Gettin' Twiggy Wid It - Red Sea Reefer Peninsula 500

The Reef Dork · Dec 16, 2018

Some of my SPS was starting to do quite well recently but things have taken a sharp turn for the worse unfortunately

The hyancinthus is losing flesh on its tips. That happened before and the flesh had actually started growing back over the skeleton which i've never seen before. But this might be too much for it...

There's a bit of bleaching at the base of this humilis that had previously survived unscathed

And my setosa has bleached quite badly (as well as the coral in the centre of the picture, although only a little)

Same story with my Valida

So i'm in the middle of doing a 25% water change and will try to do another during the week. When i've done that in the past, it's really helped... albeit only temporarily...

The cyano is burning off a little but is still there. I'm not too fussed at the moment though - it doesn't seem to be a huge problem.

On the plus side, here are some more shots of the rock nem that looks like it's in the process of splitting. Although from what i've read, it's impossible to remove them without taking the rock out so no chance of cashing in on it ;Greedy

I REALLY want more of these ;Woot

And now some random mobile phone shots...

A fish can't even have a turd in peace

Now to equipment!

Managed to squeeze the CFL lamp into my sump. The ALR1 is now in the classifieds - I think it's too small for this tank and i'm hoping to get more pod life going

I prised the metal flaps up a little so I could put a cable tie in for a hook

Then bought some L brackets to fit to the roof of the sump

Then used a load more cable ties to hang the unit from the brackets. Admittedly a slightly weird choice but it won't rust and it fixes more strongly than string.

It actually fits quite nicely to be fair. I thought it might look ridiculous but it's fine - you can even bend the reflectors in to make it more slimline

Obvs you can't see from the photo but the chaeto is tumbling - I kept the tube from the ALR1 running off the manifold to create water movement ;Happy

Pretty chuffed with it. I'll see how good the baffle weir comb is at stopping chaeto strands escaping. And there's every chance i'll have some kind of rust issues later down the line - it's quite an enclosed sump so it would probably be worth me putting a fan at the far end to help reduce humidity. A job for mañana though. For now, i'll just lube some of the metal up with Vaseline.

And a FTS to finish. Even though i've got my problems, i'm loving this tank. Aside from a few corals, it still looks pretty awesome in my eyes so all is good

NY_Caveman · Dec 17, 2018

The Reef Dork said:
Some of my SPS was starting to do quite well recently but things have taken a sharp turn for the worse unfortunately

The hyancinthus is losing flesh on its tips. That happened before and the flesh had actually started growing back over the skeleton which i've never seen before. But this might be too much for it...

There's a bit of bleaching at the base of this humilis that had previously survived unscathed

And my setosa has bleached quite badly (as well as the coral in the centre of the picture, although only a little)

Same story with my Valida

So i'm in the middle of doing a 25% water change and will try to do another during the week. When i've done that in the past, it's really helped... albeit only temporarily...

The cyano is burning off a little but is still there. I'm not too fussed at the moment though - it doesn't seem to be a huge problem.

On the plus side, here are some more shots of the rock nem that looks like it's in the process of splitting. Although from what i've read, it's impossible to remove them without taking the rock out so no chance of cashing in on it ;Greedy

I REALLY want more of these ;Woot

And now some random mobile phone shots...

A fish can't even have a turd in peace

Now to equipment!

Managed to squeeze the CFL lamp into my sump. The ALR1 is now in the classifieds - I think it's too small for this tank and i'm hoping to get more pod life going

I prised the metal flaps up a little so I could put a cable tie in for a hook

Then bought some L brackets to fit to the roof of the sump

Then used a load more cable ties to hang the unit from the brackets. Admittedly a slightly weird choice but it won't rust and it fixes more strongly than string.

It actually fits quite nicely to be fair. I thought it might look ridiculous but it's fine - you can even bend the reflectors in to make it more slimline

Obvs you can't see from the photo but the chaeto is tumbling - I kept the tube from the ALR1 running off the manifold to create water movement ;Happy

Pretty chuffed with it. I'll see how good the baffle weir comb is at stopping chaeto strands escaping. And there's every chance i'll have some kind of rust issues later down the line - it's quite an enclosed sump so it would probably be worth me putting a fan at the far end to help reduce humidity. A job for mañana though. For now, i'll just lube some of the metal up with Vaseline.

And a FTS to finish. Even though i've got my problems, i'm loving this tank. Aside from a few corals, it still looks pretty awesome in my eyes so all is good

Sorry for your SPS issues, but the tank is looking great overall.

The Reef Dork · Dec 17, 2018

NY_Caveman said:
Sorry for your SPS issues, but the tank is looking great overall.

Cheers buddy

The Reef Dork · Dec 22, 2018

Sold my algae reactor this week, which means cash for new kit ;Woot

However...

You know how you feel when you get your car serviced? $200 and it feels no different? Well that's what I feel like with this...

I've been meaning to get one for ages and it feels like the sensible thing to do

The diffuser will be good though - the shimmer on my Radion sucks compared to the ap700;Bored

My LFS gave me this for free on the plus side

For the uninitiated, it's a Nyos skimmer stand

Even comes with vibration dampening technology

I moved the skimmer to a different chamber in the sump this week and it's been overflowing slightly so it needed to go up. It's also quite noisey and I figured that's cos it's in deeper water than it should be so the pump is working harder than it wants to. It's noticeably quiter now which is awesome. Still roughly an inch lower than the manufacturer recommends so I'll raise it a bit higher in a few weeks.

The Reef Dork · Dec 23, 2018

Pretty chilly here in the UK at the moment so this has come on tonight...

But every action has an equal and opposite reaction and now my tank is too hot ;Facepalm

So I've reinstated this bad boy. It's pretty noisey. I'm sure the Mrs won't mind...

The Reef Dork · Jan 20, 2019

Payday next week. Thinking of getting a Mitratus butterflyfish ;Drool

But in the meantime, I have zero cash so I got the DSLR out today for the first time in a while ;Snaphappy

I'm really getting into acans now...

Cyphastrea basing out nicely.

And finish with a phone shot of the tank

The Reef Dork · Feb 2, 2019

Ummm.... Nine days' growth... ;Woot

The Reef Dork · Jun 5, 2019

Double post

The Reef Dork · Jun 5, 2019

It's been about four months since I last updated this thread. And those four months have been very good to me (on the whole)

Last time I was having issues with my SPS but that's all sorted now

I started 10% weekly water changes and started dosing iodine. Everything has been massively improved as a result.

Livestock-wise, I've added too many corals to count. But here are a few of my favourites...

I've added one fish though... a Harlequin Tuskfish.

Have you ever seen people say they don't eat shrimp that are in the tank before them? Yeah, me too...

But he's a cool fish so I'm OK with that. And to be fair to him, that shrimp did look delicious ;Drool

Unfortunately, my clam died - I'm 90% sure it wasn't getting enough light. It's a shame as it was stunning. But it's difficult finding a spot with high enough light and low enough flow so I don't think I'll get another.

Dead clams smell baaaad! ;Dead

Equipment is unchanged, save for these awesome cabinet hinge lights

And I've bought a roller filter (as yet uninstalled)

Oh, and a compact fuge light

Oh yeah, and the shortening set for the Giesemann Stellar.

Ooh yeah, and an auto water changer

Growth is pretty solid at the moment - here are two examples (both four months apart)

My Resplendent Anthias are going great guns - i've had them eight months. No real fighting and they all eat well. A great shoaling fish

And finally here's what it all looks like in 4K:

See you in another four months

najer · Jun 9, 2019

Looking very nice.

The Reef Dork · Jun 9, 2019

najer said:
Looking very nice.

Cheers. Accidentally deleted all the photos so just had to upload them all again ;Facepalm

najer · Jun 11, 2019

The Reef Dork said:
Cheers. Accidentally deleted all the photos so just had to upload them all again ;Facepalm

D'oh!

The Reef Dork · Jun 16, 2019

A few photos

hatfielj · Jun 16, 2019

Love it! And thanks for your very informative video on the Stellar fixture. I’m buying one for my new set up.

The Reef Dork · Jun 16, 2019

hatfielj said:
Love it! And thanks for your very informative video on the Stellar fixture. I’m buying one for my new set up.

Glad you found it useful

The Reef Dork · Jun 24, 2019

Time for a FTS. And a FTS comparison...

2 February 19

23 June 19

Devaji · Sep 20, 2019

nice read! I love to experience the journey with fellow reefers. I came across you YT videos on the RS 500 then your build thread here it's nice to see whats under the hood so to speak.

I am thinking of the same tank as a room divider across my RS 750.
thinking of doing a seahorse tank in the 500. anything you dont like about the tank? any must do mods?

cheers

The Reef Dork · Sep 21, 2019

Devaji said:
nice read! I love to experience the journey with fellow reefers. I came across you YT videos on the RS 500 then your build thread here it's nice to see whats under the hood so to speak.

I am thinking of the same tank as a room divider across my RS 750.
thinking of doing a seahorse tank in the 500. anything you dont like about the tank? any must do mods?

cheers

Thanks

Nice project - I'd love a species only tank.

It's generally great but it does get humid in the cabinet which means the cab walls get damp - I installed 2 pc fans which has sorted that completely. And the cabinet is dark as it has no gap at the back like some tanks. So installing a decent light on day 1 is worth it.

I'd also remove the filter sock section before you get the tank wet if you want a filter roller.

Apart from that, no complaints. It's a great looking tank

Devaji · Sep 21, 2019

The Reef Dork said:
Thanks

Nice project - I'd love a species only tank.

It's generally great but it does get humid in the cabinet which means the cab walls get damp - I installed 2 pc fans which has sorted that completely. And the cabinet is dark as it has no gap at the back like some tanks. So installing a decent light on day 1 is worth it.

I'd also remove the filter sock section before you get the tank wet if you want a filter roller.

Apart from that, no complaints. It's a great looking tank