My SPS Waterbox Peninsula Mini 15

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howaboutme

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Some updates. Tank is smoothly maturing and am really enjoying watching it. The good thing about the work from home phase now is watching the tank often, sometimes too often.

- NO3 still zero
- I feed a ton
- Getting really nice color on the rocks.
- No visible signs of nuisance algae. (However, there is enough somewhere to make the snails and hermits happy.)
- Skimmer now on an off-light schedule and only on overnight for 12 hours.
- Benefits of the skimmer keeping my ph stable is worth it but microbubbles still suck. Now I don't have to see those bubbles.
- Fish doing well, all good it seems.
- Only other thing I am testing is Alk. I thought my Hanna was giving right #'s but it is now showing me at 6 dkh. No worries, I whip out my Salifert and it's at 8 dkh! Again, not to worry. I have a 3rd alk test on it's way. I went with Lamotte this time. Testing Alk is most important so it's worth the extra tests.
- All this alk talk got me to whip out my old BRS doser after 1/2 decade of storage. Flushed it and tested it on a 10 minute timer in a measuring cup. Still at 1.1 ml per minute. I also have baking soda to make Randy's DIY part 1 (for lower ph tanks). I just need to figure out my dosing container and I should be ready to go if needed.
- I do have a calc test. At some point I'll test for it but not now. I'm not too worried about calc consumption this early.
- No other testing planned so far. Only as needed.
- Moved some old sticks onto rocks (the back)
- Got new sticks on the rack.
- Next non coral inhabitant is one or two rock flower anemones for the lower left rock.
- Photos:

The back of the tank looking long ways (the background):
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Zoa rock. They are doing okay. Need one or two more frags and I'm done here:
DQzypDM.jpg


Sticks (the ones in the back row look better w/ whites on):
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Wider shot. The wwc yellow tips on the far right is coming back nicely (no yellow just yet). It STN's after I totally messed up acclimation but now stable and new skin has covered up all of the white and growing.
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Overall shots w/ whites:
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SbEG70x.jpg
 

Janci

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Looking great.
It seems, from the pictures that you watch the tank most from the left side. is that correct?
The scape also showns that direction.
 
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Looking great.
It seems, from the pictures that you watch the tank most from the left side. is that correct?
The scape also showns that direction.
Thanks and that's correct. I've set it up in a corner. I know that kind of defeats the purpose for a peninsula style but I went with this because I like the more rectangular proportions. Since the location was set, I would have had one glass panel against a wall anyways regardless of tank style.
 

Christian.

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I recommend making a dosing bottle from a glass Voss bottle! I was inspired by this video by EATSLEEPREEF

 
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Lamotte alk test confirms my Hanna is low and wrong even if it is within range of the calibration fluids. Hanna is now banished into storage (or trash). At ~ 7 years old, it's probably seen better days.

Made Randy's DIY Recipe 1 alk:

2BzPnMm.jpg


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Just need to dissolve in RODI to make 1 gallon of supplement when ready. Alk tests confirm water changes are enough for now.
 

Janci

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Very nice flowers.
Do you give them special food?
 

ultraArcite

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Some updates.

I have my aquascape done. It turned out okay. I think it'll grow on me. I think I just had too many must have's for this to be uber successful. I wanted the 'scape to be:

- NSA (or something like it)
- Provide access to the sand
- Only touch the bottom of the glass once
- Provide ample room for corals
- Have as much as possible to help with the biological filtration

I very much realized that having a small tank makes this difficult. Successful NSA's usually have a few touchdown spots to create those cool arches, etc. I couldn't/didn't want to do that so I tried some cantilevers. Of course, the more you cantilever one end, you have to brace it on the other end to balance. At the end of the day, I think what I have is fine and once filled with corals, all good. I do wish it was taller but, again, if taller, I would need to go out more and I don't have any more room. If you look at the top view, I do have a good amount of space for corals. Boy, is the glue accelerator awesome! It makes doing this easy. The below is approximately 7 lbs only.

OFmlpXj.jpg


Top:

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I ended up switching 1 of the 2 smaller rocks out with a larger one once I put it in the tank. The scale felt better to me. The 2 loose rocks are meant to be islands of zoas, etc, not 100% sure yet. The main rock is reserved for SPS.

In the tank:

efjud33.jpg


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It's hard to see the true volume and depth from the photos. The main cantilever is pretty dramatic.

This allows me to get access to the sand for cleaning, etc and provides good swimming room under the main "terrace" for the corals. I don't know where the future rock 'nem will go though as I have read they like to hang out where the rock meets the sand. I don't have much of that with good light.

As for next steps, I have at least 2 more weeks until my 80/20 gets here so I can't wet the tank at all until I get that and install the light mount. So I started to organize the inside of the cabinet. It's a sea of wires now and that'll be fixed. Everything is on velcro for easy access. I didn't realize how much wall space all of this takes. If I had a sump, I'd have to take this all outside.

The Reef Angel relay and modules are on the left as well as a utility power bar. I will be plugging in an old android tablet mounted to the cabinet door for the controller on the strip and that's also where I will plug a small pump for water changes. The controller head unit is on the right and the Avast ATO (and pump) are below that with the wifi attachment sneaking out to the outside wall for better connection. The ATO jug will be just below that.

DaZi70n.jpg


I have zip ties, hooks, etc to manage the wires and it'll end up being clean.

This came today:

ettbSDB.jpg


Love the size! It's so small inside. Hope it turns out okay.

Since I can't even get my tank wet for maybe 3 more weeks, I've decided to cook my rocks in a brute and get the nitrogen cycle started. Since I'm using dead "live" rock from my previous build I believe there is nothing on it do die off. It's been sitting dry for 6 years. That said, I will run it for 2 days and do a NH3 test to see if there is any die off. If not, I will start to ghost feed. Once tank is ready, I will move the cycle into the tank. I anticipate the rock being out of water for 15 to 30 minutes during the transfer from brute to tank. I'll likely continue to cycle a bit longer until I call it done. Progress but not fast enough!
Noob here, what's NSA?
 
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Quick update!

Just maintaining now, will likely not look to add much if anything since I'm switching focus to my next build. I definitely have algae but luckily tank is not overrun. CUC is doing their job and weekly water changes are still the norm. Unless you look closely, the tank still looks pretty clean, luckily.

Alk is being maintained through wc's only at 7 to 7.5 ish dkh throughout the week. I see growth in the sticks, colorization is still good but always looking for better. NO3 still measures zero but we know that is not true so I've stopped measuring.

The sexy shrimp hops around and now is hosted by the BTA. It also likes to munch on my green slimer. I thought about moving the stick onto the frag rack but thought against it because I was afraid it was then going to go after some of the other fuzzier ones. I'm willing to sacrifice (really no choice) the slimer while I figure out how to train this little fella.

One of my 4 hermits got slaughtered by (probably) the other hermits. I was running out of larger shells so I got stocked up recently to avoid more future death by murder. Hermits are my most favorite. I can see them keeping the tank clean. Will also have them from now forward.

aRiB6xV.jpg


acx0mZQ.jpg
 
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How are you liking the stand? I assume it’s for the 25 which I have and I’m on the fence about paying $500. How are you liking the icecap skimmer as well?
I like the stand. It is the PW2418. I'm not sure they sell them by themselves anymore. I bought the stand (and the tank) while on discount back in late December. Believe or not, the stand was $189.50 and the tank was $179.99. I couldn't pass any of that up. The stand is very sturdy and made well. If you have built ikea, you can build their stands. Their quality is much better though.

The skimmer is fine. It took forever to break in from the micro bubbles. I still only have it on overnight to keep my ph levels from dropping too much. It doesn't skim much, mostly because I have not set it up to do much skimming, mostly for agitation. Very quiet.
 

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I like the stand. It is the PW2418. I'm not sure they sell them by themselves anymore. I bought the stand (and the tank) while on discount back in late December. Believe or not, the stand was $189.50 and the tank was $179.99. I couldn't pass any of that up. The stand is very sturdy and made well. If you have built ikea, you can build their stands. Their quality is much better though.

The skimmer is fine. It took forever to break in from the micro bubbles. I still only have it on overnight to keep my ph levels from dropping too much. It doesn't skim much, mostly because I have not set it up to do much skimming, mostly for agitation. Very quiet.
Wow that’s crazy! Yeah just checked and it’s $500 stand only
 

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