Red Sea Reefer Peninsula 350G2+ - Helm's Deep

[Homestarmy]

Hello! After over analyzing every aspect of the hobby that I could find for the past 5+ months, I have my first saltwater aquarium two weeks into the cycle. I'm super excited at the prospect of moving to the next stage and begin populating my reef, which I'm calling Helm's Deep, but I'm a bit of a loss on how to progress.

I spent a lot of time trying to find a tank that fit my available space and settled on the Red Sea Reefer Peninsula 350 G2+ because it fit into the space lengthwise, and it was a full 24+" wide and tall. The pictures show why I needed the peninsula.

Equipment

Red Sea ReefRun DC 7000 Return
Red Sea ReefWave 25
Red Sea ReefWave 45
Red Sea Reefer DC 600 Skimmer
Red Sea ATO+
2x Kessil 360X Tuna Blue
IceCap Battery Backup V3
BRS 300W Titanium Heater w/ Helio Controller

Stock Wishlist
I'm currently working on a stock list, but I'm limited in my option as I'm going with captive bred livestock where possible. This is what I'm considering, while trying to consider compatibility and addition order. For example, I was looking at a goby/pistol shrimp combination but now I don't think so given the shrimp's ability to stun/kill it's tankmates. With that in mind, here's my initial, tentative list in possible add order:

2x Court Jester Gobies
1x Forktail/Striped Blenny

2x Darwin Clownfish
2x Royal Gramma

1x Coral Beauty
1x Chalk Bass

2x Blue Mandarin

1x Yellow Tang

3x Azure Damselfish

At this point in my reefing career, I don't know if this list is realistic. I realize that I have a mix of semi-aggressive and peaceful fish, so this is obviously subject to change.

 

[CasperOe]

That's gonna look great! Good choice with the Kessil A360s; you're not gonna regret that! Will be looking forward to follow you..

Is the tank dead up against a wall- or will you be able to see it from all three sides of the peninsula?

 

[Homestarmy]

Thanks! It's not dead against the wall. I have about 18" of view from my desk, so there's view from all three sides.

 

[TX_REEF]

Nice setup, I have a reefer 350 as well but not the peninsula. I went AP9x on the kessil. Are you planning on any invertebrates or fish only? If you’re going reef I think you could probably do with some more rock. Your proposed bio load is pretty heavy as well so more biological filtration is your friend.

For the royal gramma and mandarins, I think you’ll want to take special care to ensure they are male and female pairs to avoid fighting. Also be sure to add the mandarins later on after you have established a solid microfauna/copepod population for food supply.

Chalk bass, that’s not one I see often! I’ve read they are deep water species (relatively, compared to many other reef fish folks tend to keep) so be careful to acclimate him with dimmer lighting at first so the kessils don’t scare the bejesus out of him

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Hello! After over analyzing every aspect of the hobby that I could find for the past 5+ months, I have my first saltwater aquarium two weeks into the cycle. I'm super excited at the prospect of moving to the next stage and begin populating my reef, which I'm calling Helm's Deep, but I'm a bit of a loss on how to progress.

I spent a lot of time trying to find a tank that fit my available space and settled on the Red Sea Reefer Peninsula 350 G2+ because it fit into the space lengthwise, and it was a full 24+" wide and tall. The pictures show why I needed the peninsula.

Equipment

Red Sea ReefRun DC 7000 Return
Red Sea ReefWave 25
Red Sea ReefWave 45
Red Sea Reefer DC 600 Skimmer
Red Sea ATO+
2x Kessil 360X Tuna Blue
IceCap Battery Backup V3
BRS 300W Titanium Heater w/ Helio Controller

Stock Wishlist
I'm currently working on a stock list, but I'm limited in my option as I'm going with captive bred livestock where possible. This is what I'm considering, while trying to consider compatibility and addition order. For example, I was looking at a goby/pistol shrimp combination but now I don't think so given the shrimp's ability to stun/kill it's tankmates. With that in mind, here's my initial, tentative list in possible add order:

2x Court Jester Gobies
1x Forktail/Striped Blenny

2x Darwin Clownfish
2x Royal Gramma

1x Coral Beauty
1x Chalk Bass

2x Blue Mandarin

1x Yellow Tang

3x Azure Damselfish

At this point in my reefing career, I don't know if this list is realistic. I realize that I have a mix of semi-aggressive and peaceful fish, so this is obviously subject to change.

Great setup so far!

 

[Homestarmy]

Nice setup, I have a reefer 350 as well but not the peninsula. I went AP9x on the kessil. Are you planning on any invertebrates or fish only? If you’re going reef I think you could probably do with some more rock. Your proposed bio load is pretty heavy as well so more biological filtration is your friend.

For the royal gramma and mandarins, I think you’ll want to take special care to ensure they are male and female pairs to avoid fighting. Also be sure to add the mandarins later on after you have established a solid microfauna/copepod population for food supply.

Chalk bass, that’s not one I see often! I’ve read they are deep water species (relatively, compared to many other reef fish folks tend to keep) so be careful to acclimate him with dimmer lighting at first so the kessils don’t scare the bejesus out of him

Thanks for the input! I was wondering if there’s enough rock; I was trying to keep some the shadows down because I do want to have coral and inverts. As for the fish count and make-up, that’s definitely a work in progress as I bounce back and forth on how I want to stock it daily. I do have some ceramic media in the sump and am thinking about adding some rock there as well, although it is a smaller sump and I would like to add a refugium at some point.

 

[tzabor10]

Looks nice. I added too much rock and regretted it. Might want to reconsider the fish. My royal gramma is very territorial and have never seen 2 together. My tank has a coral beauty and clown that fight constantly. You could have better luck though. Can’t wait to see it with corals.

 

[Homestarmy]

Looks nice. I added too much rock and regretted it. Might want to reconsider the fish. My royal gramma is very territorial and have never seen 2 together. My tank has a coral beauty and clown that fight constantly. You could have better luck though. Can’t wait to see it with corals.

Thanks! The fish list is most definitely not written in stone! At first I thought I’d be able to map out my stock list with certainty, but now I’m beginning to realize that stocking a tank is a finesse game and, while having an idea of what I want to stock, I need to be flexible based on what I have in my tank and what’s available.

 

[Homestarmy]

So, what a difference six months and reality makes. Here's the Stock Wishlist I posted back in September:

2x Court Jester Gobies
1x Forktail/Striped Blenny

2x Darwin Clownfish
2x Royal Gramma

1x Coral Beauty
1x Chalk Bass

2x Blue Mandarin

1x Yellow Tang

3x Azure Damselfish

Of that list, I have the Chalk Bass and a Green Mandarin.

Here's the actual Stock List as it currently stands

2x Firefish
3x Pajama Cardinals
1x Chalk Bass
1x Six Stripe Wrasse
1x Two Spotted Bristletooth Tang
1x Green Mandarin
1x Hi Fin Rend Banded Goby
1x Randall's Pistol Shrimp (paired with the goby)
1x Blood Red Fire Shrimp
1x Pincushion Sea Urchin
a variety of snails (Nassarius, Trubo, Astrea, Cerith), & a couple of Conchs

I also have a small Zoa colony and a Mushroom coral as I start working towards adding more coral.

The Firefish were one of my first purchases, and a very naive buy at that. Didn't realize they were conspecific and took my LFS at its word that there would be no issues. They were great for the first 4 months, then the fireworks started. They seem to have come to an arrangement and split the tank, although the dominate fish does foray daily into the other's territory.