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

[InTentsReef]

Alright reef friends - help….

I have two MP-40s and the EcoTech battery backup system. But I want to afford myself a little more power in the event of an outage. I have a bunch of high end LiPO battery packs used for camping (similar to a Jackery). These battery packs have 12V outputs via a cigarette lighter port.

Is there any reason I cannot use a cable like this to connect the MP-40 via the backup battery input port to one of those batteries for alternative power?

Link to Amazon.com

I realize this is a manual process and assumes I’m home when there might be an outage, but since I have the EcoTech automatic one, that buys me at least 24 hours to plug in one of these things, so it’s more about a cheap solution to harness my existing power stores.

Thanks!

 

[InTentsReef]

Also….

I did a thing.

And then I did another thing.

And yes, the fixture is off center by design

 

[Jmp998]

Also….

I did a thing.

And then I did another thing.

And yes, the fixture is off center by design

Love it-floating hood is definitely the way to go on a peninsula (my opinion).

 

[InTentsReef]

Merry Christmas!

I had some time today to finish the plumbing on the RO water station in the basement and got some "starter" livestock for the tank.

I added the uniseal that facilitates a drain for me to pour water from the can into a bucket. It's a very simple and crude setup, but sometimes the simple things are the best!

I also added a clear tube length on the outside of the trashcan to help gauge the water level inside the trash can. It's a simple solution to know the capacity of my RO water.

The tank itself is doing very well; I've finessed the drains and plumbing to the point that the tank is drop. dead. silent. You'd hear a fish fart with how quiet it all is. I also got the lighting setup, though I am waiting for my turn to borrow the local reef club PAR meter so I can truly finalize the intensity settings.

The other bit of excitement was the addition of my first livestock and corals. One of my favorite local shops was having a Christmas sale, so I got a pair of ORA Picasso Clowns, a Yasha goby, and a candy cane pistol shrimp. The clowns were already paired up and have distinctive markings -- one has a pronounced white spot over his eyes so he looks like he's got heavy eyebrows. He's been dubbed "Spock" while the other clown, who has a few black dots in the middle of his white bars has been named "Mac". Yes, I know that's two male names and blah blah blah.... I don't care

The Yasha goby has already been very social, which is a relief. Sometimes you add those guys to a big tank and don't see them for several months.

I also got a handful of hardy coral frags. A duncan, an acan, some cyphastra, and a dragon litho. All of the corals got a dip before they were added to the tank, and sure enough I found a flatworm on one of the frags. Always dip!

Everything is doing well, nice polyp extension coming out within a few hours. I'll give it a week or so and then add some better / more stuff assuming all stays nice and stable.

I owe you all better pictures. I haven't found my orange lens for the iphone camera, so I need to pull out my nice camera and filters to take some pictures....

 

[Fishy Guy]

Very exciting update! Merry Christmas.

 

[ScottD]

Merry Christmas. Tank is looking good. Mac could be short for Mackenzie. Thanks for sharing info about the aquascaping. I’m looking at setting up a 3’x3’x2’ 135 gallon tank so looking for inspiration for aquascaping it.

 

[InTentsReef]

Merry Christmas. Tank is looking good. Mac could be short for Mackenzie. Thanks for sharing info about the aquascaping. I’m looking at setting up a 3’x3’x2’ 135 gallon tank so looking for inspiration for aquascaping it.

We went with Mac because the dots on his side reminded me of the little holes at the end of a macaroni noodle. Or maybe I was just craving mac and cheese?

Debating the sequence for adding my next fish based on aggression and hardiness. The eventual stocking list includes:

• White tail bristle tooth tang
• Some anthias
• Wrasses (holding off until my lid arrives)
• Dwarf angelfish of an unknown type

Also considering:

• A second smaller tang (yellow or scopas)?
• A rabbitfish (likely in lieu of second tang)
• Another goby, like an engineer
• Bangaii cardinals
• Schooling bannerfish

I always welcome thoughts and opinions on order and livestock! I have the filtration needed to be a heavily stocked tank eventually.

 

[Fishy Guy]

Happy New Year! Any updates?

 

[InTentsReef]

Happy New Year! Any updates?

Yes! Apologies, we said goodbye to our cat of 17 wonderful years and I’ve been a bit distracted. Update tomorrow!

 

[Fishy Guy]

Yes! Apologies, we said goodbye to our cat of 17 wonderful years and I’ve been a bit distracted. Update tomorrow!

Oh no. So sorry for your loss.

 

[Reign1]

Yes! Apologies, we said goodbye to our cat of 17 wonderful years and I’ve been a bit distracted. Update tomorrow!

Soo sorry to hear .. We lost one of our dogs unexpectedly last month .. The house hasn’t been the same

 

[Mikeltee]

I have a white tail bristletooth, a fox face and a file fish that are best friends and always side by side in my 130g. I wouldn't do a second tang in mine. If you do, do a gem or yellow. Some bristletooths can be bullies. I visited one of my coral guys today and he had one that kills anything that is put in the tank. My white tail is my favorite tang and I've had a dozen over the years. He's absolutely stunning.

 

[InTentsReef]

This is me holding my boy, Houdini, just a few hours before we said goodbye to him. I first met him when I was working at a marine fish store in college and he'd ride in my hoodie as a kitten while I cleaned tanks. Our first bonding was over fish, so it's appropriate we spent our final hours looking at the tank.

 

[InTentsReef]

Chapter VII: Welcome to the Ugly Phase

Not surprising at all, but after about 10 days with the lights on and livestock in the tank, we had an explosion of brown diatom algae (seen clearly in the above post). This is the part where so many new reefers make a mistake and try and solve the problem with chemicals. If you are a newer reefer and you have a tank covered in brown ugly algae, fret not. Be patient, and add some biodiversity. Here's how it was looking...

Diatoms are going to appear in a tank where there isn't a satisfactory balance between the microfauna and bacteria that can eat / out compete the diatom algae and nutrients to feed it. I think this is a very common problem with tanks that start with dry sand and dry rock and rely on bottled bacteria to try and "cycle" the tank. I used 4 different bacterias, including live bacteria cultures like the PNS Substrate Sauce and some reef mud, and yet I fully expected (and got) the diatom bloom.

In an effort to build bio-diversity, I have taken a three step approach:

1. Add some gulf live rock from the Florida Keys
2. Add some cultured live sand from Aqua Biomics
3. Add some pods from Algae Barn

I'm still waiting for #2 and #3 to arrive, but I got 15 lbs of gulf live rock from KP Aquatics last week. I have had great success with their rock and knew I'd use some of it to help build up the biome and "seed" the dry rock. I expect it'll take 6 months - 1 year before the dry rock has the coralline algae coverage to help it blend in, but this should jump start that process.

Live rock comes with some "risk" -- mostly in the form of hitchhikers -- but I think people who manage that risk and use live rock are more likely to be successful then those who do not. To reduce the risk of introducing unwelcome pests, I dip the new live rock in a bucket of water with a salinity of at least 1.040; this super salty mix will make most things "jump ship". I got a few crabs and a bunch of bristle worms out that way. I also had a few save-able hitchhikers, like brittle stars, that I snatched and tossed into the tank before they died.

This super salty bath only lasts for about 90 seconds per rock. I use a turkey baster to blast at the rock and knock anything like flatworms off the rock. I'm sure this salinity dip hurts the good life on the rock to some extent, but not in a way that dramatically impacts the liveliness of the rock. The sponges and corals that come on the rock survive, and I know some pests make it through the dip, but hopefully I've reduced the risk of gorilla crabs or mantis shrimps.

Since introducing the rock into the tank, I've been vigilant looking for any unwelcome hitchhikers and have yet to find any. At the same time, the diatoms almost completely disappeared about 48 hours after the introduction of the live rock. I have done nothing else but add the rock. Bacteria, pods, and microfauna are your friends!

 

[InTentsReef]

Chapter VII: Some New Livestock

My first livestock additions after the tank cycle was a pair of clowns and a yasha goby, and thinks have gone so well that I've continued to slowly add more complex corals and more fish.

I have always had a love of Foxface Rabbitfish, but found the markings on the Magnificent Foxface really catch my eye. So when I found a beautiful and fully QT'ed Magnificent for sale, you know I jumped on it. Meet Russ...

As a kid, one of my favorite fish was the engineer goby. My dad had one in his 110 gallon tank and I remember pretending like it was an eel. They might not be the sexiest fish, but they are super docile and full of personality, so I added a juvenile engineer goby to the mix as well. While there is no shortage of sand acreage in the tank, he decided to move in with the Yasha Goby and the two of them have built a small network of caves in the front of the tank. I imagine he'll eventually decide to expand his network of tunnels, but it is cute seeing the two of them pop out of a rock together.

Finally, I've been working on adding some various LPS and SPS corals and slowly seeing how everything is doing. So far, so good -- though I added my first two acros today so we'll see how that goes.

While these are all macro photos that make the corals look nice and big, most of the them are small frags. I love buying little frags (it's more cost effective!) and watching them grow out.

 

[lubeck]

That’s crazy how quick it resolved the diatoms. I used all Iive rock from the gulf and don’t regret it. I didn’t get diatoms but did have a cyno problem for at least four months. But it was never on the rocks.

 

[Fishy Guy]

You should frame that picture of Houdini and hang it next to the tank.

Tank is looking great! Russ is a mighty handsome fella and your coral pictures are

 

[InTentsReef]

That’s crazy how quick it resolved the diatoms. I used all Iive rock from the gulf and don’t regret it. I didn’t get diatoms but did have a cyno problem for at least four months. But it was never on the rocks.

So far no cyano, but I’m ready for all forms of ugly so I don’t get discouraged if they show up. I expected it’d help the diatoms, but the speed was pretty spectacular. For anyone who doubts the value of live rock, I’d point them to this antidote as reason to consider adding some.

You should frame that picture of Houdini and hang it next to the tank.

Tank is looking great! Russ is a mighty handsome fella and your coral pictures are

I have a digital frame on the TV stand next to the tank and Houdini has been featured prominently there — but I like the idea of having a little piece. This may sound tacky, but I considered making a small “reef ball” with some of his ashes so he can live forever with the tank. He was with me through all sorts of difficult days, and I would love to have him live with me in as many ways as possible.

 

[Cthulukelele]

Chapter I: Tank Delivery and Stand Construction

My Waterbox 4820 was delivered a few weeks ago via FedEx freight. For a small "tip" the driver was willing to put it right outside our front door. The tank was packaged really well, with no damage to the tank, accessories, or stand. There was a slight mix-up with a part missing from the stand kit, but Waterbox was quick to remedy the situation.

I was able to quickly assemble the Waterbox stand and move the tank inside, but found that the stand had a lot of empty space above the sump that wasn't well utilized. And thus began my first DIY project...

Notice all that dead space above the sump -- ideal for holding extra equipment...

Waterbox builds their new stands out of 30mm (2020) T-slot aluminum. If you've ever worked with 8020 aluminum, this is the same basic concept, except they use metric sizing. Thankfully it's possible to get metric T-slot and accessories from Amazon. Although Waterbox didn't want to share the specifications for exactly what parts would be compatible (claiming at one point that it was "proprietary"), a little measuring and I quickly sleuthed out the parts needed to add some shelving to the existing aluminum framework. Below are links to the exact parts purchased from Amazon to facilitate this -- I believe those parts would work with any Waterbox stand that advertises it's made with 30mm aluminum framing.

2020 T-Slot Aluminum from Amazon
Drop-In Hammer Nuts from Amazon
2020 Corner Brackets from Amazon

Using a combination of the drop-in nuts and the slide in nuts that come from the above part kits, I was able to build two shelves spanning the length of the stand. Note that I did not need to do this before the stand was built -- anyone can add this aluminum to their stand even if the tank is in place by using the drop-in nuts.

It took many hours with mini wrenches and a few precise cuts with a miter saw, but I soon had shelves under the stand to hold my accessories.

Here are some pics of the shelves under construction -- leave me a comment if any of this isn't clear.

With the shelves built, I needed a panel that could run the length of them and serve as the actual shelf -- and Ikea offered the perfect solution. An inexpensive and resin-coated pegboard! I purchased three and cut them down to size to fit the space.

In chapter II I will provide an overview of how I chopped up an Adaptive Reef control board to make an electrical control box and installed the life support into the stand. Stay tuned!

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!

 

[Cthulukelele]

Yes! Apologies, we said goodbye to our cat of 17 wonderful years and I’ve been a bit distracted. Update tomorrow!

Sorry for your loss as well. My partner and I have 4 and 3 of them are now seniors. Such beautiful creatures.