Call out to peninsula owners

[Ziggy17]

So I’m currently shopping for a new tank/system. I’ve settled on Waterbox. In Canada, we are limited to Waterbox or Red Sea. IM’s Canadian distributor is an online retailer that marks up the tanks 100%, so I won’t consider IM. As much as Joe is the absolute best and I’d love to have his glass cages tank, it’s just cost preventative for me up here in the Great White North.
I have two in mind, one is a standard layout, the second is a peninsula. What i like about the pen style is the 360 viewing, however I see some issues.

One, if it’s next the wall, how do you scrape the glass on the wall side? Even with a magnetic scraper, without having 4 foot long arms, it seems like it would be a thing. How far off the wall are you positioning it?

Two. Getting the lights mounted but still having a clean look. I can’t hang wires, moreso I don’t want to, so is there a way to do this so my AI Hydra 32s can be mounted without cables in sight?

If you have a photo of your peninsula setup, that’s not in a store, please share. The standard back mounted overflow just seems like it’s easier to setup and look clean. I could be wrong.

Cheers.

 

[UncommonSense]

One, if it’s next the wall, how do you scrape the glass on the wall side?

As in, the rear viewing pane of the tank is against a wall as well as the short vertical overflow pane?

I use a home-made algae scraper/scrubber in this application! I’m sure there’s also an off the shelf handled scraper that would work great!

Two. Getting the lights mounted but still having a clean look.

Is a hood on top of the tank out of the question?

 

[Ziggy17]

As in, the rear viewing pane of the tank is against a wall as well as the short vertical overflow pane?

I use a home-made algae scraper/scrubber in this application! I’m sure there’s also an off the shelf handled scraper that would work great!


Is a hood on top of the tank out of the question?

The last right side would both be open, just the back pane against the wall.

In terms of the hood. Yeah, I’ve had canopies in the past. They were great for my FW, but I’ve really grown to like the clean waterline look that the rimless tanks have.

 

[kyreefville]

Did I miss what size and type tank aio or overflow with sump?

If peninsula style you would only put the short style against wall or in the middle of room no wall. If putting long side on wall no point in peninsula style.

As far as hiding cords
Industrial fashioned frame to be astecilly pleasing hanging from ceiling and have lights mounted to that with cords hidden in frame. I’m thinking aluminum tubing.

Or go with a long led bar mounted discretely over top and cords run into a enclosure on end. Think the old wooden light hood of yesteryear but at the end next to business end.

I have a vision but no talent to make it.

 

[Caleb123]

I have a Waterbox Peninsula 4820. I do not have mine setup long way on the wall so I don’t have a solution for the glass cleaning. However, I did build a custom aluminum frame with canopy panels that attach magnetically to the aluminum frame & rest on the glass as well. I used 1/2” PVC trim board from Home Depot and it matches the stand great. I’m not a master DIYer by any means. If you zoom in, you can see it’s not perfectly put together but nice enough for my liking and accomplished the job great.

 

[Gundy]

My peninsula tank is against the wall. The short side has my returns and overflow and this is the side that is on the wall. My tank was custom built so I had a black piece of plexiglass on this side. I do not ever clean this panel of the tank but keep it natural looking with coralline algae and other algaes and to me it looks totally fine.

You could do this by painting the side panel black or by putting a piece of black plastic wrap on it. It really helps to not see the wall through the tank.

 

[Ziggy17]

I was thinking like this. That way the long sides are the main viewing from where the seats are.

 

[kyreefville]

If that is the place for the aquarium then I would not go peninsula style. as I’d rather be able to see on each end and front. I would black out the back against wall.

 

[Ziggy17]

If that is the place for the aquarium then I would not go peninsula style. as I’d rather be able to see on each end and front. I would black out the back against wall.

and that’s totally fine, but I actually like the look of the reef suspended in air along the wall. Respectfully, This post was about scraping the back glass and light cable management more so than individual preference.

 

[Troylee]

 

[Ziggy17]

Looks nice but not my style. I like it long side against the wall. I’d also fixate on the two power head cables popping out of the stand. It’s too distracting for me.

 

[Lori_inFL]

Looks nice but not my style. I like it long side against the wall. I’d also fixate on the two power head cables popping out of the stand. It’s too distracting for me.

I agree so i will be running my gyre power cord along the corner seams and router out a groove so the door will close. Hopefully will hide most of that.

 

[Ziggy17]

I agree so i will be running my gyre power cord along the corner seams and router out a groove so the door will close. Hopefully will hide most of that.

Yeah, I can see that helping. It seems peninsula tanks have their disadvantages for cable management for sure. I’m starting to lean more toward conventional for that reason. Unless I see some clean looking cable management ideas.

 

[Lori_inFL]

I agree so i will be running my gyre power cord along the corner seams and router out a groove so the door will close. Hopefully will hide most of that.

Yeah, I can see that helping. It seems peninsula tanks have their disadvantages for cable management for sure. I’m starting to lean more toward conventional for that reason. Unless I see some clean looking cable management ideas.

I am still setting mine up. Obviously!

WB 7225. I don't really have 6'+ of wall space and this setup sort of creates a hall to the master BR and divides foyer from living room.

For lighting, I will be hanging them from the ceiling and fabricate a U channel from aluminum stock. Peninsula is away from the wall to accomodate 2 Ikea cabinets back to back and allow access to the power outlets. The aluminum track will extend to the wall and then I will only need to hide the cords for a couple of feet, from the track down to cabinet. Not sure what to do about them. I may just paint them the wall color.

As far as cleaning the back wall - if you are planning on putting the long wall of a peninsula against the wall, I don't see the point of paying the peninsula premium. On my peninsula, the back wall is a short end that is some black material that I will let grow coralline and maybe some GSP. If I want to clean that area, I won't be able yo use my magnetic cleaner. Need to use a long handled scrubby pad.

Happy planning your new tank!

 

[mh0ward]

Yeah, I can see that helping. It seems peninsula tanks have their disadvantages for cable management for sure. I’m starting to lean more toward conventional for that reason. Unless I see some clean looking cable management ideas.

Mine is only a 21 gal long, but I think is similar to the way you're looking to set up.

Mine is away from the wall a couple inches, but I use a small scraper that uses thin razor blades that you can get off Amazon. I 3D printed a little plastic guard to ensure that the blade can't touch silicone on the bottom glass.

I originally used the magnetic flipper cleaner, but I like this a lot more, even if it does take a little longer. It gets the glass cleaner and I dont have to worry about sand getting trapped in it. Another thing I didn't like about the magnetic cleaner was when I hit a corner and needed to move to the next pane, it would sometimes cause a small splash. I imagine you could probably make or 3D print a wider scraper that uses a few blades side-by-side for a larger tank.

 

[Ziggy17]

Mine is only a 21 gal long, but I think is similar to the way you're looking to set up.

Mine is away from the wall a couple inches, but I use a small scraper that uses thin razor blades that you can get off Amazon. I 3D printed a little plastic guard to ensure that the blade can't touch silicone on the bottom glass.

I originally used the magnetic flipper cleaner, but I like this a lot more, even if it does take a little longer. It gets the glass cleaner and I dont have to worry about sand getting trapped in it. Another thing I didn't like about the magnetic cleaner was when I hit a corner and needed to move to the next pane, it would sometimes cause a small splash. I imagine you could probably make or 3D print a wider scraper that uses a few blades side-by-side for a larger tank.

I love the way that looks. Clear through to the wall. Still gives that 360 look without having it protruding into the room.

 

[Troylee]

Looks nice but not my style. I like it long side against the wall. I’d also fixate on the two power head cables popping out of the stand. It’s too distracting for me.

I haven’t bought the extension cables to run them along my euro.. one of these days… I tried to eliminate those pumps all together but I can’t the tank is too big to get all the flow from one end.

 

[Troylee]

I love the way that looks. Clear through to the wall. Still gives that 360 look without having it protruding into the room.

Sunnyx runs all his tanks that way.. check out reefsite.com

 

[mh0ward]

Forgot to mention, if you havn't seen UNS aquariums, you might also check those out. It looks like there are vendors for them in BC Canada: https://ultumnaturesystems.com/rimless-glass-tanks/

They seem to use a bit thicker glass than most and I really like their mitered edges.

 

[X-37B]

and that’s totally fine, but I actually like the look of the reef suspended in air along the wall. Respectfully, This post was about scraping the back glass and light cable management more so than individual preference.

I gave up even trying to scrape the back glass years ago, lol.
Just let it get covered in coralline as its by far the easiest method.
My 1 year old ext 170.