William’s Quarantine peninsula

Wtyson254 · Apr 17, 2020

With social distancing having no foreseeable end in sight, my significant other gave me the green light on a pico/Nano bookshelf build. My Waterbox 70:2 will also appreciate this as I have been messing with it too much as of late. The tank will go where my pico contest tank Was previously. I will also use most of the equipment I used on my pico contest tank.

I have decided on the Lifeguard Aquatics Crystal 7.4 gallon peninsula.

Tank: Lifeguard Aquatics Crystal 7.4 gal peninsula.
Light: Nanobox Tide
Return: Sicce micra
Skimmer: Reef glass Skimmer
Heater: 50w ViaAqua controlled by Inkbird thermostat
Flow: MP10wES
ATO: XP Aqua
Heater: Viaqua 50w
Filter Media: 250ml seachem matrix
Sand: 5lbs live sand
Rock: 3.5 lbs KP Aquatics live rock
Dosing: DIY KALK reactor power by Kamoer X1 doser

Livestock:
mantis shrimp (Neogonodactylus curacaoensis)
Blue Eyed Cardinalfish

Corals/inverts:

SPS: Red planet, Infected green Stag, Red monti cap, green monti cap...

LPS: candycane, orange lepto

Softies: ricordia Yuma, ricordia Florida, red mushroom, orange jawbreaker mushroom, forest fire rhodactis

Anemone: “Black widow” bubble tip anemone, Red mini carpet anemone

ppatches24 · Apr 19, 2020

Lol I have a 75 gallon that same deal. Should just not be played with. So I got a 3.7 gallon Pico peninsula for some mushrooms to play around with.

I've got everything except the light. Are you happy with the nanobox tide? At that price point I may as well get another AI so they can all be on one app though.

Wtyson254 · Apr 19, 2020

The mantis is currently in a small Critter Keeper in my main display tank. The KPA rock is sadly having a full cycle in the Nano. Right now ammonia is around 0.5ppm. I am doing daily water changes on the Nano to keep ammonia at 0.5ppm or below. Hopefully I will be done with the cycle soon. There were two hitchhiker pencil urchins on the live rock which have been moved to my main display tank.

Of the 10lbs of rock I ordered, I have only used about 3-4lbs. I will use one rock in my display and may give another to a friend. If anyone is in the NYC area and wants a rock let me know, I find that fresh live rock is the best way to add biodiversity.

Wtyson254 · Apr 19, 2020

ppatches24 said:
Lol I have a 75 gallon that same deal. Should just not be played with. So I got a 3.7 gallon Pico peninsula for some mushrooms to play around with.

I've got everything except the light. Are you happy with the nanobox tide? At that price point I may as well get another AI so they can all be on one app though.

I love my Nanobox tide, I think the color rendition it provides is much better than the AI lights. However it is only a 30w light and not the most economical. I had this light from a previous build so it didn’t cost me anything to use. I do love the aesthetics of these lights.

Sosuke · Apr 19, 2020

What are you feeding the shrimp?

Wtyson254 · Apr 19, 2020

Sosuke said:
What are you feeding the shrimp?

PE mysis and he has a few hermits in his cage

Wtyson254 · Apr 20, 2020

So I tested the tank again today and ammonia and nitrite are at 0 and nitrate is at 10. I put a test coral (red mushroom) in to see how it does. If everything keeps going well I will likely move the mantis by the end of the week.

I also applied some of the window frosting that I used on the back of tank on my Nanobox tide. Because of the surface agitation I was getting a bit of a disco ball effect. @DaveFason I hope this is ok. The frosting film uses static cling so it’s easy to take off.

Yesterday I used a diamond dremmel bit to widen the overflow grate slats. I’m pretty happy with the result and may not need the MP10 for flow.

Wtyson254 · Apr 20, 2020

What type of corals should I add and how should I add them. I am really digging the minimalist look.

Wtyson254 · Apr 21, 2020

So i decided to break up some of my KPA live rock in order to put some in a friends tank. I found this little buddy....

* I’m debating putting him in my mantis tank.... would there be any concern it could hurt the mantis ? Also it’s likely there is one already in there.

Wtyson254 · Apr 22, 2020

The water has tested perfect for a few days and the test corals I placed on Monday are doing well. I decided to move the mantis Into his new home. He has made a home
in the big rock .

Wtyson254 · Apr 24, 2020

I decided to add the remainder of the photosynthetic gorgonia I bought from KP Aquatic. I also moved the Ricordia on the left rock to the rock on the right.

DeniseAndy · Apr 24, 2020

Looks great. I love picos and nanos. I have only one going right now. I am debating another 5g with only zoas. I think my hubsband would have a heart attack if he noticed.

Wtyson254 · Apr 29, 2020

Everything seems to be doing well. I am
having a mild diatom bloom. The mantis is starting to become much more outgoing, though he is still very difficult to photograph.

Wtyson254 · May 13, 2020

Today I set up my WiFi controllable Inkbird temperature controller on the Nano and set up a DIY Kalk reactor/doser. I was going to run Tropic Marin All-for-Reef on this tank but it was sold out online and I had all of the parts to make the Kalk reactor on hand.

Parts:
Kamoer X1 dosing pump
BRS DIY Kalk drip Kit
watertight container
magnetic Stirer
RODI resavoir
Kalkwasser
here is a picture with it assembled. I’m going to start off dosing 50ml of saturated solution a day and go up from there.

I use the Innovative Marine RODI continaier to feed my FW planted nano, my mantis Nano, and my KALK reactor.

The magnetic stirer is on an amazon smart outlet and comes on for times a day for 15 min. I have each of those time set to be right after a dose, do that there is at least an hour for it to settle.