Hi all. Long time member (I think I joined right around when R2R started or took off years ago) but got out of the hobby for about 6 years and now I am back! I don't see many build threads for the PM 15 (mostly the 25) so thought I'd share my journey here. This post will be a bit behind initially since I've already started my build. Once caught up this thread will roughly track my build thread on our local reef clubs website, WAMAS (link here). If you're in the DMV area, please look into joining a great group of people. The posts will be sequential but officially posted all at once. Thanks for reading!
So...It's been almost 8 years (February 26, 2013) since I started in the hobby. I unfortunately had to back away as life just got too busy. With my kids older, some extra time because of working from home and an almost obsessive need to be challenged, I'm back and going full force. Most people go bigger for their 2nd tank but I went smaller. There's a lot of reasons for that but the bottom line is that I believe there can be a ton of beauty coming from smaller tanks. I've seen great examples here and elsewhere and I use them as precedents. Apparently a lot has changed in the hobby and I'm trying to catch up.
Arrival!
I debated between the Waterbox or an IM 14g and went this route because I thought the tank looked better and a bit more volume is always helpful. When I left the hobby I don't think this company was even around but glad I found it. The cabinet I chose is not specifically made for mine but I like the extra ledge it provides. The cabinet is pretty sharp and well done. I am impressed.
There are some bad reviews about the cabinets and their instructions so I was prepared for the worse. But there is an online manual and once the box was opened, I realized that it's basically an IKEA furniture. So if you've built IKEA furniture's before, this will be a breeze. Unlike IKEA, this is built much better, better wood, better laminate/finish and much better hardware. It's built solid. Took me a bit over 1 hr to do it.
Although I'm still debating some of the equipment and livestock choices here is what I have that are known so far:
Equipment:
Tank/Stand - Waterbox Peninsula Mini 15 and PW2418 cabinet
Lid - Kraken
Controller - Reef Angel monitoring PH, Salinity, Heater, ATO and maybe dosing.
Return Pump - Tunze Silence 1073.008 (I decided to ditch the pump it came with)
Skimmer - Tunze 9001 DC (not planning on installing at first)
Light - AI Prime HD
Powerhead - AI Nero 3
ATO - Avast pressure switch and pump
Doser - BRS 1.1ml (only have 1 right now)
Light hanger - I plan to use 80/20 aluminum bars attached to the stand and cantilevering out over the tank. I do have the AI tank mount but 1) it likely won't fit with my skimmer in the middle compartment and 2) I prefer to not have anything that sticks up and out touching the tank (other than cords/tubes of course). The 80/20 may allow me to mount an auto feeder when on vacation too and perhaps a camera.
I don't plan to use any of the filter media the tank comes with except for thefilter socks but only at certain times as part of my water change to get more detritus out. I have more than enough rock and still new in bag sand from the previous build. I will be chiseling and attempting some kind of NSA. Not 100% sure yet. Edit: I decided to get a Kraken media cup for more flexibility. The plan is to use it sparingly (floss or carbon).
Overall concept:
Since the tank is small, I want to limit movement to just the livestock. I won't put any moving corals like torches, frogspawn, etc. The idea is to have the corals be the canvas for the 2 clowns and the BTA as the sole movement in the tank (sexy shrimp and rock 'nem too but not so much). I feel like too much movement in a small tank is just too busy and you're also constantly fighting for space.
Livestock:
Pair of clowns (I'm leaning towards designer)
BTA Anemone
Sexy Shrimp
Rock Anemone
CUC
Corals:
Plan is to be SPS dominant with a garden of something at the sand. Right now I'm looking at Zoas but it could be others like encrusting SPS, favias, etc. Still TBD here. Besides the main NSA, I will have smaller rocks on the sand to allow for growth and encrusting.
Finally:
So...It's been almost 8 years (February 26, 2013) since I started in the hobby. I unfortunately had to back away as life just got too busy. With my kids older, some extra time because of working from home and an almost obsessive need to be challenged, I'm back and going full force. Most people go bigger for their 2nd tank but I went smaller. There's a lot of reasons for that but the bottom line is that I believe there can be a ton of beauty coming from smaller tanks. I've seen great examples here and elsewhere and I use them as precedents. Apparently a lot has changed in the hobby and I'm trying to catch up.
Arrival!
I debated between the Waterbox or an IM 14g and went this route because I thought the tank looked better and a bit more volume is always helpful. When I left the hobby I don't think this company was even around but glad I found it. The cabinet I chose is not specifically made for mine but I like the extra ledge it provides. The cabinet is pretty sharp and well done. I am impressed.
There are some bad reviews about the cabinets and their instructions so I was prepared for the worse. But there is an online manual and once the box was opened, I realized that it's basically an IKEA furniture. So if you've built IKEA furniture's before, this will be a breeze. Unlike IKEA, this is built much better, better wood, better laminate/finish and much better hardware. It's built solid. Took me a bit over 1 hr to do it.
Although I'm still debating some of the equipment and livestock choices here is what I have that are known so far:
Equipment:
Tank/Stand - Waterbox Peninsula Mini 15 and PW2418 cabinet
Lid - Kraken
Controller - Reef Angel monitoring PH, Salinity, Heater, ATO and maybe dosing.
Return Pump - Tunze Silence 1073.008 (I decided to ditch the pump it came with)
Skimmer - Tunze 9001 DC (not planning on installing at first)
Light - AI Prime HD
Powerhead - AI Nero 3
ATO - Avast pressure switch and pump
Doser - BRS 1.1ml (only have 1 right now)
Light hanger - I plan to use 80/20 aluminum bars attached to the stand and cantilevering out over the tank. I do have the AI tank mount but 1) it likely won't fit with my skimmer in the middle compartment and 2) I prefer to not have anything that sticks up and out touching the tank (other than cords/tubes of course). The 80/20 may allow me to mount an auto feeder when on vacation too and perhaps a camera.
I don't plan to use any of the filter media the tank comes with except for the
Overall concept:
Since the tank is small, I want to limit movement to just the livestock. I won't put any moving corals like torches, frogspawn, etc. The idea is to have the corals be the canvas for the 2 clowns and the BTA as the sole movement in the tank (sexy shrimp and rock 'nem too but not so much). I feel like too much movement in a small tank is just too busy and you're also constantly fighting for space.
Livestock:
Pair of clowns (I'm leaning towards designer)
BTA Anemone
Sexy Shrimp
Rock Anemone
CUC
Corals:
Plan is to be SPS dominant with a garden of something at the sand. Right now I'm looking at Zoas but it could be others like encrusting SPS, favias, etc. Still TBD here. Besides the main NSA, I will have smaller rocks on the sand to allow for growth and encrusting.
Finally: