26 gallon Red Sea Max Nano Peninsula Build Thread

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JohnNYC8

JohnNYC8

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Day 159:

My phosphates are settling into a lower range. I measured .11 on the Hannah ULR checker. I'm still adding 4 rounded teaspoons of RowaPhos to my carbon bag in my return chamber every 6-8 weeks. I've been changing my filter socks more often as well.

I'm having an issue with one of my gonis swelling up at night and not opening in the morning. I asked for input in a thread here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/goniopora-didnt-open-today.1014305/

I'm still at half the recommended dose of trace elements and I'm not seeing any nuisance algae. Based on the feedback I get from the goni thread I might scale back to a quarter dose or pause the addition. I might also do an extra water change this week. We'll see how things go.

Here's a shot from Day 158 of the emerald crab going to town on my rockwork:
10-19-23 emerald crab.jpg
 

StripeCore

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Picture from Day 142
Day 144 Full Tank Shot 1.jpg


Picture from Day 102
day 102 4 good.jpg


Hello everyone, I'm cycling my tank so I decided to join the community and post a build thread. I have experience with freshwater aquariums but this is my first saltwater tank.

My goal is to build a nano reef with 2-3 fish, a clean-up crew, soft corals, and one or two SPS corals when the tank is more mature. I plan to move slow so I can maintain a stable environment. I'm sure there will be ups and downs along the way but that's all part of the adventure.

My ultimate goal is to create a stable, fun, and attractive environment for my fish.

The tank will be on a countertop with most of the viewing done from one side. There's 4" behind the back of the tank to allow for airflow as recommended by Red Sea. I set aside a healthy budget of time and resources for the tank so I hope to share some cool updates.

Current Set-up:

Red Sea Max Nano Peninsula 26 gallon​
20lbs of CaribSea Arag-Alive Fiji Pink Sand​
CaribSea LifeRock Nano Tree​
3 pieces of CaribSea LifeRock to fill out the aquascape (about 15 pounds total including the Nano Tree)​
A 78* fixed temp heater to get the tank started​

Day 1: Dosed with Dr. Tim's One and Only and started the cycle with a few pellets of food (brought ammonia to 1.2, Nitrite to .05, Nitrate to 20 after 8 hours). I have the LED light turned off, the skimmer turned off and the filter sock out. The water was very milky but it cleared in 24 hours. I have pictures of how milky it was if anyone is interested.

Day 3: Dosed again with Fritz Turbo Start and Fishless Fuel ammonia to get a more diverse array of nitrifying bacteria (brought ammonia to 2.0, Nitrite to 0, Nitrate to 5, PH at 8, Alkalinity a little low at 6.5). I turned the return pump off for 30 minutes after adding the Turbo Start to let all the good stuff settle. I turned the skimmer on since the initial food is starting to break down, added the RSM included carbon, but still have the LED light off and filter sock out.

Day 4: Today, joined Reef 2 Reef to share my journey :)

Future additions:

Epoxy or glue to lock-in the rockwork after it settles (everything passed the push down gravity test when placed)​
Nero 3 powerhead for higher flow​
ClearView lid (possibly with evaporation covers)​
3D printed filter upgrade kit from eBay​
Some bio balls or cubes to create more surface area​
A better heater with adjustability and maybe redundancy​
A battery backup solution for my return pump​
A dosing system​

I'm testing with a Red Sea Max Marine Care Multi Test Kit

Here's the tank cycling with my little island for a zoa garden in the front
image2.jpeg


Lots of room in my aquascape for fish activities and coral placement
IMG_0422.jpg

image0.jpeg

image1.jpeg


And here's the money shot. For those wondering, that's a tape measure being used to hold down the skimmer lid. I'm having a hard time fine-tuning the skimmer but I'm getting it under control.
image3.jpeg
IMG_0422.jpg
goni island.jpg

Great Pictures
 
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