The Life of a Military Reefer (150 Peninsula tank)

[Mrtakeoff53]

Hi R2R community! I’ve always wanted to do a build thread but never have found the time when I was starting up a tank. I thought now would be a good time, but will be starting it in an atypical place for an atypical reason.

I’m in the military have have been for over 14 years. I move every 3-5 years and typically bring my tank with me. However, life during military moved is insane. There are movers, long waits between leaving one house and getting into your new one, getting your stuff from the movers and settling into a new job. Needless to say taking any livestock with you is next to impossible. This past weekend , I sold ALL my livestock in my 50 gal cube tank. It was my 8th tank and by far my best one yet. Every tank gets better since I have the chance to start over, learns from mistakes, take breaks from the hobby and refresh. The downsides are that about the time the tank looks awesome, it’s time to go. Here is my 50 cube when I sold it off.

I was bummed to let it all go but it went to a good home.

Now I’m starting the process of planning the next one. I got some dead, dry rock from my buyer and filled my current tank with it. It’s nice rock with amazing shapes. I’m excited about it.

The plan is to age the rock so when I set up my new one in a year, the rock will be live and ready to go. I was able to save about 15 lbs of rock from my old tank to seed the new dry rock. I’m excited to watch it get covered in corral one algae. The ugly stage is already settling in on the new rock but hopefully it’ll pass more quickly. I bought 2 converted Molly’s (yes, the freshwater fish) to keep the cycle going. They are crazy hardy fish and should do well during the move. We’ll see how well I keep it all alive.

My plan is to set up a 150 peninsula tank at my new place in San Antonio. Looking at Waterbox tanks right. If you have any insights into them, let me know!

I’m still debating lights, pumps, sumps, skimmers for the new system. I’ll be bringing over my Apex, dosing pumps, ATO and GFO from the old tank but that’s about it. Everything else will be new/ gently used.

I’ll update this thread as I go. We’ll see how it turns out a year or two from now. Happy reefing!!

 

[mmw64]

Hi R2R community! I’ve always wanted to do a build thread but never have found the time when I was starting up a tank. I thought now would be a good time, but will be starting it in an atypical place for an atypical reason.

I’m in the military have have been for over 14 years. I move every 3-5 years and typically bring my tank with me. However, life during military moved is insane. There are movers, long waits between leaving one house and getting into your new one, getting your stuff from the movers and settling into a new job. Needless to say taking any livestock with you is next to impossible. This past weekend , I sold ALL my livestock in my 50 gal cube tank. It was my 8th tank and by far my best one yet. Every tank gets better since I have the chance to start over, learns from mistakes, take breaks from the hobby and refresh. The downsides are that about the time the tank looks awesome, it’s time to go. Here is my 50 cube when I sold it off.

I was bummed to let it all go but it went to a good home.

Now I’m starting the process of planning the next one. I got some dead, dry rock from my buyer and filled my current tank with it. It’s nice rock with amazing shapes. I’m excited about it.

The plan is to age the rock so when I set up my new one in a year, the rock will be live and ready to go. I was able to save about 15 lbs of rock from my old tank to seed the new dry rock. I’m excited to watch it get covered in corral one algae. The ugly stage is already settling in on the new rock but hopefully it’ll pass more quickly. I bought 2 converted Molly’s (yes, the freshwater fish) to keep the cycle going. They are crazy hardy fish and should do well during the move. We’ll see how well I keep it all alive.

My plan is to set up a 150 peninsula tank at my new place in San Antonio. Looking at Waterbox tanks right. If you have any insights into them, let me know!

I’m still debating lights, pumps, sumps, skimmers for the new system. I’ll be bringing over my Apex, dosing pumps, ATO and GFO from the old tank but that’s about it. Everything else will be new/ gently used.

I’ll update this thread as I go. We’ll see how it turns out a year or two from now. Happy reefing!!

Beautiful tank. Thanks for your service.

 

[Mrtakeoff53]

We’ll it’s on to the next phase of the journey. I broke down my tank and have my rock sitting on the stand in a tub. I have a light, skimmer, pump and a heater in there still, all still connected to my APEX. I feel likes it’s a tank on life support after major surgery! Haha!

The next step is to clean out the cabinet below and move everything down where the sump used to be so it’s not such an eyesore in the living room. I think my wife about had a heart attack when I showed her what I did. I knew immediately my current set-up was not going to stay up there until the move. She gave me one of ‘those looks’.

The rock is going through the ugly stage now. Hopefully it’ll be nice and covered with coralline algae in 9-12 months when the new tank finally gets set-up. We shall see. Playing the long game now to minimize the ugly stage later. It’ll be fun seeing how the rock goes from stark white to brown to purple. Happy reefing!

 

[Cwentz758]

You down there yelling at trainees in BMT?? Looking forward to the new build.

 

[Mrtakeoff53]

Haha, not quite. I’ll be flying T-6’s at Randolph. I’m excited for the new build too! Already planning it out. Not sure what lights I’m going to go with for a 60” long tank. Any suggestions? I had a Reefbreeders V2+ on my last tank. I really liked it but left a few things to be desired

 

[Cwentz758]

Haha, not quite. I’ll be flying T-6’s at Randolph. I’m excited for the new build too! Already planning it out. Not sure what lights I’m going to go with for a 60” long tank. Any suggestions? I had a Reefbreeders V2+ on my last tank. I really liked it but left a few things to be desired

Nice. I was a C130 Loadmaster and now a C17 load. Looking forward to flying the T6 hopefully in the next two years or so.

As for lights I personally like a minimalist look over the tank so I’m running two XR15s on my 48” tank.

Depending on what you like the T5 hybrid seems to be the most bang for the buck though.

 

[Mrtakeoff53]

I was leaning to the XR 15’s (3-4 of them) myself. I was also interested in the new Neptune Sky’s but I’ll have to wait and see how the reviews turn out on it.

 

[Mrtakeoff53]

It’s been a little while since my last update so here it goes.

I ended up moving the tub down below where my sump used to be. The boss lady took on look at it up top, gave me ‘The Look’ and shook her head. Down it goes!

I had just a heater, ATO, wave maker and skimmer on there with a small fish to keep the nitrogen cycle going. I also got a cheap light and mounted it so the coraline algae would live and ‘The uglies’ could start now, rather than later. It was all going well until Sunday.

I noticed the breaker to the living room had been tripped. I reset it and when to check on the likely cause, the ‘tank’. Sure enough, it smelled like burning electrical. I traced it to the skimmer that wasn’t operating properly. The pump went bad. Additionally, the skimmer cup broke at the exact same time so the whole thing went in the trash. I’ll just up my water changes and let the rock take care of the rest.

The coralline algae has started growing all over and the dead rock is looking better by the day. When all is said and done, I think I’ll have some well seasoned live rock come June! It seems that even a small amount of my old tank rock has really seeded it well. The uglies aren’t too bad in there and it’s coming along nicely.

I also pulled the trigger in some gently used XR-15 Gen 5 blue lights (x2) with mounting arms and brackets and a pair of like-new MP40s for flow. I’ll need to obtain one more XR-15 for the planned 5’ wide tank but there is no rush. We’ll see how the MP40’s do for flow on the tank when I get it. I’m assuming I may need one on the far end of the tank but we’ll see one everything is up and running in a few months.

 

[Mrtakeoff53]

The move to TX is complete and I think my rock and CUC survived the trip. I have my box of rocks set back up and connected to my APEX and it’s running smoothly again. The coralline algae continues to grow on the rocks and the CUC is keeping it fairly clean. I even saw a snail laying eggs on a pump today! That was fun. I hit up a LFS and bought my first coral to see if I could keep it alive and get some growth out of it. It’s a pretty zoa that I hope does well.

We are considering a house build in this crazy housing market to get what we want. Maybe I can swing a fish room into the design. Haha. Dreaming for sure.

Anyways, the rock is cooking well and life continues to progress in my box of rocks!

 

[Mrtakeoff53]

Things have been coming along nicely with the tank build. I decided to go with a Glasscages 60”x24”x22” tall tank. It’s not a peninsula like I had hoped, but I love the dimensions nonetheless. I should get the tank in a few weeks.

Before the tank arrives, I decided to build the stand for it. It’s 72”x33”x36” tall. It’s built with a 40” wide double door opening in front and a 27” side door opening for easy access to the side of the sump/RO topoff water. It has dual 2x4’s to support the tank just under the 3/4” plywood top and all are supported by dual 2x4’s going straight into the floor. I also built the floor of the stand flat on the floor of the house. I did that to help with and leaks that may occur and contain them in the stand.

I was also able to pick up my last XR15 Blue light for the tank so my lightning is complete.

My live rock is doing well cooking away. I added an XR 15 over the rock and the coralline algae is taking off! Most of the rock is covered with it now. It’s maturing nicely and I’ll hopefully be able to skip most of the ugly stages!

I ended up getting a Trigger Systems Saphire 39 sump and a Bubble Magus Curve 7 Elite protein skimmer. I went back and forth a ton on what sump and skimmer to get. I felt this was a good balance between cost and performance for me. Hopefully it works out!

Finally, I started to build my aquascape. I broke up some Marco dry rock and use superglue and rock powder to build the aquascape. The fun part was my kids did the rock designing, I just glued it all together. It was a great little afternoon project. They are excited to add it to the tank and put their corals on it.

Hopefully by the next update I’ll have a tank, a painted stand and water in it!

 

[Mrtakeoff53]

The tank stand is painted and ready for the tank! I can’t wait for the tank to show up!
Also, thanks to my beautiful wife for helping me get it from the shop to the house. We only gouged up one wall

 

[Mrtakeoff53]

The tank is finally here, installed, filled with water and aquascaped. It’s been a journey but we are finally ready for some fish and corals! The rock is still very much alive with all kids of pods, crabs, snails and coralline algae. It’s nice starting out with quality live rock!

Here is my fish stock list. Eventually I’ll get them all in the tank but starting simple to begin with!

• Blue hippo tang
• Bristletooth tang
• Naso tang
• Clownfish pair
• Yellow coris wrasse
• Royal Gramma
• 6-10 Green chromis
• Cleaner Wrasse
• Blue throat trigger
• Lyretail Anthia

 

[trevorhiller]

Just curious how you are enjoying your tank? I saw you were previously considering a 60x30x20 tank but went with the 60x24x22. I'm building an equipment room currently and planning on a 60x30x20.

What made you change your mind on the dimensions? Any regrets or feedback about GlassCages? That's who I'm looking to use for the tank itself.

Thanks in advance if you have time to share feedback!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Any updates on your tank?

 

[Mrtakeoff53]

Just curious how you are enjoying your tank? I saw you were previously considering a 60x30x20 tank but went with the 60x24x22. I'm building an equipment room currently and planning on a 60x30x20.

What made you change your mind on the dimensions? Any regrets or feedback about GlassCages? That's who I'm looking to use for the tank itself.

Thanks in advance if you have time to share feedback!

I absolutely love my tank. GlassCages was a pleasure to do business with. The tank is awesome and have never had a single problem with it. Do NOT hesitate to reach out to Joe and his team to get your dream tank started!!

The main reason I went with a 24” front-to-back vs a 30” was the lighting. Most lights cover a 24”x24” area. I’d have to add a lot more lights to cover the 30” front to back. It also sticks out quite a bit farther than I wanted for the space it was going in. Finally, it was a lot more expensive to build. Anything in multiples of 24” is pretty standard for tank manufacturers. 30” jumped the price quite a bit.

I also went with 22” tall because I didn’t like the look of 24” tanks. I know it’s only 2” but it makes a difference to me. Additional benefit: I can reach my hand down to the bottom of the tank without a stool or wet shoulder!!

The tank is doing well so far. It’s been wet for about 9 months now. My Zoa corals are finally growing, LPS are mostly doing well. Easy SPS are slowly growing and 90% of my acros are hurting. It’s just not quite ready for acros but it’ll get there eventually. I don’t usually spend too much on a single coral ($50 is expensive in my book) so the losses don’t sting as much. Fish are doing well and fat. I make my own food and they love it!! I’m about to add more fish to the mix, just need a good supplier. My LFS stopped treating them before selling them so I stopped buying them.

I have a Blue Hippo Tang, Green Chrimis, clownfish pair, an Anthia and a Bristletooth tang right now. I had a Powder Brown Tang but he was a bully so I sold him. He lives in a 500 gal tank now!! I had 3 anthias but the PBT was too much for them. I’m down to 1 and she seems happy. The Bristletooth tang is a little punk sometimes but ‘Dory’ keeps him in line.

I just set up a Zoa garden from a R2R member who has a ton of solid zoas for sale. $250 and I got 16 frags! They averaged 10+ polyps per frag too. It was amazing. I hope to pass on the savings when they grow out!!

All in all, it’s been an adventure. Struggled with NO3 and PO4 but got that under control. Now it’s keeping the tank stable and letting things start to grow!

I’ll post some pictures once I find my orange and yellow camera filters. My 4 YO son likes to follow me EVERYWHERE and be my little helper. Every water change he’s right there inspecting every button, light and drop of water . I’m 99% sure he took them and set them down somewhere. I’ll find them eventually and shoot some pics.

Sad thing is that I’m going to have to move in a couple months. Boo. I’ll let you know how that goes. It to a different house in the same neighborhood so it’ll be a quick one. Hopefully everything makes the transfer!!

 

[trevorhiller]

I absolutely love my tank. GlassCages was a pleasure to do business with. The tank is awesome and have never had a single problem with it. Do NOT hesitate to reach out to Joe and his team to get your dream tank started!!

The main reason I went with a 24” front-to-back vs a 30” was the lighting. Most lights cover a 24”x24” area. I’d have to add a lot more lights to cover the 30” front to back. It also sticks out quite a bit farther than I wanted for the space it was going in. Finally, it was a lot more expensive to build. Anything in multiples of 24” is pretty standard for tank manufacturers. 30” jumped the price quite a bit.

I also went with 22” tall because I didn’t like the look of 24” tanks. I know it’s only 2” but it makes a difference to me. Additional benefit: I can reach my hand down to the bottom of the tank without a stool or wet shoulder!!

The tank is doing well so far. It’s been wet for about 9 months now. My Zoa corals are finally growing, LPS are mostly doing well. Easy SPS are slowly growing and 90% of my acros are hurting. It’s just not quite ready for acros but it’ll get there eventually. I don’t usually spend too much on a single coral ($50 is expensive in my book) so the losses don’t sting as much. Fish are doing well and fat. I make my own food and they love it!! I’m about to add more fish to the mix, just need a good supplier. My LFS stopped treating them before selling them so I stopped buying them.

I have a Blue Hippo Tang, Green Chrimis, clownfish pair, an Anthia and a Bristletooth tang right now. I had a Powder Brown Tang but he was a bully so I sold him. He lives in a 500 gal tank now!! I had 3 anthias but the PBT was too much for them. I’m down to 1 and she seems happy. The Bristletooth tang is a little punk sometimes but ‘Dory’ keeps him in line.

I just set up a Zoa garden from a R2R member who has a ton of solid zoas for sale. $250 and I got 16 frags! They averaged 10+ polyps per frag too. It was amazing. I hope to pass on the savings when they grow out!!

All in all, it’s been an adventure. Struggled with NO3 and PO4 but got that under control. Now it’s keeping the tank stable and letting things start to grow!

I’ll post some pictures once I find my orange and yellow camera filters. My 4 YO son likes to follow me EVERYWHERE and be my little helper. Every water change he’s right there inspecting every button, light and drop of water . I’m 99% sure he took them and set them down somewhere. I’ll find them eventually and shoot some pics.

Sad thing is that I’m going to have to move in a couple months. Boo. I’ll let you know how that goes. It to a different house in the same neighborhood so it’ll be a quick one. Hopefully everything makes the transfer!!

Good to know about the Glass Cages feedback, I appreciate that.

I completely understand the depth thing, that's why I am looking for a 20" tall tank too. It's a shame most manufacturers haven't caught on that depth > height = a better reef keeping experience (IMO).

24" is just a little high for my liking. I find "frag" or "lagoon" style tanks much more pleasant to work in but going too shallow I've heard the fish don't behave as naturally. I figured the 20" tall and 30" front to back would be a nice compromise to give the fish some extra swimming room and make the aquascape a little more landscape-like rather than a rock wall. I like the idea of having to change viewing angles to be able to see to the back of the tank since it's going to be in the wall with only one side viewable - a better sense of depth.