1]

What a fun build! From the picture of your rockscape out of water, it looks like the rocks may be very close to the glass, particularly in the upper right corner. Are you able to get an algae scraper behind those rocks?

 

[officialreefbros]

What a fun build! From the picture of your rockscape out of water, it looks like the rocks may be very close to the glass, particularly in the upper right corner. Are you able to get an algae scraper behind those rocks?

Nope! When building it I mapped out to leave 1.5 inches from the glass to make sure I could scrape it

 

[officialreefbros]

I've had a lot of ups and downs with the tank lately. A lot of progress from my last post. I have two adorable phantom clownfish named Chloé and Joey. I gota rainbow bubble tip from a local reefer and a lot more coral! I got some from topshelfaquatics, coralsanonymous and reefapalooza!! Unfortunately I've had a lot of heart break due to the expensive corals dying. My heater malfunctioned of course during vacation and it kept the temp at 69. The two torches and hammer coral all perished. The torches were doing great prior especially the dragon soul. It was opening nicely, but it couldn't take the temp cycle. The company is sending me a new one, but ~400$ too late. I'm keeping an extra close eye in the temp and may swap over to an inkbird style. But no more coral until my wallet and heart recovers. They were such cool looking ones too.

 

[bigbugoutfitters]

Nope! When building it I mapped out to leave 1.5 inches from the glass to make sure I could scrape it

Got any recent pics? Really like the scape.

 

[bigbugoutfitters]

I've had a lot of ups and downs with the tank lately. A lot of progress from my last post. I have two adorable phantom clownfish named Chloé and Joey. I gota rainbow bubble tip from a local reefer and a lot more coral! I got some from topshelfaquatics, coralsanonymous and reefapalooza!! Unfortunately I've had a lot of heart break due to the expensive corals dying. My heater malfunctioned of course during vacation and it kept the temp at 69. The two torches and hammer coral all perished. The torches were doing great prior especially the dragon soul. It was opening nicely, but it couldn't take the temp cycle. The company is sending me a new one, but ~400$ too late. I'm keeping an extra close eye in the temp and may swap over to an inkbird style. But no more coral until my wallet and heart recovers. They were such cool looking ones too.

Ah, well there is the update. In my last tank i dropped some big money on corals but currently just with having a kid under one and starting a my first business, i have a rule to keep coral purchases under 30. I recently got some zoas for 25 that are every bit as stunning as some 300 dollar zoas i had purchased in the past. Maybe get some really hard to kill montis or some durable Ricordea mushrooms? Itll be easy on the wallet and help give some pop to the tank, although what looks like a gorgonian already fills the tank in nicely!

 

[OldRed1]

What heater are you using in your build? Do you like it?

 

[officialreefbros]

Ah, well there is the update. In my last tank i dropped some big money on corals but currently just with having a kid under one and starting a my first business, i have a rule to keep coral purchases under 30. I recently got some zoas for 25 that are every bit as stunning as some 300 dollar zoas i had purchased in the past. Maybe get some really hard to kill montis or some durable Ricordea mushrooms? Itll be easy on the wallet and help give some pop to the tank, although what looks like a gorgonian already fills the tank in nicely!

Thanks! Yeah I'll upload more pictures tomorrow. I'm leaning toward letting it just go for a little and get the stuff I have on a frag rack planted.

What heater are you using in your build? Do you like it?

I'm using the AquaEl. I was liking it because of the low profile until my temp crashed and had ~400$ of coral die They are sending me a replacement and il let you know if it's any better!

 

[Jacked Reefer]

Definitely recommend getting an ink bird. Heaters are the number one product to fail so having that safety is a must. It will save you plenty of heartbreak in the future

 

[bigbugoutfitters]

Thanks! Yeah I'll upload more pictures tomorrow. I'm leaning toward letting it just go for a little and get the stuff I have on a frag rack planted.

Ah, didnt see the frag rack there!

 

[officialreefbros]

Definitely recommend getting an ink bird. Heaters are the number one product to fail so having that safety is a must. It will save you plenty of heartbreak in the future

Don't you need to use stand alone heating elements with them? I was looking at the BRS combo to give that a try, but I read they get a lot of drift.

Ah, didnt see the frag rack there!

Yeah! I have 3 types of gsp on it and I used to have the torches and zoas on it

 

[officialreefbros]

Here are some of the latest pictures. The Branching GSP has been doing great. The rasta torched held strong through the temp drops (still have the dead plug from the dragon soul ) My plan is to split the long polyp GSP and put it on the front two island rocks. I have a blue center GSP that I'm going to put next to the branching since they look similar. Last but not least the neon green center metallic GSP I'm going to make a small island in the front right for it. Still haven't finalized how I want to do my Zoas. I have bigR space chaos, Illuminati and Hally berry zoas in there, but just on plugs.

The RBTA has been happy in its spot. A little high on the flow so it doesn't bubble too much.

My Duncan in the frost is still on recovery road. The main head died like right away when I first got it. The other small heads have been taking over and making progress!

 

[officialreefbros]

Mini Update!

Recently swapped lighting profiles. The trips on the rasta torch pop really well and it makes it look more "Rasta". My GSP has be acclimating well to it and looks more full than before! My clownfish, Joey and Chloe have been living their best life. It may sound stupid, but I taped a picture of a clown in a nem to the tank. Hopefully, it will inspire them

 

[OldRed1]

Hey, again! Hope your tank is going well! Would you mind sharing what equipment you have in each of your three rear chambers? Have you made any changes since you initially set the tank up?

 

[officialreefbros]

Hey, again! Hope your tank is going well! Would you mind sharing what equipment you have in each of your three rear chambers? Have you made any changes since you initially set the tank up?

I'm working on making an update video! In the 1st chamber(the water inlet) I have a filter floss holder with floss, and I built a tower out of egg crate to hold bioballs. In the middle I have my heater, Flow pump magnet that I sealed in a baggie, and the black sponge that came with the tank at the bottom. Lately I've been trying to get my nitrates down so have some purigen. In the return chamber I have my pump and ATO sensor.

The heater went bad so I'm actually using an old one I dug up. They sent me a replacement that I'm going to swap back to next week. Other than that the corals have been looking decent, just have a cyano outbreak I'm trying to deal with.

 

[OldRed1]

I'm working on making an update video! In the 1st chamber(the water inlet) I have a filter floss holder with floss, and I built a tower out of egg crate to hold bioballs. In the middle I have my heater, Flow pump magnet that I sealed in a baggie, and the black sponge that came with the tank at the bottom. Lately I've been trying to get my nitrates down so have some purigen. In the return chamber I have my pump and ATO sensor.

The heater went bad so I'm actually using an old one I dug up. They sent me a replacement that I'm going to swap back to next week. Other than that the corals have been looking decent, just have a cyano outbreak I'm trying to deal with.

Very cool! Thank you for the update!

 

[officialreefbros]

260 Day Update!!

Currently battling High Nitrates!

Salinity: 35ppt
Alk: 10.2dkH
Calc: 410 ppm
Mag: 1410 ppm
Phos: 0.01ppm
Nitrate: 25ppm

I had a heater break that caused some issues but have been working through that. I've been running some media to help with the nitrates. They have been staying high while my phosphates have been really low. My Duncan is still doing a great job on coming back! When I first got it there was just 1 big head that died a few days after. No major additions lately, just a few Astrea snails, hermit crab, and a small conch that passed a few days after addition.

Does anyone have any tips for fighting this cyano outbreak? Other than Nitrate reduction and the manual removal I've been doing during water changes?