My Very First Tank - 25g Peninsula Nano Build
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Kiara_Pyrenei
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OKAY moving on from my tank disaster and starting up aquascaping! Got a ton of rock broken up to work with; actually, I'm not quite sure how i'm supposed to fit the recommended amount of rock in this tank. BUT here's a WIP of my aquascape so far:
My peninsula will be visible from these two sides, I'm going for an aquascape with a lot of negative space so I can easily view fish and to allow for flow, but also enough rock to give plenty of biofilter surface area and lots of hidings places. I'm trying to use shelf pieces to give it a bit of a layered look with flat areas for mounting corals, and I made a couple islands for isolating GSP and xenia.
It's not done yet; I had to take a break because the fumes were starting to get to me. I'm thinking I miiiiight break apart the center shelf piece in order to level it more. It was difficult to attach and it's a tad lopsided. Also will add more to the left side and maybe some arch shapes to the top, but I'm happy with how it's coming along so far!
I'm open to any advice if anyone sees anything that might pose a major problem etc
My peninsula will be visible from these two sides, I'm going for an aquascape with a lot of negative space so I can easily view fish and to allow for flow, but also enough rock to give plenty of biofilter surface area and lots of hidings places. I'm trying to use shelf pieces to give it a bit of a layered look with flat areas for mounting corals, and I made a couple islands for isolating GSP and xenia.
It's not done yet; I had to take a break because the fumes were starting to get to me. I'm thinking I miiiiight break apart the center shelf piece in order to level it more. It was difficult to attach and it's a tad lopsided. Also will add more to the left side and maybe some arch shapes to the top, but I'm happy with how it's coming along so far!
I'm open to any advice if anyone sees anything that might pose a major problem etc
Nice. Just remember to leave spce between glass and Rock to clean. Real pain if no gaps.
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Kiara_Pyrenei
Community Member
I thought I was done tonight BUT I got a burst of manic energy and finished my aquascape!!!
I'm really happy with it overall, even though theres tiny things that i miiiight try to go in and fix, if I feel like it. I liked the horizontal shelf look of creators like WL, but I wanted to incorporate that into something more random and natural looking. I think I achieved what I wanted, in the end!
And I only burned myself once (note: don't wear work gloves that have cloth sections while doing this)
I'm really happy with it overall, even though theres tiny things that i miiiight try to go in and fix, if I feel like it. I liked the horizontal shelf look of creators like WL, but I wanted to incorporate that into something more random and natural looking. I think I achieved what I wanted, in the end!
And I only burned myself once (note: don't wear work gloves that have cloth sections while doing this)
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Kiara_Pyrenei
Community Member
YEAH I built a little cardboard replica of my tank size so I could measure the entire time use a flipper cleaner as a measure of how much space i'd need. I can reach all the glass in the final resultNice. Just remember to leave spce between glass and Rock to clean. Real pain if no gaps.
Northern Flicker
Valuable Member
Looks awesome!
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Kiara_Pyrenei
Community Member
Thanks!!! Now that im looking at pics i see things i wanna nitpick fix ahahaha. Guess ill have to do that eventually XD
Gumbies R Us
Certified Noob
Great looking aquascape!I thought I was done tonight BUT I got a burst of manic energy and finished my aquascape!!!
I'm really happy with it overall, even though theres tiny things that i miiiight try to go in and fix, if I feel like it. I liked the horizontal shelf look of creators like WL, but I wanted to incorporate that into something more random and natural looking. I think I achieved what I wanted, in the end!
And I only burned myself once (note: don't wear work gloves that have cloth sections while doing this)
Legendary Corals
Valuable Member
This rockwork is an absolute 10/10! I'm excited to watch this build.I thought I was done tonight BUT I got a burst of manic energy and finished my aquascape!!!
I'm really happy with it overall, even though theres tiny things that i miiiight try to go in and fix, if I feel like it. I liked the horizontal shelf look of creators like WL, but I wanted to incorporate that into something more random and natural looking. I think I achieved what I wanted, in the end!
And I only burned myself once (note: don't wear work gloves that have cloth sections while doing this)
OP
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Kiara_Pyrenei
Community Member
Welp I have my first fish in my QT tank!!! They seem to be doing well though copper dosing is NOT going well so I might just go with observational quarantine this time
Also, I redid my aquascape a bit because I thought it needed better flow and more room for coral growth. Do y'all think it's an improvement?
Also, I redid my aquascape a bit because I thought it needed better flow and more room for coral growth. Do y'all think it's an improvement?
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Kiara_Pyrenei
Community Member
Sadly, still waiting to replace the tank with a not cracked one!!! Believe me, I am chomping at the bit to get water in there after all this time! Haha
Gumbies R Us
Certified Noob
Glad to see you got fish in the QTWelp I have my first fish in my QT tank!!! They seem to be doing well though copper dosing is NOT going well so I might just go with observational quarantine this time
Also, I redid my aquascape a bit because I thought it needed better flow and more room for coral growth. Do y'all think it's an improvement?
OP
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Kiara_Pyrenei
Community Member
After nearly 6 months of research, wallet draining purchases, DIY struggles, shipping problems, tank cracking disasters, and general effort, my very first tank is FINALLY up and running!!! Actual water in it!!! I had to just sit and stare for a while. I can just imagine how much better it's gonna be when theres fish and coral in it!
Current equipment:
Tunze 9001 nano skimmer
Sicce 1.0 return pump, with VCA random flow nozzles
Cobalt neotherm heater (with a cheap mini heater as a backup) connected to inkbird controller
Nero 3 wavemaker
Prism ATO (though i haven't had the guts to try it out yet, not until i have time to sit home and babysit it for a while and make sure it doesn't flood anything lol)
Noopyche K7 mini light
I built the background lightbox myself as well as a DIY controller box to mount some smart power strips and keep things organized. Currently cycling with Dr tims and some fishless fuel. Not really testing parameters yet until I see ammonia dropping on the alert badge.
Anything I've missed? XD
Current equipment:
Tunze 9001 nano skimmer
Sicce 1.0 return pump, with VCA random flow nozzles
Cobalt neotherm heater (with a cheap mini heater as a backup) connected to inkbird controller
Nero 3 wavemaker
Prism ATO (though i haven't had the guts to try it out yet, not until i have time to sit home and babysit it for a while and make sure it doesn't flood anything lol)
Noopyche K7 mini light
I built the background lightbox myself as well as a DIY controller box to mount some smart power strips and keep things organized. Currently cycling with Dr tims and some fishless fuel. Not really testing parameters yet until I see ammonia dropping on the alert badge.
Anything I've missed? XD
Looks really good! Nice open minimal aquascape for fish and corals. Cannot wait to see it getting some life and movement. Keep up with patience and slow moving.
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Kiara_Pyrenei
Community Member
MY CYCLE IS FINISHED!
Put both my fish that have been hanging in my QT tank in there (a Banggai cardinal and a Carpenter's flasher wrasse), as well as a small red sox shrimp and a skunk cleaner. I also have my first coral: a long polyp japanese toadstool. I already just love staring it so much, even though its still pretty bare....
I'm having to do a lot of water changes right now trying to bring my nitrates down to the level I want it; I can't do large water changes with my small apartment setup so I can only do multiple 10L water changes. I've also been noticing I've got really low Alk/calcium, but i think that's because I was mixing my water to a slightly lower salinity than i had planned due to refractometer calibration issues, so I'm working on fixing that with water changes too and seeing if that fixes the problem. In the meantime, I turned my lights on for the first time after about a week in the dark and they're at 10% now, planning on ramping them up over a month or so.
Current parameters:
Nitrate: 25.1 (working on getting this down)
Phosphate: 0.07
SG: 1.024 (maybe why my alk/cal is low???)
Alk: 6.0 dKH
Ca: 280
I wasn't able to add copepods the way I wanted (I'm trying to follow BRSTV's cycling advice) just because they don't SELL them here and its impossible to import them it seems. Though, they DO sell macroalgae and I've heard pods will come with that.
So, do y'all think it would it be worth it to buy a little macroalgae from my LFS and literally just shake it out into my tank and then feed with phyto to seed it with pods? Or is that just likely to get me pests?
Put both my fish that have been hanging in my QT tank in there (a Banggai cardinal and a Carpenter's flasher wrasse), as well as a small red sox shrimp and a skunk cleaner. I also have my first coral: a long polyp japanese toadstool. I already just love staring it so much, even though its still pretty bare....
I'm having to do a lot of water changes right now trying to bring my nitrates down to the level I want it; I can't do large water changes with my small apartment setup so I can only do multiple 10L water changes. I've also been noticing I've got really low Alk/calcium, but i think that's because I was mixing my water to a slightly lower salinity than i had planned due to refractometer calibration issues, so I'm working on fixing that with water changes too and seeing if that fixes the problem. In the meantime, I turned my lights on for the first time after about a week in the dark and they're at 10% now, planning on ramping them up over a month or so.
Current parameters:
Nitrate: 25.1 (working on getting this down)
Phosphate: 0.07
SG: 1.024 (maybe why my alk/cal is low???)
Alk: 6.0 dKH
Ca: 280
I wasn't able to add copepods the way I wanted (I'm trying to follow BRSTV's cycling advice) just because they don't SELL them here and its impossible to import them it seems. Though, they DO sell macroalgae and I've heard pods will come with that.
So, do y'all think it would it be worth it to buy a little macroalgae from my LFS and literally just shake it out into my tank and then feed with phyto to seed it with pods? Or is that just likely to get me pests?
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