Louie's Red Sea Reefer Peninsula 500

[LV3]

After pre-ordering the peninsula 500 by Red Sea it's finally here at my house. I've obsessed over this tank since it was teased back in Feb. 2017. It has been a exercise in patience to say the least. I wanted the tank on the main floor but was concerned about he weight. So I researched the numerous "how much weight will my floor hold" threads across the internet looking for answers. In the end, I had a structural engineer come out and assess the tank, the orientation of the peninsula design on the floor in the living room, and was given a green light. The tank runs parallel right on top of a steel I beam above the basement.

With the tank ordered, the floor inspected, and the excitement building, I began putting together an equipment list. Some parts I bought new, others used. It's been hard staring at a tote full of fish equipment for the last few months.

Pictures coming up...

 

[LV3]

Decided to start clean with dry rock from Marco. This rock comes packaged perfectly with each rock individually wrapped. The rocks literally come together on their own to make some pretty cool aquascapes.

 

[LV3]

Well here it is, the wait was finally over today. My wife and I moved this tank into the living room today. I drove over to the LFS in Boulder and was concerned at how heavy the tank was. The packing was top notch and I even got some goodies for pre-ordering (200lb of coral pro salt and reef energy A/B). Thank you @Red Sea .

 

[Jrodrigo100]

nice would like have one also

 

[Maddlesrain]

I'm in Boulder as well! (If you're referring to Boulder, CO). Did you happen to go to Aqua Imports?

I'm also doing a peninsula tank (not Red Sea though). Wishing you the best on your new build!

 

[LV3]

Here's a look at the sump and dry area. I'm still working on getting all the electronics wired up but I love the setup so far. I'm going to be moving my existing living room tank into this tank so I'm taking my time and getting everything right. This time I'm trying to focus on wire management and simplicity of equipment.

 

[LV3]

I'm in Boulder as well! (If you're referring to Boulder, CO). Did you happen to go to Aqua Imports?

I'm also doing a peninsula tank (not Red Sea though). Wishing you the best on your new build!

Yep, Boulder, CO. I did go to Aqua Imports. Thank you and good luck on your build as well. Would be interested to see how you handle lighting as this tank is at the bottom of a vaulted ceiling so I had to come up with a light rack as I didn't want to use a canopy.

 

[Maddlesrain]

Yep, Boulder, CO. I did go to Aqua Imports. Thank you and good luck on your build as well. Would be interested to see how you handle lighting as this tank is at the bottom of a vaulted ceiling so I had to come up with a light rack as I didn't want to use a canopy.

Thanks, it's coming along very slowly. Like you I want to do everything right and am taking my time. We're going to mount the lighting from the ceiling as I too like the open top, no canopy, look.

 

[LV3]

Here's part of a garden from my 40 breeder that will have a new home in the peninsula.

 

[LV3]

We have power! Filling the tank now little by little.

 

[LV3]

Aquascape is done. Now to break down the old tank....

 

[Jrodrigo100]

going fast

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Moving right along!!

 

[EW_Fish]

How do you like that skimmer ?

 

[LV3]

How do you like that skimmer ?

So far so good. I had the smaller version on a 40 breeder and it collected dark nasty skim mate. For the price, my thought was that bubbles are bubbles but I could be wrong.

 

[LV3]

going fast

I had a lot of this equipment sitting around waiting for the tank. I've been cycling the rock for 2 months. Talk about a lesson in patience.

 

[LV3]

Now I'm just waiting on the light rack from 8020. For lighting I'm using one Kessil ap700 and two 54W T5s. The fixture will suspend the lights 18" off the water level. I took some early par readings with just the Kessil and I'm getting 200 PAR in the middle at the top and 90 PAR on the sand bed. With the T5s on as well I'm hoping to throw another 50 PAR at those numbers.

 

[LV3]

Here's the rendering of the light rack that will extend from the overflow side over the tank

 

[pelphrey]

Looks great, following along!!!

 

[Greybeard]

Nice looking setup. I had been looking at peninsula style tanks for a while, ordered a custom tank 2 days before Red Sea announced this one. Oh well... it wasn't _quite_ what I wanted (60x30x18). Close though.