105 Gallons of “Host”ile Takeover

[Reef Jedi]

Im a little late to the build thread party but here it goes!

Delivered in a crate the size of a compact car, the Red Sea REEFER Peninsula 500 landed on my driveway like a black-box promise from the reef gods. Four hours of Allen keys, torque specs, and one near-miss with a falling sump later, the 105-gallon starfire monolith now stands ready, silent, and empty—waiting to become a living ocean.

Yes I know it’s a RedSea tank, strike me down now before it does.

From crate to coral, uglies to euphoria—this thread will document every drip, every frag, and hopefully when a clown finally picks its forever home.

Let the build begin!

 

[cdemoss01]

Looking good!

 

[Reef Jedi]

 

[Reef Jedi]

Once I got the tank leveled using 4 long levels I was ready to install the doors and give a final level. I was amazed how tricky it seemed using the legs on the Red Sea to level it. It seems like you turn one and all the others are off the ground. So this process took me a lot longer than I thought it would. But at the end of the day, it’s ready for a water test.

 

[Reef Jedi]

Water test was good so I mixed up about 135 gallons of saltwater and filled it up. I received an order from BRS of more equipment and installed the sliding panel and skimmer.

Also added two Ecotech G6 xr15’s for initial lighting. Even though I haven’t had a salt tank since my son was born (8 years) I knew I’d go the radion route for light. The previous xr30w G4 pros I had on an old build grew coral so well I had to get the new generations.

Watching BRS videos of the XR15’s par readings I had a good feeling I could get away with them with this depth of tank. Also being a Peninsula tank I really didn’t need that wide of coverage since the scape would go down the middle.

This is the original rock stack, nothing fancy. I had a bunch of BRS Pukani rock from years ago I threw in. I’ve never started with dry rock before but I have the intentions of minimizing pests into this system. I’ve also thought about making this a harem tank and didn’t think I’d do anything too special with the aquascaping.

 

[Reef Jedi]

Side note since I’m slacking hard on this build thread and updating it. The tank has been running for over a year and it hasn’t cracked lol so this is a plus for me.

I’ll keep updating as I get time.

 

[Reef Jedi]

I started the cycle with Fritz turbo start 9000. Never tried with dry rock and I was very skeptical. I’ve always been taught to use some sort of live rock also. But giving it a shot I dumped it in and let it rip.

To my surprise the cycle stalled and wasn’t progressing like I’ve experienced in the past. I’ve never had a cycle stall and it made me worried. A new lfs by me mentioned adding more bacteria so I gave that a try, boy was that a bad idea. Talk about a bacteria bloom for 3 days. I ended up doing a small w/c to help clear it up it was so bad and made the whole house stink. My wife was less than pleased. So I went to my tried and trusty lfs 40 min away and got a small piece of live wick to help the cycle. Then it was patience waiting to see what would happen with this stalled cycle.

 

[Reef Jedi]

After a very vicious cycle, it was finally cycled. I installed some more equipment in preparation for the future. This way I could test it out, get kinks out of the system before adding serious coral. I’ve never owned an Apex before but I’ve always wanted one. So I finally bit the bullet and got some serious equipment goodies.

 

[MegabiteOG]

Any updates? I love the look of the peninsulas. Didn’t a place for it.

 

[Reef Jedi]

Okay, im really slacking on the build thread. Problem is I didn’t take the time to update this while I was doing it. So much has happened, so much has changed. But let’s give an update on the progression.

After cycle, I added some frags, a couple fish and let it ride. I was not happy with the pukani dry rock. I ended up having phosphate issues and with the rocks leaching silicates into the water it only fueled algae problems. Not just typical problems but uncontrollable issues. I decided it was time to ditch the rock and add 60lbs of Tampa Bay Saltwater rocks! What could go wrong? Nothing! This instantly solved some issues and I’m glad I got it.

Fun story: my rock order was the first shipment to go out after the hurricane hit Florida in 2024. I waited an extra month because their facility was hit and destroyed. Because of the hurricane I fully understood and was happy to wait. When the rock order came I was so excited. I was blown away by the amount of life on the rocks. So pleased except one small thing. The amount of crabs and mantis shrimp that made the journey was insane. I tried to get them all and thought I did. However I still needed up with 23 gorilla crabs, 6 stone crabs and 4 mantis shrimp that made it into the tank. That’s after I plucked a bunch off and sumped them.

The rock however was absolutely worth it. And it allowed me to play Rambo hunting crabs at night. I did this for weeks with a red flashlight and tongs or a spear depending on my mood. I got pretty frustrated during this experience as I had asked for no critters. I bought a mantis trap and was able to catch 3 of them.i also caught about half of the crabs as well in there. After weeks of doing this each night and re setting the trap. I thought I got all the crabs out. I knew I had one green Florida mantis left however he’s a smart little guy. He avoided every trap and tactic I could try. I know where he hides and what rock he’s in however he also knows me and is too smart to catch. So I’ve decided he can stay as long as he plays nice. Time will tell. The kids love to watch him and are always looking for him.

I’ll keep doing my best to update the thread to finally get caught up to where I’m at today. All of this took place October 2024. I got a ways to go! But I’ll sum up some the journey as I was just letting things establish and grow.

 

[Reef Jedi]

December 2024:

Things are getting settled in, placed all corals in good positions for light and grow out. Purchased a PAR meter so I could really get a good understanding of placement. I’ve always wanted a par meter so I bought it and something I could have never owned before I was so proud to be able to own one.

Through December I decided to get an anemone as I am a 23 year experienced reefer. I know this tank had only been set up for about 4 months so I took the chance and tested my skill. My LFS down the street had some super nice fire bubble tip anemones for only $40. So of course I had to have one. This was the start of something I didn’t intend to happen but more will come later with that. - the anemone took to its new environment very well and was very happy. Of course the clowns had no interest but I know it’s not their natural host so I can’t blame them.

It’s the only photo I have in December as that was a crazy month but you can see the small progression as well as the one anemone all happy and bubbly.

 

[Reef Jedi]

January 2025:

Things are going very well! Super happy with the progression of this build. Kinda let it sit and grow mode. I started with one anemone and in January I have two. It’s amazing to see how big the hippo tang got in just a couple months. When I first added him he was about the size of a quarter. Now he’s getting bigger and eating like a pig. Not much more to update as things are still just progressing.

 

[Reef Jedi]

February 2025:

Set and forget, this tank is cooking with fire. Easy maintenance and at this point getting very stable. I added a couple more corals for the “mixed reef” look to see how they would do. I had some money to burn and thought why not?

 

[Reef Jedi]

March 2025:

Not much to report. Set and forget. Stable and steady growth and no complaints. The anemones are starting to get bitter. One is starting to get really big and it’s just super cool to see! Of course the clowns don’t care at all about them yet. But they sure do look nice!

 

[Reef Jedi]

April 2025:

Anemone update! One is getting huge! Like really big! It loves it where it’s at.

I had a pair of frost bite flurry clowns. I’ve wanted them for so long I just had to have them. Sadly both for no reason at all went carpet surfing and our “shark” robot vacuum ended up eating them. How ironic they were ate by a shark in Colorado.

Kids were devastated as this was the first loss in the tank. Everyone and everything else was happy tho! We ended up getting a pair of true percula clown fish and the kids were happy again!

Because of this at my wife’s orders I started looking at lids and finally settled with ordering from TopLids. Great guys and great experience so far.

On the flip side, we have more anemones now, they like to split in this tank. This is something I was not expecting to happen so much and so fast. So now we are at 6 anemones and going strong. They are all super happy and plump! Of course the clowns want nothing to do with them but that will also come in time I know. With 6 of them to stare at it’ll bound to happen at some point.

 

[Naekuh]

I always wanted a harem tank.... with nems and a lots and lots of crowns.

But i can't even take care of my 150G diligantly.. so you can guess where that tank is on my list.

:D

 

[Reef Jedi]

May 2025:

This was also just a sit and watch moth. Nothing new other than the anemones splitting more and now we’re up to 12. A couple of them are getting huge!

When I mean huge I’m talking dinner plate size! It’s crazy to see the growth of these suckers. Of course the clowns don’t look at them at all but it’s okay, I know one day they will!

Our good old friend mantis shrimp who’s now just part of the family decided to sit still for one second and finally let me take his picture. After months of not trying to catch him he’s starting to trust me more and allow us to look at him. I gave him a piece offering of a silver side on a skewer and that gained some trust back.

 

[Reef Jedi]

June 2025:

Top lids order finally came and omg these lids are amazingly nice! I have to say just wow! The build quality is amazingly good and I’m so happy with the final product. They are laser perfect and look so clean on top of the RedSea tank. Wow!!

The anenome situation is actually starting to slightly get out of hand. If I’m counting correctly we’re at 14 so far and it’s starting to completely wreak havoc on anything glued down. It wasn’t my intention to have this many nems however they keep splitting. So it’s telling me one of two things.

1. They are very happy and want to split (I lean more towards this option since they are all huge, plump and don’t move around)

2. Water quality is not great causing them to split due to stress.

I think option 1 is more viable and looking at them they seem very happy! Again they are getting huge!

Of course the clowns have zero interest in the nems. At one point I printed a bunch of pictures of clowns in anemones and taped them to the glass. Even thought they were tank raised true percs, I figured they have no idea they could go in the anemone. And with so many to choose from I was amazed they chose this corner of the tank. But that’s a typical clown thing.

 

[Reef Jedi]

July 2025:

Not a very interesting month, sit back and relax. Everything in the tank is growing and seems very happy.

However……

I had an issue with the rollermat and didn’t even know it. Over the next couple months, I didn’t realize it however the rollermat was not working well and ultimately lead to a build up of nutrients that was un intended. This was one of the last months before the calm of the storm of a GHA invasion. (But this is the future talking)

The anemones are still getting bigger. I’m convinced that the huge one is starting to split also and I’m curious what’s about to happen.

Of course with this many anemones the clowns still have zero interest. My kids don’t understand why “Nemo” won’t go in the anenome. I just keep telling them that we need to be patient as with everything in life, good things will come.

 

[Reef Jedi]

August 2025:

And the nems are getting HUGE!

So two things go in my mind at this point. The nems are getting big, all of them are big and I’m guessing they are ALL about to split. The other thought I had is what am I going to do when they all split. I already had to take out other corals due to anemone stings. What happens if they all split at once?

On the flip side, I started noticing issues with water tests. Started diving into the issues and found the stupid rollermat was caught and stretching the fleece and not covering the housing in full. This lead to a bigger issue of creating a GHA outbreak and raising phos to a level that it thrived in. More to come but let’s still focus on the HUGE mass anemone split that’s impending lol