Nix 21 Gallon Long Peninsula Build

[Nixperience]

Full Tank Shot 10/26/2026

So I just got back into reefing a few weeks ago with my daughter’s old Fluval Spec III 2.6 gallon. When I suggested to my wife that I needed a bigger tank, she told me I’m so predictable and to at least wait a few weeks, so here we are

I made a new bookshelf for the space and have it in place with the tiny pico for now as I plan the build for what I think will be my dream nano. I originally wanted to avoid AIO, but have decided the UNS 90LA is the perfect tank for the space, so my plan is to watch sales between now and Black Friday, scape it and start cycling it as I piece together the rest of the parts by Christmas for the transfer in the new year.

The Build:

Tank: UNS 90LA
Lighting: Radion Gen 6 XR15
Return: Ai Axis 40
Circulation: Ai Nero 3 on AIO wall
Heater: Innovative Marine Helio 100w
Filtration: UNS Media Basket and Refugium Insert
Sand: CaribSea Fiji Pink or Special Grade
ATO: Miofis ATO for now

I plan on doing a mixed reef that will go from SPS on the right to LPS and lower light and lower flow corals as it progresses to the left end of the tank. This is the scape design I’m shooting for. I want lots of swim channels and caves within it. I’d like the left side to have a croissant shaped rock formation that could be an RFA garden in the middle of it with Acans and some Zoas on the rock. Probably Euphyllia towards the middle. I’m hoping the Nero on the AIO, plus a variable return from the Axis 40 will provide enough flow for everything, and if it doesn’t, I’ll put another one on the left end.

I think the Hydra Edge44 should cover it, but I am open to suggestions. Ideally, I’d like a Radion XR30, but $1000 is a lot when I have to start everything from scratch. Please let me know what suggestions you would have, as the lighting is my biggest concern. I’d like good coverage and minimal shadowing, but LED only.

Here is the bookshelf and the things I’ve done to it.

The Pico it it’s place for now. I left 5” of space on the side for an ATO reservoir. I can fit a 2.5 gallon container easliy, and anything over 3 gallons would have to be a custom acrylic job, so I’ll see how that goes for a while.

I mounted the power strip along the backside with a 2.5” spacer behind the stand I can use to hide my tweezers and pipettes.

The power strip is easily removable with a rotatable bracket at the bottom that holds it in place.

Let me know what you think and I’m open to ideas. I’d like this to be my best tank ever.

 

[frkid247]

I like how its coming together! Will be neat to see the progress

 

[kevgib67]

Welcome, glad you are here! Very well thought out, I look forward to following your build!

 

[MushroomMan101]

Excited to see how this comes together! I would make sure that the wood cabinet top has a water proof coating. I used an solid oak top and it got a terrible looking water stains after a few months.

 

[Nixperience]

Thanks. I gave it a few coats of poly and the tank will fit the top edge to edge perfectly.

 

[Fish Fan]

Great looking start, I like the bookshelf stand!

 

[Fish Fan]

I like how its coming together! Will be neat to see the progress

Welcome to Reef2Reef! Thanks for joining!

#WelcometoR2R

 

[frkid247]

I like how its coming together! Will be neat to see the progress

Welcome to Reef2Reef! Thanks for joining!

#WelcometoR2R

Thank you

 

[Nixperience]

Any thoughts on lighting? I was thinking Hydra Edge 44HD, but am wondering if the 68HD on lower power would be better with less shadowing. Open to other LED suggestions as well.

 

[Nixperience]

I’ve decided to go with the Gen 6 Radion xr15 for this and mount it 10” above the tank instead of 9” to get a little more spread and the tank will be shallow, so won’t need super intense par. I found these floating shelf brackets rated for 100lbs. They will look much better than the rms mount clamped to the tank and be much less visible coming out from the wall. I’ll stick black wire track to the underside to run the wire through. Clean light mount solved. I’m also working on a book facade panel that I can fold down to reveal equipment on the top shelf and fold up to make it look like a shelf of books. That will be a work in progress.

 

[Nixperience]

Well, I ordered the tank! I guess I’ll be setting it up sooner than expected. I still gotta wait until Christmas for the light, so I’ll light a small area with my pico light in the mean time lol.

 

[Fish Fan]

Have you considered the very budget friendly lights from Noopsyche? These are very well liked, and cost about 1/5 the Ecotech option:
https://noopsychereeflight.com/products/noopsyche-k7-v4-saltwater-led-reef-coral-light

They can also be ordered through Amazon for a little more money.

 

[Nixperience]

Have you considered the very budget friendly lights from Noopsyche? These are very well liked, and cost about 1/5 the Ecotech option:
https://noopsychereeflight.com/products/noopsyche-k7-v4-saltwater-led-reef-coral-light

They can also be ordered through Amazon for a little more money.

I’ve looked at them. Spectrum wise, they seem decent and definitely good lights for the price. I like the controllability and interface of Radions and AI.

 

[Fish Fan]

I’ve looked at them. Spectrum wise, they seem decent and definitely good lights for the price. I like the controllability and interface of Radions and AI.

Yep, the Noopsyche lights lack some of the finer features, so if you have the budget for the premium options, I say go for it

 

[Nixperience]

I started working in the scape for the new tank. Getting close. Just a few tweaks and should be good to glue it. Right now, they fit together without glue, so it should hold together nicely.

 

[Nixperience]

I got the tank and it’s wet. I put a little too much sand in, so tomorrow I’ll scoop some out and add a small piece of live rock and a spoon of sand from the pico to get things going. The tank is really nice. The back compartments are a little tighter than I thought they’d be, so not sure if I’ll be doing a skimmer or refugium. Maybe one or the other or none at all. So it begins.

 

[Tahoe61]

You did an impressive job recreating the scape design, looks great.

Congrats on the new tank.

 

[Nixperience]

You did an impressive job recreating the scape design, looks great.

Congrats on the new tank.

Thank you. I’m going to try to work in some liverock from the pico. Hope I can make it work.

 

[Nixperience]

The tank has been up 3 weeks and went through diatom bloom and cleared up. I’ve got a Nicrew Navareef 65 temporarily until I get the Radion for Christmas. It’s a decent light. I added a Bubble Magus Mini Q skimmer and it’s broken in and skimming great! Maybe too great. Over the last 2 weeks, I’ve been adding fish and corals. Acan is not happy, I’m thinking from low nutrients, but everything else is doing good. I’m showing no phosphates on the ultra low phosphate test, so I need to dial back the skimmer and feed heavier.

I have a Neon Goby, Midas Blenny, Royal Gramma, and pair of Clowns. I feed frozen in the morning and pellets in the afternoon and the fish are pigs, especially the Midas. I’m very surprised to have zero phosphates.

I got that giant rainbow hammer and frogspawn for $50 and finally found a yellow Fiji leather I’ve wanted for a decade for $75. I just put them in yesterday and they’re doing good, but Fiji leather doesn’t show super yellow under heavy blue.

I’ll be letting it sit for a bit and doing some testing to figure out what the tank needs and getting it dialed in before I introduce more corals unless I see something cheap.

Also, I have a decent pod population, but the neon goby seems to hunt them like crazy lol. I did not expect that.

 

[Nixperience]

It just dawned on me that the dry rock I used is probably soaking up all the phosphate and I should probably stay away from acans for a while.