20g long DIY AIO peninsula

[ParsedOut]

No one wants to read a novel, so here's a quick bullet point breakdown of my tank.

• Started as 20g long from Petco. Derimmed and braced. Originally did euro bracing, but started over and went with the standard cross brace to give more access to the back chambers.
• Built AIO "sump" compartment out of 1/4" acrylic.
• Caribsea life rock and bare bottom.
• Rio 1000 return pump and Aqueon Pro 50w heater (chamber 3), Hydor Slim Skim Nano skimmer (chamber 1), DIY media basket w/ Seachem Matrix, Poly Filter and man made live rock rubble (chamber 2).
• DIY Auto Top off
• Reefbar Pro 50/50 24" with Sunsetter lighting controller. DIY mounted 7" above water.
• DIY mesh screen tops with clear plastic mesh and window frames.
• Will be a softie/LPS mixed reef.
• A few clowns are likely to be the only fish, I only want tank raised and there aren't a ton of easily attainable nano options.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Wow! Great job on the build! How much rock is that? My only thought is there is a lot of rock in there leaving less room for corals and swimming. However, that may just be my minimalistic tastes talking.

 

[ParsedOut]

Wow! Great job on the build! How much rock is that? My only thought is there is a lot of rock in there leaving less room for corals and swimming. However, that may just be my minimalistic tastes talking.

It's funny, I started out with 15 lbs of rock and I thought it wasn't enough and got another 10 lbs. One of the pictures mid progress had it all in there and it definitely didn't leave room for corals, so I took about 7-9 lbs out and now have a little over 20 total. Here's a better current FTS (before raising the light), it's certainly less of a "pile of rocks" compared to earlier photos.

 

[Greenstreet.1]

Good job [emoji1531]

 

[NY_Caveman]

Yeah, what you have there is right up my alley. Nice!

 

[reeferfoxx]

Very nice build!

 

[Kyle Rinker]

I love the concept of peninsula tanks--now to get my wife to accept the fact that I would NEED another tank ;Nailbiting. Great work! I've never been that great with DIY acrylic applications

 

[SPR1968]

Great looking tank so far @ParsedOut !

 

[Reefs of Space]

Really clean setup! I love AIO tanks, and going DIY is the best to fit your every need. Great job. Now just to fill it with some frags and let 'em grow!

 

[Ferrell]

Great job! Been contemplating a 20 build and you’ve just provided some inspiration. Thanks and keep up the good work

 

[Greybeard]

Very nice. A good example for the folks that believe you can't build a nice system unless you spend several grand.

Love my peninsula

 

[ParsedOut]

Thanks for all the nice comments. The tank is coming along nicely, took some more rock out to make room. Added a Ricordea florida, Duncan, Candy Cane and green zoa colony. Also have a few Acans (not pictured) on the substrate. I'll be adding a Tailspot Blenny (maybe today!) and possibly a Clown Goby or Diamond Goby.

 

[ParsedOut]

Quick update.
Redid some of the rockwork.
Got a Tailspot Blenny, he's awesome. Such a cool fish.
Also got a Yellow Clown Goby, took him back to the LFS after a few weeks, he couldn't stop nipping at my hammer and duncan.
Picked up a super cool nephthea and orange zoas.
Feeding corals twice a week with Reef Roids and occasionally some mysis.
Took out all chemical filtration in hopes of getting the parameters balanced and algae under control. I was running purigen, carbon and poly-filter. My nitrate and phosphate have been undetectable and that's not good.
Doing my normal 20% weekly water changes, nothing fancy.