Third...no fourth times a charm?? RS Max Nano Peninsula 25

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Hey all,

I'm back for more punishment and maybe some enjoyment this time. I've really strived in the past with smaller tanks and I'm hoping that continues for me here. I've had 180g tanks, 20g tanks and everything in between. My last experience with winning the RS 525XL on here was not positive once operational despite going overboard with controllers and all the goods. My most success has come from simple and consistent and that's what I hope to bring here. So let's get started. This will be a mixed reef with a sand bed and a few fish that I feel contribute to the health of the tank. TBD.

Just ordered today:

RS Max Nano Peninsula 25 w/ white stand
This comes with the RS Light 50w - anyone care to share opinions on this light, I would appreciate it. Future will probably bring an upgrade to an ATI 6 bulb. I've had great results with these.
Gyre Jump 2k to eliminate dead spots. Aquascape will be minimal as I'm aiming for a tree/shelf shape in the middle of the tank and open space surrounding.
tropic marine salt is new to me, but i'm going to give it a run

Much shorter list than my last build which excites me. I have a 4 stage RO/DI unit already, just need some fresh filters. Shipping states 2/16 delivery date for the tank. More pictures and updates to come.

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

What are you stocking in your nano peninsula tanks?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Hey all,

I'm back for more punishment and maybe some enjoyment this time. I've really strived in the past with smaller tanks and I'm hoping that continues for me here. I've had 180g tanks, 20g tanks and everything in between. My last experience with winning the RS 525XL on here was not positive once operational despite going overboard with controllers and all the goods. My most success has come from simple and consistent and that's what I hope to bring here. So let's get started. This will be a mixed reef with a sand bed and a few fish that I feel contribute to the health of the tank. TBD.

Just ordered today:

RS Max Nano Peninsula 25 w/ white stand
This comes with the RS Light 50w - anyone care to share opinions on this light, I would appreciate it. Future will probably bring an upgrade to an ATI 6 bulb. I've had great results with these.
Gyre Jump 2k to eliminate dead spots. Aquascape will be minimal as I'm aiming for a tree/shelf shape in the middle of the tank and open space surrounding.
tropic marine salt is new to me, but i'm going to give it a run

Much shorter list than my last build which excites me. I have a 4 stage RO/DI unit already, just need some fresh filters. Shipping states 2/16 delivery date for the tank. More pictures and updates to come.

Can't wait to see what the build looks like!!

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Received my caribsea shelf life rock and started dabbling. I wasn't aware that every rock would be perfectly flat on one side. Makes for some rather non-natural looking structures unless you put two toghether.

Anyways, I may have gone a little big and used almost the whole 40lbs make a tree like structure.

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Tank has shipped and hopefully will be available on Friday. Hoping to pick it up myself and save it a truck ride.

Ordered a bunch of frozen foods, RODI replacement filters, and test kits yesterday.

Tentative stocking list:
Two Clowns
Lawnmower Blenny
Clown Goby
Sailfin tang (not my first time with one in a 25g setup)
sixline wrasse
1 conch
5 blue leg hermits
5 scarlet hermits
10 bumble bee snails

Still looking into a light upgrade, but I have several months to figure that out. I can't justify the cost of an ecotech at this point. For the cost I'd much prefer an ATI fixture. 24" 6 or 8 bulb. Always had more success with t5.

more to come...

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Tank was supposed to deliver today, but I haven't received a call yet. deja vu as last tank I setup I had to pickup in a blizzard and we have a good storm here last two days. See what happens!

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Tank has arrived!

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Ok... productive lunch break and off camera conference call to complete the tank setup. Some notes on the max nano peninsula...

I didn't have a spot for my heater since the ATO and Skimmer take up basically the whole back compartment. I removed the filter sock and put my heater in there for now. The skimmer is very wobbly as well, I'm not sure I'll even use it yet, which will be much better for adding my filter sock back in. I'd like to hang my gyre higher on the back wall, but the magnet just isn't strong enough. So for now it's a little lower than I'd like.

Otherwise, very easy cabinet build. Have to upgrade my RODI unit and start making water. More pics to follow.

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Okay, we're 16 hours into the tank being setup. Water was up to temp so I added my salt this morning. After testing that I was at the right level I added the following:

30ml MicrobacterStart XLM
1floz Turbo Start 900
25ml Algae Barn Nitrocycle
2ml Vibrant
1 vial aquavital bactosprint

Should be a good diverse bacteria start.

Working on some clownfish, but no LFS and my last remote day until next week being tomorrow. May have to wait.

Light was on just for pics.

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Feel like the Ph test was off. I'm using Tropic Marine but will more than likely switch to the RS Blue bucket prior to corals. Anyone else do this?

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Still waiting for ammonia to drop. I had a .08 after it was blue, but we are back to blue this morning. Will test again in the evening as i'm a bit confused why it spiked again. The microbacter start was used to finish; only nitrocycle from algae barn going in. I have microbacter7 in route.

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

so both ammonia and nitrate are too high to even read with the Red Sea kits... i have hanna in route for nitrate, but can't figure out why it looked like it was on its way and then spike again... i'm fishless, added the bacteria listed above and no food to the tank

 

[Ryebreadiest]

For what it’s worth, some of the bacteria products you used have pretty specific instructions. Microbacter XLM for example says very explicitly to not use any other bacteria products while cycling with XLM and that doing so may result in a much longer cycle. I know it seems counterintuitive, and that more sources of bacteria should be a good thing, but you may have set yourself back a bit.

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Somehow I missed that part on the bottle. Luckily i must've had a bad reading because i'm around 1.2 ammonia today. Waiting on Nitrite and Nitrate results.

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

All cycled. WC this weekend and fish on order.

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Okay, not sure cycled.

Nitrate - 75 on hanna
Nitrite - .2 Red Sea
Ammonia - 0 Red Sea

This is after a 40% water change. Not sure where all the nitrate is coming from. Nothing in the tank, no lights on, nothing added to the tank besides the bacs mentioned above.

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Tested my RODI water and it returned 0 nitrate. I suppose another WC is in order and try to find the source of this.

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Just needed to be patient. We're cycled. Lights are still out while I plan fish.

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Been a little while since I posted.

I picked up two clowns and they are doing nicely in their new home. Test results below. I still can't figure out the nitrates. But I may have. There was a label on the inside of the tank when I got it. I thought I removed it all but there appears to be some remaining remenants. I'm going to try and get that out in one piece and hope that it helps? Picture to follow.

Salinity - 35.5
pH - 8
Alk - 7.6
Calcium - 520
Phos - .05
Nitrate - 75+
Ammonia - 0

I still need to find a heater that will fit under the skimmer (which is probably going because it's too loud).

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Tank is going well. Two clowns, lawnmower blenny and clown goby making home so far.

First corals went in today. SBB Gold Nugget, SBB Heart Attack, SBB Mystery and SBB (cant remember ). PE immediately.

What I've tested and dosed below: