A² 225g Peninsula (Acro Den)

[mattzang]

are you going to change up your QT methods this go around? i'm trying basically the same QT methods and just not having success myself and it's really discouraging

glad to see you're back btw, looking forward to the new tank!

 

[Aaron-A2]

are you going to change up your QT methods this go around? i'm trying basically the same QT methods and just not having success myself and it's really discouraging

glad to see you're back btw, looking forward to the new tank!

I'll be going over this in more detail, but I plan on utilizing a QT service promoted by Humblefish who sells pre-QT'd fish at pretty dang good prices. Their method is Hotrocks/Humblefish's QT method (which is also my own as well).

 

[Aaron-A2]

So I'm looking for aquascaping advice. Being my first peninsula tank, I've been considering a few style TYPES and i'm looking for feedback. Keep in mind this tank will be acropora dominant, so available surface space, flow, and lighting (avoiding shadowing) is important.

Here are two styles I currently really like:

#1
This style really appeals to me from multiple perspectives. It seems ideal for acros with great flow options amd provides plenty of swimming space for fish, however the biggest downside is I think it will look bad until my coral starts becoming small colonies.

#2

I also really like this scape as well. Much more natural looking, however I would most likely modify it to be more than 2 islands because I'm pretty sure my tank is longer than this one.

In both scape styles, I would make each rock segment progressively smaller starting from the largest rock by the overflow.

Thoughts?

 

[dbl]

Signing up for this one for sure and welcome to the peninsula club. This is going to be stellar and I can't wait to see it come together.

Aquascaping is a challenge because it has to be functional for your livestock choices, yet look good from three sides. I usually say make sure you like it because you're the only one that gets to see it every day. But if I were to offer an opinion, I personally like the second one with an arch of some sort connecting the two. Maybe that's just because it's what my original scape looked like...lol.

Good luck with the build and keep us updated please.

 

[Aaron-A2]

Signing up for this one for sure and welcome to the peninsula club. This is going to be stellar and I can't wait to see it come together.

Aquascaping is a challenge because it has to be functional for your livestock choices, yet look good from three sides. I usually say make sure you like it because you're the only one that gets to see it every day. But if I were to offer an opinion, I personally like the second one with an arch of some sort connecting the two. Maybe that's just because it's what my original scape looked like...lol.

Good luck with the build and keep us updated please.

I may see what putting an arch between islands adds to the overall scape. I had multiple arches in my last tank and while they added a lot aesthetically, in my application they caused shading to some sps at the base of the arches. Either way, I'll experiment with both.

 

[Aaron-A2]

This weekend I've begun work on a few projects.

First, I've upgraded my 75gpd 4-stage RODI unit with a 200gpd 7-stage unit during the BRS black friday sale. I also purchased an RODI booster pump because I get horrible Houston city water pressure (38-40~) and needed something more.

The second project is getting the rock cured in preparation for the tank. Here's what I've done so far:

• Cleaned out my giant food-grade tote
• Put the remaining RODI water I had left in the tote so I could clean my 40g brute trash can
• Purchased PVC to circulate water with an internal pump

The next steps..

• Build the pvc circulation system
• Stack the rock
• Make more RODI water

In any case, I hope yall had a great weekend! Time to see if I can eat any more of this dinner...

 

[Aaron-A2]

12/9/2019 Update

I've begun curing my dry rock. As I stated in my video, I don't technically have to do it for reef saver, but at least my rock will be fully cycled by the time the tank is done AND I'll be able to remove some of the powder/residue from the manufacturing process.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I arrived back in the states after a long turbulent flight... seriously, one of the most turbulent flights I've ever been on.

ANYWAYS...

Now that I'm back I'm already on the ground running. I've started cleaning up around the future tank location and outlining where I want it to go:

This is 72x30x24 with 1-2 inches padding against the wall. This will be the first thing you see coming into my house. I'll have to move my dining table vertically, but I have fiance approval.

Here's another side shot, close to the front door.

While I wait on my tank to be completed, my next steps are to start curing my rock that arrives Wed next week. Technically I don't have to cure this rock as it's dead dry rock, but since I have the time I can now take the opportunity to essentially have a fully cycled tank day 1.

The step after that will be to begin QT'ing my first batch of fish prior to this tank being setup. With fully cycled media and only QT'ing a few smaller fish, I see no reason I can't have fish ready shortly after the tank is up and running.

Did you factor in extra space for the external overflow??

 

[motortrendz]

Following along.

 

[Aaron-A2]

Did you factor in extra space for the external overflow??

Yeah, it's going to be off the wall a bit.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Yeah, it's going to be off the wall a bit.

Going to be awesome. I’d love a peninsula tank. Good call there. I still think about this peninsula tank I saw in reefing book for beginners 20 years ago that got me hooked.

 

[Aaron-A2]

@Chaswood79 A few posts up I posted some thoughts on aquascapes. Do you have any ideal aquascape layout with sps in mind? The #2 option is very much like Travis from Fish of Hex which is great, but I prefer a more natural look (#1).

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

@Chaswood79 A few posts up I posted some thoughts on aquascapes. Do you have any ideal aquascape layout with sps in mind? The #2 option is very much like Travis from Fish of Hex which is great, but I prefer a more natural look (#1).

I think a combo of both would be awesome. Keep 2 scapes on the left from option 1 and the left scape from option2 but put it on the right of the others. Like pride rock from the lion king haha