Biokabe
Valuable Member
Some time ago, feeling like one tank just wasn't enough, I set up a little tank on my kitchen countertop. A Mr. Aqua 7.5g bowfront, with a HOB refugium, a single clownfish. It never quite really played out the way I intended, though - the dimensions were kind of janky on it, maintenance was more difficult than it really should have been, and just all around, it wasn't that nice.
So, with the blessing of my wife (who views that tank as more 'hers' than the Reefer 350), we decided to give her clown, Snowy, some upgraded digs to enjoy a better life and maybe even be able to have some friends in the tank. We finally settled on an IM 20 Peninsula - she liked how it would give nice viewing from both sides, with minimal mess outside of its footprint, and I liked how the larger size would give it a little more stability and more opportunities for aquascaping and corals.
Thankfully, I already had most everything we would need to make the switch... just needed to get an upgraded heater, some more rock for the tank, and of course, the tank itself.
So, a 15-pound selection of rock from KP Aquatics, a new Eheim heater, and an AI Nero 3 for internal flow, and we were off to the races! Finally the time arrived for the switch... and wow, what a difference having everything set up and ready to go makes when trying to do a tank swap. I'd learned my lesson from the move up to my Reefer, so I had plenty of water, plenty of containers, and a complete plan. After taking out the first rock, it was less than two hours before the new tank had assumed its place of honor:
In the old tank, a pair of Kessil A80 fixtures provided the light. In the new tank, the gooseneck mounts don't provide quite enough depth to get to the ends of the tank, and having a pair of them mounted side-by-side on such a narrow tank looks, frankly, stupid. So for now I'm using one of my A160 fixtures to light the tank. Even that doesn't quite provide enough, so I have some 8020 parts coming and I'll make a freestanding light stand to slot around the tank. Once it's all done, I'll likely use a pair of A160s, mounted on the all-angle mounts from Kessil. That should provide plenty of light; my wife prefers the lower-light corals with more movement to them (she especially loves Euphyllia corals), so I don't think light will be an issue once the stand is up and running.
Yesterday, my LFS had its anniversary sale, so I picked up a few new things for the tank. Here's some shots of the current interior... pay no attention to the cans of catfood. Though maybe they add to the decor? =)
So, for fish, there's an ORA Black Snowflake Ocellaris ("Snowy") and a PA Blacker Ice Ocellaris ("Ice Tea"). Open to suggestions for another fish or two... obviously at just 20 gallons, not planning to keep too many fish in there. We've got about 5 trochus snails, a couple nerites snails, and a couple other miscellaneous snails. There's a disabled emerald crab (only one claw at the moment - hoping the second claw will grow back when he molts). And then 3-4 zoa colonies, a pair of rock flower anemones, a duncan, a bicolor hammer, a torch, an acan echinata, a toadstool, a platygyra, a war coral, and some blue clove polyps.
So, with the blessing of my wife (who views that tank as more 'hers' than the Reefer 350), we decided to give her clown, Snowy, some upgraded digs to enjoy a better life and maybe even be able to have some friends in the tank. We finally settled on an IM 20 Peninsula - she liked how it would give nice viewing from both sides, with minimal mess outside of its footprint, and I liked how the larger size would give it a little more stability and more opportunities for aquascaping and corals.
Thankfully, I already had most everything we would need to make the switch... just needed to get an upgraded heater, some more rock for the tank, and of course, the tank itself.
So, a 15-pound selection of rock from KP Aquatics, a new Eheim heater, and an AI Nero 3 for internal flow, and we were off to the races! Finally the time arrived for the switch... and wow, what a difference having everything set up and ready to go makes when trying to do a tank swap. I'd learned my lesson from the move up to my Reefer, so I had plenty of water, plenty of containers, and a complete plan. After taking out the first rock, it was less than two hours before the new tank had assumed its place of honor:
In the old tank, a pair of Kessil A80 fixtures provided the light. In the new tank, the gooseneck mounts don't provide quite enough depth to get to the ends of the tank, and having a pair of them mounted side-by-side on such a narrow tank looks, frankly, stupid. So for now I'm using one of my A160 fixtures to light the tank. Even that doesn't quite provide enough, so I have some 8020 parts coming and I'll make a freestanding light stand to slot around the tank. Once it's all done, I'll likely use a pair of A160s, mounted on the all-angle mounts from Kessil. That should provide plenty of light; my wife prefers the lower-light corals with more movement to them (she especially loves Euphyllia corals), so I don't think light will be an issue once the stand is up and running.
Yesterday, my LFS had its anniversary sale, so I picked up a few new things for the tank. Here's some shots of the current interior... pay no attention to the cans of catfood. Though maybe they add to the decor? =)
So, for fish, there's an ORA Black Snowflake Ocellaris ("Snowy") and a PA Blacker Ice Ocellaris ("Ice Tea"). Open to suggestions for another fish or two... obviously at just 20 gallons, not planning to keep too many fish in there. We've got about 5 trochus snails, a couple nerites snails, and a couple other miscellaneous snails. There's a disabled emerald crab (only one claw at the moment - hoping the second claw will grow back when he molts). And then 3-4 zoa colonies, a pair of rock flower anemones, a duncan, a bicolor hammer, a torch, an acan echinata, a toadstool, a platygyra, a war coral, and some blue clove polyps.
