Kristen's Dream Peninsula Build -- 18 Yrs in the Making

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InTentsReef

InTentsReef

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Man I hope that FedEx driver got a bonus that day. Imagine showing up to work and finding out you're moving an awkwardly shaped 350 pound glass rectangle haha. Good luck with the build!
I gave him a cash tip

But it’s FedEx Freight and they have a tailgate lift with pallet loader, so I’d argue he had it better than the FedEx guy who delivers 40# of cat litter and has to actually carry it up the driveway
 
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Sorry for your loss as well. My partner and I have 4 and 3 of them are now seniors. Such beautiful creatures.
We had 4, and now down to 3. My wife and I each had two cats when we met…. So we became the crazy cat lesbians and embraced the stereotype
 

Cthulukelele

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We had 4, and now down to 3. My wife and I each had two cats when we met…. So we became the crazy cat lesbians and embraced the stereotype
Oh my gosh similar story! My partner had 2, I had 2. Oops now you have 4. 16, 12, 11, and 6. Here are the 2 she inherited from me mean mugging me yesterday. Bob (12) and Betty (11)
20231231_043101.jpg
 
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Oh my gosh similar story! My partner had 2, I had 2. Oops now you have 4. 16, 12, 11, and 6. Here are the 2 she inherited from me mean mugging me yesterday. Bob (12) and Betty (11)
20231231_043101.jpg
Adorable! Houdini was almost 17 and his brother Zeke is the same age, so chances are we will be down to a “reasonable” number of cats soon.
 

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We recently lost one of our dogs unexpectedly .. The rest are seniors so yeah next few years will be tough. It’s never easy ..
 

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Tank looks great and thanks for the tips for us new reefers! A Waterbox peninsula with their Aspen stand is my current dream tank. It would room divide my kitchen and dining room so well. Kids, money, and time have different plans for me currently,but it's all for the best as I can use my 40 gallon AIO to learn all the lessons, and then take my time when the opportunity presents itself.

Also, I spent a good few years visiting friends at Virginia Tech. Boudreauxs was my favorite!
 
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Well when it rains, it pours. Light on the tank updates lately as we dealt with the loss of another cat a week after saying goodbye to the first. 2024 is really kicking my butt, and I’m ready to move to 2025…

But on a happier note, things are seemingly doing well. I’ve been playing with the lighting a little by lowering the pendant closer to the water and adjusting the intensity. My local club, WAMAS, rents PAR meters and I’ll hopefully have a chance to borrow one soon to really tune my lighting. I’ve also tinkered with the flow from the MP40s- nothing dramatic, just trying to diversify the patterns in the tank.

Some more algae has popped up on the rocks, which isn’t surprising, and we are kinda in the ugly phase lull where I just need to be patient and wait for stability. All the biome I added lately needs time to replicate and take control, and so I expect the uglys to come in phases for awhile. That’s okay, I’m not in a rush.
 

Gumbies R Us

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Well when it rains, it pours. Light on the tank updates lately as we dealt with the loss of another cat a week after saying goodbye to the first. 2024 is really kicking my butt, and I’m ready to move to 2025…

But on a happier note, things are seemingly doing well. I’ve been playing with the lighting a little by lowering the pendant closer to the water and adjusting the intensity. My local club, WAMAS, rents PAR meters and I’ll hopefully have a chance to borrow one soon to really tune my lighting. I’ve also tinkered with the flow from the MP40s- nothing dramatic, just trying to diversify the patterns in the tank.

Some more algae has popped up on the rocks, which isn’t surprising, and we are kinda in the ugly phase lull where I just need to be patient and wait for stability. All the biome I added lately needs time to replicate and take control, and so I expect the uglys to come in phases for awhile. That’s okay, I’m not in a rush.
So sorry about the loss of your cat, we just lost one of ours a few weeks ago so I know the pain.
 
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Awesome setup. I’m strongly considering a 4820 Peninsula for my next tank.
Thanks! We re still going through some of the growing pains of a new tank, but are hopefully coming through those soon. I love the tank and the setup —- much better than the Red Sea Reefer I had before!
 

reefallday

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This is such a nice build and your organizational skills is amazing. I'm patiently waiting for my customized Peninsula 6025 to be delivered
You should check Ocean Garden Reef out if you are in Silver Spring area. I'm from VA but usually go to there to buy livestock
 
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Chapter XIII: When It Breaks & Fails

Hello everyone. It's been a little while since I've updated this thread and I promise it's not because there's nothing to update you all on. As it turns out there's been a lot going on with the tank and in my life so let's dive into some updates.

Last week I went snowboarding in West Virginia. It was my first time snowboarding and we took some lessons and I was doing OK on the bunny hill. But then I got a little full of myself and… Well now I have a broken arm. Needless to say that has complicated tank maintenance. It's also made doing updates and typing really difficult. So today's update is brought to you courtesy of talk-to-text software and thank goodness for that.

IMG_5430.jpeg

IMG_1653.JPEG


On the reef tank front, I've added a few new fish, some frags, and have been continuing the quest to get the tank maturing and water quality where I want it. The last piece related to water quality isn't surprising because the tank is still so new but I also I'm trying to encourage the development of the tank biome with additives and good bacteria introduction.

On the fish side I added a flame angel and my pride and joy – a Whitetail Bristletooth Tang. I absolutely love Whitetail Tangs -- they are my go-to fish and it is really the fish that I have been most excited to get into the tank. As it so happens there is a guy located within 15 minutes of me that does fully quarantined fish from his home. After picking up my tang yesterday she got to work cleaning off the rocks and the walls of the tank from some spare algae.


Hank the cat was excited to welcome Rosie, the Whitetail Tang, into the family. (Sorry I didn't have the orange phone filter handy....)

On the less good front, I did suffer a casualty and my first casualty of the tank when one of the clowns decided he wanted to take an excursion outside the confines of the glass box. I've been away for a few days and I came home to find a very (very) crispy fish chip on the floor. Hopefully this will be the last time that happens as I am waiting for my custom lid from Top Lids to ship any day now.

IMG_1689.jpeg


I've also added a couple new frags to the tank -- nothing too wild but some good additions to add some more color, texture, and variety to the system. I promise I'll update with some new pictures soon but I need to wait until I have a little bit more dexterity in my right hand and can work the camera again.

And now the most interesting part of today's update.... I have two Kessil A360X light fixtures over the tank in my custom pendant and one of them fails pretty regularly. I'm really over it with this light constantly turning off, and as the corals continue to grow in the tank I can't afford to be gone for a day or two and come home to discover the light has just decided it doesn't wanna work anymore.

IMG_5422.jpeg
So now I am on a quest to figure out how I want to supplement or replace at least one of the Kessil pucks. Here are some of the options I'm considering:

  • Add a Neptune Sky fixture with one Kessil puck. That would give me the nice T5 like look of the Neptune Sky with less shadowing, but also still give a little bit of shimmer with the supplementation from the A360X.

  • Keep both of the A360X pucks but add two of the AI Blade lights as fill light to the sides of them. This would give me the same even lighting that I would get from adding something like the Neptune Sky, but would cost less and would serve as a redundant back up in the event that one of the Kessils decided it wanted to not work again.

  • Finally add a fixture like the ReeFi Uno LEDs. I really don't know as much about them and I'm a little nervous about the spectrum. I like running my lights a little bit more white than most people do and everything I've seen on those fixtures is that they have a bit more of a purple or blue hue to them which is maybe not my favorite. But I do like the price point and the potential that that fixture offers -- I just I'm not sure if it's right for me.

Of course I welcome any thoughts or considerations. I've also debated just adding two T5 bulbs as a retrofit into my existing hood but I don't think that that's as efficient or smart as adding some LED supplementation. Either way I need to find a solution because this Kessil puck keeps crapping out on me and while I can continue to coax it to life, it's proven it's just not dependable enough for my liking.
 
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This is such a nice build and your organizational skills is amazing. I'm patiently waiting for my customized Peninsula 6025 to be delivered
You should check Ocean Garden Reef out if you are in Silver Spring area. I'm from VA but usually go to there to buy livestock
Thanks for the info! I hadn't seen his stuff yet but looks awesome and super close by. I used to live in VA and think those shops are better, so I drive to them regularly. Where in NoVA are you? And are you going to the WAMAS meeting next week?

I will keep my eyes peeled for your build -- let me know if you need anything when it comes.
 

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Chapter XIII: When It Breaks & Fails

Hello everyone. It's been a little while since I've updated this thread and I promise it's not because there's nothing to update you all on. As it turns out there's been a lot going on with the tank and in my life so let's dive into some updates.

Last week I went snowboarding in West Virginia. It was my first time snowboarding and we took some lessons and I was doing OK on the bunny hill. But then I got a little full of myself and… Well now I have a broken arm. Needless to say that has complicated tank maintenance. It's also made doing updates and typing really difficult. So today's update is brought to you courtesy of talk-to-text software and thank goodness for that.

IMG_5430.jpeg

IMG_1653.JPEG


On the reef tank front, I've added a few new fish, some frags, and have been continuing the quest to get the tank maturing and water quality where I want it. The last piece related to water quality isn't surprising because the tank is still so new but I also I'm trying to encourage the development of the tank biome with additives and good bacteria introduction.

On the fish side I added a flame angel and my pride and joy – a Whitetail Bristletooth Tang. I absolutely love Whitetail Tangs -- they are my go-to fish and it is really the fish that I have been most excited to get into the tank. As it so happens there is a guy located within 15 minutes of me that does fully quarantined fish from his home. After picking up my tang yesterday she got to work cleaning off the rocks and the walls of the tank from some spare algae.


Hank the cat was excited to welcome Rosie, the Whitetail Tang, into the family. (Sorry I didn't have the orange phone filter handy....)

On the less good front, I did suffer a casualty and my first casualty of the tank when one of the clowns decided he wanted to take an excursion outside the confines of the glass box. I've been away for a few days and I came home to find a very (very) crispy fish chip on the floor. Hopefully this will be the last time that happens as I am waiting for my custom lid from Top Lids to ship any day now.

IMG_1689.jpeg


I've also added a couple new frags to the tank -- nothing too wild but some good additions to add some more color, texture, and variety to the system. I promise I'll update with some new pictures soon but I need to wait until I have a little bit more dexterity in my right hand and can work the camera again.

And now the most interesting part of today's update.... I have two Kessil A360X light fixtures over the tank in my custom pendant and one of them fails pretty regularly. I'm really over it with this light constantly turning off, and as the corals continue to grow in the tank I can't afford to be gone for a day or two and come home to discover the light has just decided it doesn't wanna work anymore.

IMG_5422.jpeg
So now I am on a quest to figure out how I want to supplement or replace at least one of the Kessil pucks. Here are some of the options I'm considering:

  • Add a Neptune Sky fixture with one Kessil puck. That would give me the nice T5 like look of the Neptune Sky with less shadowing, but also still give a little bit of shimmer with the supplementation from the A360X.

  • Keep both of the A360X pucks but add two of the AI Blade lights as fill light to the sides of them. This would give me the same even lighting that I would get from adding something like the Neptune Sky, but would cost less and would serve as a redundant back up in the event that one of the Kessils decided it wanted to not work again.

  • Finally add a fixture like the ReeFi Uno LEDs. I really don't know as much about them and I'm a little nervous about the spectrum. I like running my lights a little bit more white than most people do and everything I've seen on those fixtures is that they have a bit more of a purple or blue hue to them which is maybe not my favorite. But I do like the price point and the potential that that fixture offers -- I just I'm not sure if it's right for me.

Of course I welcome any thoughts or considerations. I've also debated just adding two T5 bulbs as a retrofit into my existing hood but I don't think that that's as efficient or smart as adding some LED supplementation. Either way I need to find a solution because this Kessil puck keeps crapping out on me and while I can continue to coax it to life, it's proven it's just not dependable enough for my liking.
Sorry to hear about your broken arm, hopefully it heals quickly. Another option would be to add some strips like orphek bars or quanta bars.
 
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Sorry to hear about your broken arm, hopefully it heals quickly. Another option would be to add some strips like orphek bars or quanta bars.

Thanks - I actually learned about the Quanta lights after doing some research yesterday and HOLY COW. Those things are amazing. I plan to order two and use those on the tank now. Amazing product.
 

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Chapter XIII: When It Breaks & Fails

And now the most interesting part of today's update.... I have two Kessil A360X light fixtures over the tank in my custom pendant and one of them fails pretty regularly. I'm really over it with this light constantly turning off, and as the corals continue to grow in the tank I can't afford to be gone for a day or two and come home to discover the light has just decided it doesn't wanna work anymore.

IMG_5422.jpeg
So now I am on a quest to figure out how I want to supplement or replace at least one of the Kessil pucks. Here are some of the options I'm considering:

  • Add a Neptune Sky fixture with one Kessil puck. That would give me the nice T5 like look of the Neptune Sky with less shadowing, but also still give a little bit of shimmer with the supplementation from the A360X.

  • Keep both of the A360X pucks but add two of the AI Blade lights as fill light to the sides of them. This would give me the same even lighting that I would get from adding something like the Neptune Sky, but would cost less and would serve as a redundant back up in the event that one of the Kessils decided it wanted to not work again.

  • Finally add a fixture like the ReeFi Uno LEDs. I really don't know as much about them and I'm a little nervous about the spectrum. I like running my lights a little bit more white than most people do and everything I've seen on those fixtures is that they have a bit more of a purple or blue hue to them which is maybe not my favorite. But I do like the price point and the potential that that fixture offers -- I just I'm not sure if it's right for me.

Of course I welcome any thoughts or considerations. I've also debated just adding two T5 bulbs as a retrofit into my existing hood but I don't think that that's as efficient or smart as adding some LED supplementation. Either way I need to find a solution because this Kessil puck keeps crapping out on me and while I can continue to coax it to life, it's proven it's just not dependable enough for my liking.
@danlu_gt Sounds like an upgrade is needed!
 

mcc21

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Beautiful setup. I appreciate the setups/equipment more than the tanks themselves usually lol

A big word of caution for ur foxface. Keep it as well fed as possible and watch out for it if you plan on 'meaty' LPS corals. Once it has one taste.. its game over. I had the exact same one that ate my colonies of acans and brain corals within a few days. I thought 'wait and see' approach... guess that didnt work out as it decimated everything within a week.

I believe dwarf angelfish does the same thing, so make sure you keep an eye out. After my foxface incident i never got these two kinds of fish again. My corals worth too $ to even risk it anymore =(
 

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Any updates? Hoping fit some tanks pics. I just ordered a 4820
 
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