12G Peninsula (ReefCasa)

[PeteyRoc]

Hello!
I wanted to share with all of you my 1st build progression. I know I am still new to this hobby and probably made some mistakes already with a small system but wanted to see if I can commit to this long journey and maybe upgrade to a bigger tank in the future.

I may ask some questions along the way and your suggestions are welcome and I may make some changes.

1st question for my aquascape for aesthetic purposes. Should I add more rock? Currently in the picture below is roughly 7lbs of rock. On saltwateraquarium .com recommend 1-2lbs per G. I put the specs of my tank in their calculator and estimate is 12lbs (Min rock Aquascape 9lbs & max is 18lbs). Regardless their site provided the recommendations buts stated “put as much rock as desired to make it look good.” Now I do plan to add 1-2 fishes after my cycle finishes. And eventually put some corals as well. I want to make sure I have plenty of room for fishes and inverts to dwell. I especially do not want to overcrowd the tank the with rock especially with the amount of real estate I’m working with. I would like to have it start cycling by the end of the week since. Would like another set of eyes to see the layout. All of the rock is not bonded yet. Thanks in advance!

Tank: 12G Peninsula 18Lx14Wx11H

 

[lil sumpin]

Welcome to R2R Pete! I dont see any mistakes made, small systems are totally doable for beginners so long as you are attentive and take your time building it up. The best things you can do IMO, develop and maintain a consistent husbandry and water change regimen. With those things under your belt you can watch your reef come to life in no time. Since you're a bit concerned with the amount of rock you have, I think you should consider getting some ocean live rock to better help create the setting in which your future live stock will live in. Good luck with the build, looking forward to following along :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

 

[Devaji]

I was looking at those tanks the other day!
love peninsula tanks. there the best.

what type of rock did you use?
have you looked up NSA style aquascaping? might look in to that. you can make more interesting rock scape if you break up the rock and glue it back together.

slow and study wins the race in reefing.
good luck!

 

[PeteyRoc]

I was looking at those tanks the other day!
love peninsula tanks. there the best.

what type of rock did you use?
have you looked up NSA style aquascaping? might look in to that. you can make more interesting rock scape if you break up the rock and glue it back together.

slow and study wins the race in reefing.
good luck!

Originally I ordered 10 lbs of the white stackable rock from Reefcasa with my kit now that I am not planning to use it since recently one of my friends had some unused Caribsea Life rock leftover from his build. He was kind of enough to provide me 4 huge ones. Two are in the tank now and I broke one down this morning.

 

[PeteyRoc]

Update:

Closing out 4th week of fish-less cycling. Made a couple of changes: Changed of the rock work /layout since my initial post. Switched out the stock pump to the AI Axis 20, and upgrade from single flow to dual random flow generator. Bought a 6-stage 150GPD RODI System. Thought this was a good investment since I have a 10-gallon freshwater tank with guppies and getting into the reef hobby. I have the feeling I’ll upgrade to a bigger tank eventually. I have to admit that I should have gone with a bigger tank but I have to start somewhere and get the ball rolling. I am looking to get new lighting. (Either Illumagic Pixel Balance Reef or AI Grow LED.) OR a power-head Nero 3 for more flow. I know….I have not even bought fish yet. Still undecided whether to go with traditional or designer clowns. Plan to have a pair and wonder if I’m pushing it with a Yasha goby with shrimp after a month or two once I get my clowns. Possibly to start with GSP 1st and look into other beginner corals (they will be slowly added once I read more into them).

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[Should I]

what bacteria did you add to the tank if you added fritz turbo start 9000 you could probs add 1 fish now

 

[PeteyRoc]

what bacteria did you add to the tank if you added fritz turbo start 9000 you could probs add 1 fish now

I bought the ReefCasa AIO saltwater aquarium kit that had the right amount of dosage for Ammonia Chloride and Bacteria to start my cycle. My Ammonia lvls are at 0 now and waiting for my Nitrites to go down it is currently at 2ppm. Almost there with some patience :grimacing-face:

 

[Should I]

I bought the ReefCasa AIO saltwater aquarium kit that had the right amount of dosage for Ammonia Chloride and Bacteria to start my cycle. My Ammonia lvls are at 0 now and waiting for my Nitrites to go down it is currently at 2ppm. Almost there with some patience :grimacing-face:

nitrites don't matter you can add fish now nitrites only matter in freshwater not salt

 

[PeteyRoc]

Looks like my 1st cycle for my tank is done. :D Honestly the first time going through this process was some what stressful, anxious and being impatient. But today knowing I stayed persistent and being patient through my cycle with testing. Successful results of this progress makes me feel a little accomplished in the beginning phase. I have to remind myself “Patience is Key” for a new tank cycle. Now the next part is to get my Clowns. :winking-face:

My concerns now should I do a water change or keep the existing water in the tank? My API testing showed up 10ppm for Nitrates. I also did another with my Hanna HR and it gave the reading 9.9ppm.

 

[Subsea]

Following along.

 

[PeteyRoc]

30% WC was done at the beginning of the month and my plan was to get two clowns in the tank. Instead I ended up with 3 Nessi Snails, 4 Blue & 4 Red Leg Hermits. LFS made a recommendation to have them first to have more biodiversity in my tank then come back 10 days later for clowns. During the 10 days supplemental feeding of Mysis was done for the CUC. Before the next visit a 10% WC was done intentions of getting two clowns but ended up getting one (Fancy clown) then 5 days later the 2nd (regular clown). Before adding the second clown a 10% WC was done.

It’s been 3 days now with both clowns acclimating with one another and have not noticed the fancy clown bullying the regular clown (which is a good sign of possible pairing with one another ). Currently working on NO3 (14.9ppm) and PO4 (0.13ppm) parameters to introduce beginner corals (looking into GSP, Clove Polyps, Kenya tree or mushrooms. Diatoms has pretty much shown itself at the moment.

 

[PeteyRoc]

UPDATE

Equipments:
Bubble Magus miniQ Skimmer
AI Blade Grow Light
Jebao ELW-3M

Corals:
2 GSP & 1 Kenya Tree (Local FB Market Buy)
2 Hammers Rainbow & Rose Pink and 1 Purple Goni (Riptide Aquaculture)
1 Sour Willy Ricordea, 1 Red Aussie Lord & 1 WWC Neptune Enchinata (WWC)

Weekly WCs and Testing is being done and noticed dKH is declining .1ppm weekly Calcium & Mag was high but slowly declining gradually since adding corals. Beginning week of Christmas had a copepod or Bacteria Bloom. Mid week noticed the Pink Hammer and purple Goni polyps were retracted back. I had the feeling a hermit was picking at it. Moved it to another location closer to the rock work and it has gotten better. Goni is still retracted as posting this update. Will do. WC later in the night and see if it gets better.

Earlier today went out to get some Tropic Marin AFR for future dosing. I may not plan to use it yet to see the results of testing after 24hrs of WC. Red Sea Coral AB+ is coming in the mail for additional supplements.

As a newb to this hobby looks like I am moving too quickly and hopefully I can slow down I hope. I was tempted to buy a fire fish today but resisted. lol Corals are still on their frags and not glued to the rock work since I plan to move everything to a bigger tank. Picture below are taken under cool white for easier viewing.

 

[Tahoe61]

Looking good!

How do you like the AI Blade?

 

[PeteyRoc]

Looking good!

How do you like the AI Blade?

Thanks!

I like it and love the convenience of the blade being able to use an app to be able set taste of lighting for this tank. I’m currently using the Xasby User Profile setting at 60% light intensity at the moment. Still trying to figure out tweaking the times and so forth. Wish AI made the app more user friendly in doing so in the app. But it maybe a user issue on my end. lol but through all this I’m learning a lot.

I noticed this past week my rock work grown a lot algae and have lessen the time schedule a bit to hopefully help with that issue. Might have to pick up 1-3 snails.

 

[PeteyRoc]

It’s been awhile and a lot has changed and learned a lot and till learning.

Current fishes:
- 2 Clowns
- Clown Gobie
- Mandarin Dragonet
* I know I’m pushing it with live stock in a 12G but it is working and had the Gobie and Dragonet for a couple months now. All doing well.

I like to keep range 5-10ppm for NO3. For PO4 its ranges from 0.1- 0.19 or .2 ppm.

I currently do not run the bubble magus miniQ. Since I have some issues keeping nutrients in my system efficiently.

Had some deaths with Corals and still learning. Frogspawn and the Hammers had BJD and polyp bailout. Frogspawn is recovering now and Hammers are gone.

Added a Torch and some SPS and switched up the light to a HD Prime recently. Added a BTA in the winter and and split a couple weeks ago. Found out I had a dKH swing. Also changed the scape around for better flow in the tank. Learned a lot and will have the WB20 build wet by the end of summer hopefully.

Yes…still learning. Lol

Pictures in blue light is the most current and the one with the filter was a couple weeks ago.

 

[revhtree]

It’s been awhile and a lot has changed and learned a lot and till learning.

Current fishes:
- 2 Clowns
- Clown Gobie
- Mandarin Dragonet
* I know I’m pushing it with live stock in a 12G but it is working and had the Gobie and Dragonet for a couple months now. All doing well.

I like to keep range 5-10ppm for NO3. For PO4 its ranges from 0.1- 0.19 or .2 ppm.

I currently do not run the bubble magus miniQ. Since I have some issues keeping nutrients in my system efficiently.

Had some deaths with Corals and still learning. Frogspawn and the Hammers had BJD and polyp bailout. Frogspawn is recovering now and Hammers are gone.

Added a Torch and some SPS and switched up the light to a HD Prime recently. Added a BTA in the winter and and split a couple weeks ago. Found out I had a dKH swing. Also changed the scape around for better flow in the tank. Learned a lot and will have the WB20 build wet by the end of summer hopefully.

Yes…still learning. Lol

Pictures in blue light is the most current and the one with the filter was a couple weeks ago.

WOW really moving along!