Reefer Peninsula 500 and Red Sea Ecosystem

[benmed]

Removed the filter sock holders and baffles and got the sump layout figured out. I couldn't get the layout I initially wanted without losing the quick filter change feature of the ReefMat and keeping the reservoir. So I went with Red Sea suggested placement for left side door which still worked out. The extra sump space will be filled with Marine pure bio cubes.

I am thinking I could drill the reservoir to convert to a refugium like I have in my 250. I think this may work out better since I'm planning on having sand with macro algae. And, I thought it could be ideal as an isolation tank or even hospital in a pinch since it is a lot bigger than in the 250.

I also got the cabinet lighting installed and liking the way it works. I believe it's is an optical sensor so it's electrical so there's no clicking when it switches on/off. It also plugs right into the under cabinet lighting I got so no wire splicing. I added a master mechanical on/off switch to bypass the sensors completely.

Thinking I will put the tank on and start water leak tests before going any further. Suction cups should be here on Sunday.

Let me know what you guys think so far. Any tips at this stage or if I'm doing something out of order.

I had a similar problem placing the reefmat 1200. Instead of hanging, I used the legs they provided and it gave me the clearance I needed. Looks like you have a solution, but in case you want to try something else.

 

[Chee-tomorpha]

I had a similar problem placing the reefmat 1200. Instead of hanging, I used the legs they provided and it gave me the clearance I needed. Looks like you have a solution, but in case you want to try something else.

Before ending with Red Sea's recommendation, I tried the legs and a few different layouts. I'm good with it now since I can do something with the converted reservoir as a refugium. I just can't find any macro to start it except Ulva sea lettuce.

 

[nmaragh18]

I made them from spare computer parts.

The fans I used are Artic P12 PWM static pressure fans that I had laying around from old PC builds. You could use just about any CPU fan you have around. Probably would do better with case fans to move more air. I got the Artic fans off Amazon.

I plugged them into the USB ports of my Hydros Power Strip. The USB cable is an old USB cable that I cut following the video below. You can find premade ones on Amazon as well.

Thank you

 

[Chee-tomorpha]

Day 33 update, 10 days after Reef Mature Program ended:

I've continued dosing my daily doses but now through the ReefDose doser. It is close to the complete look of the pull out panel. I was finally able to get the utility basket and finish the panel.

15ml NOPOX (spread across 24 hours)
18ml KH Coraline Grow (spread during lights on, from 9am to 6pm, in 9 doses. Trying to see if it helps stabilize pH throughout the day)

Took some parameters to check on how things are going. It appears some parameters are going down. Still hard to discern the colors though.

Understandably, I didn't use live rock per the program but I had hoped it had some impact on cycling. 10 days after the program ended and still, not much has moved. I'm happy things look like they're going in the right direction. Not so much with the Reef Mature Program. Hoping I can transfer the fish from my 250 before the end of August.

Temp 79.2
pH 8.19
KH 9.8
Ammonia 0.1
Nitrite 1+
Nitrate 25-50
Ca 320
Mg 1440

 

[alabella1]

How are the rocks doing? How long have they been in there for? I'm just bleaching my rocks now and will begin building this week and like the sound of sealing the tops of the rocks to prevent gha if it helps!

 

[Chee-tomorpha]

How are the rocks doing? How long have they been in there for? I'm just bleaching my rocks now and will begin building this week and like the sound of sealing the tops of the rocks to prevent gha if it helps!

Cool!

My sealed dry rocks are still bone white and show no algae growth. They have been wet since July 24th. My reefer 250 was where I got the idea from, and the glued sections have yet to get any algae. They're growing clean purple coralline. I'm hoping with this build, coralline grows all over the rocks since I've used glue on all surfaces.

Here are some quick shots of the tank just now. It's a bit cloudy as I applied some Coral Snow last night. I think is just the glass that needs cleaning but I'm leaving it so the film helps grow bacteria.





And the 250. The two sections circled are the areas where I used heavy glue to bond. It's these sections and others throughout the scape that made me try gluing every surface. These sections were clean throughout the tanks ugly phase and have developed the purple coralline. I have some red, green, brown coralline elsewhere but these sections are pure purple. Hard to tell in the photo but I'm excited to see what the experiment results will be in the peninsula. The gyres in the 250 are caked again so I will be using it to seed the peninsula again soon.

 

[Chee-tomorpha]

Day 37 update, 14 days after Reef Mature Program ended:

I found out about Coral Snow in another thread and had dosed it into the tank yesterday, and was curious if it may have help remove some dissolved solids as the Coral Snow was good at clearing up your water by binding to them to allow your skimmer/floss to remove them. My tank seemed cloudy due to a think coat of the Coral Snow on the glass and to my surprise the parameters changed a lot! I had to take my test vials outside to be completely sure what I was seeing lol.

I don't know if the Coral Snow had done it or if the Reef Mature bacteria finally caught up but I'm glad things are getting close. If parameters continue to drop I think I may be able to move the fish over by end of August as planned.

Parameters:
pH 8.27
KH 10.4
Ammonia 0-0.1
Nitrite 0.75-1 (huge drop)
Nitrate 5-10 (huge drop)
Ca 400 (been dosing extra calcium)
Mg 1440

 

[radreef02]

Very clean. Following along as I’m doing this build later this year

Do you find Reefwave 45 is too much for the 4ft or is the 25 not enough.

 

[Chee-tomorpha]

Very clean. Following along as I’m doing this build later this year

Do you find Reefwave 45 is too much for the 4ft or is the 25 not enough.

I have two in the DT and them at 60% max during a few scheduled intervals. I mainly run them in random so if they were to be constant at that power it would definitely blow around sand - I have fine sand.

I find them quieter than the maxspect gyres I used in my 250 but miss some of the hard buttons they had. It's not too big of a deal since, once set, I barely ever touch it again. The ReefLink software is pretty sweet, but settings are slow and not instant. That's mainly why I missed the hard buttons.

All that said I think the 45s are a good fit for a 4ft tank. I think they will have the capacity to grow with the tank. As I add coral and the corals grow I will have room to increase flow because of the bigger size.

 

[Chee-tomorpha]

Update! I decided to move the fish this past Sunday. I figured parameters are decent for fish only for now. Was a tough task, pretty much tore the 250 to clear enough space to catch the fishes. Broke a couple acro tips about all accounted for, fish and corals, and all is doing well since the move.

Will grab parameters tomorrow or sometime this week. Kids are back in session so won't have time like it used to be. It would be interesting to see what the parameters are at.

 

[Chee-tomorpha]

Been a while and yet there's nothing really new to report. Fish has been in the tank for over a month now I think.

The sealed rocks are still bone white. Although I have not seen any algae growth on them, I haven't seen any coralline either - bummer. I had a bacteria bloom about week two after fish intro and currently have a small cyano patch growing in the front corner that grows and shrinks around the light schedule. Aside from that there's been nothing big occuring.

The sealed dry rock experiment isn't going the way I had wanted, to grow coralline like crazy. It did prove that sealing your rocks can prevent algae growth though. It'll be interesting if the method could be applied to help bare bottom tanks. For example, seal some PVC sheets with super glue to help keep your bare bottom clean.

The fish are doing great, pods have grown a decent population, and parameters are looking good to start trying some LPS. Maybe the next update will include some corals.

 

[Chee-tomorpha]

I'm on the fence about the latest development of my P500. For the longest time it seemed so sterile and lifeless (aside from the fish of course). But today I have this!?



The diano, I think, has started spreading like wild fire. It's gotten All over the sealed dry rocks now. Hard to see in pictures but my bone white rocks are no longer bone white.

All those shells WERE my cleanup crew. They arrived Tuesday cold and lifeless. They were meant to handle the incoming ugly phase that I have been waiting for. However, they didn't make it through shipping. I had removed the deceased ones and cleaned them as much as I could and threw the shells back in for the hermits.

But it appears more have died since then and are polluting the water as I'm getting what looks to be another bacteria bloom. It didn't help that my ReefMat was empty as well. I missed the notification from a couple days ago.

On a positive note I found out why that corner with all the growth is the way it is. I saw my Tomini Tang hover and took a #2 there - explains everything. It also flow too I think . It's something to keep in mind, maybe a good spot for a heavy nitrate loving coral.

 

[Chee-tomorpha]

Anyways I had planned to put more fish intro the tank. I have been searching for a black leopard Wrasse for the longest time. I found one online and ordered it with a Wheeler's Shrimp Goby, a Two Spot Blenny, and the cleanup crew of snails and hermits. However they all didn't make it past delivery. All 3 fish were DOA and the inverts did fair any better. Even after the 3 hour temp acclimation and then another 3 hours of drip acclimation. I only can see/count 2 hermits and 4 or 5 Astrea snails still moving/scavenging.

It's a bummer. I was really excited for the Wrasse. Love the black and white contrast.






I put in a different order from an affiliate site. I got a powder brown Tang, yasha gobi, some more snails and crabs, another Wheeler's gobie, another two spot Blenny, a six line Wrasse, and an African flame back angel. Love a community of fish, I hope the tangs get along though.

I'm thinking the six line, yasha, and two spot would go into my R250 though. It's getting some algae growth since there's no fish in there to care for it anymore. But still on the fence about it.

 

[alabella1]

Anyways I had planned to put more fish intro the tank. I have been searching for a black leopard Wrasse for the longest time. I found one online and ordered it with a Wheeler's Shrimp Goby, a Two Spot Blenny, and the cleanup crew of snails and hermits. However they all didn't make it past delivery. All 3 fish were DOA and the inverts did fair any better. Even after the 3 hour temp acclimation and then another 3 hours of drip acclimation. I only can see/count 2 hermits and 4 or 5 Astrea snails still moving/scavenging.

It's a bummer. I was really excited for the Wrasse. Love the black and white contrast.






I put in a different order from an affiliate site. I got a powder brown Tang, yasha gobi, some more snails and crabs, another Wheeler's gobie, another two spot Blenny, a six line Wrasse, and an African flame back angel. Love a community of fish, I hope the tangs get along though.

I'm thinking the six line, yasha, and two spot would go into my R250 though. It's getting some algae growth since there's no fish in there to care for it anymore. But still on the fence about it.

I finally did my rocks this weekend with the @Gluemasters glue and the crushed marco rock. Everything seems to be holding together very well. After reading your post I'm on the fence as to whether or not I want to seal the tops of the rocks. I want to prevent the green algae, but I do want to grow the coralline. Maybe I'll just put them in as is for now and see how it goes. I'm fallow due to a recent ich outbreak so I'm gonna get the new rocks in there and cycling. I have had the lights off since I setup the tank in June. I'm doing all I can to set this tank up for success and avoid whatever uglies I can!

 

[alabella1]

Check out my build thread to see my journey so far since June.

Build Thread - Aquavim 150 Gallon Corner Tank

Well, after a little over a year I have outgrown my RSM250. I changed out the T5 lights for a Steve's LED hood retrofit. I upgraded to a Tunze 9004 DC skimmer and added 2x ecotech MP40s. I have a wifi inkbird to control my heater and chiller. On to bigger and better things! My LFS happened...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[TigerReef]

@Chee-tomorpha, apologies If I missed this in your post, but do you have a link or name for the under-cabinet lights you used in your sump area?

 

[Chee-tomorpha]

I finally did my rocks this weekend with the @Gluemasters glue and the crushed marco rock. Everything seems to be holding together very well. After reading your post I'm on the fence as to whether or not I want to seal the tops of the rocks. I want to prevent the green algae, but I do want to grow the coralline. Maybe I'll just put them in as is for now and see how it goes. I'm fallow due to a recent ich outbreak so I'm gonna get the new rocks in there and cycling. I have had the lights off since I setup the tank in June. I'm doing all I can to set this tank up for success and avoid whatever uglies I can!

At this point in my experiment I would like only recommend to seal your dry rock if you DO NOT want algae or coralline. Since it has not grown anything I am hesitant to recommend it if you want coralline.

I am more curious about what caused the excellerated coralline growth in my R250 though. Maybe it's not the glue but the crushed dry rock used on the joints. It may be due to the fine particles on the surface that created better attachment by coralline? May have to give that a shot when I tear down my 20g freshwater and convert it to a mini reef.

 

[Chee-tomorpha]

@Chee-tomorpha, apologies If I missed this in your post, but do you have a link or name for the under-cabinet lights you used in your sump area?

Sure thing.

These are the electrical sensors I used to toggle lights on/off

Litever 12-24VDC Door Open Switch...


This is the kit I got but there are smaller ones if your cabinet is smaller.

Litever Kitchen Under Cabinet LED...


You may need these splitters if your planning on doing left/right side lights like how I did mine. I used one to split power to each door switch which powered 3 light bars each for each side.

Litever Power Splitter, 2 Way, 1 Female Jack to 2 Male Plugs, 5.5mm x 2.1mm, 1:2, Y Adaptor Copper Cable, for CCTV Camera & LED Strip Lighting Power Supply Connector https://a.co/d/fJjzcOY


Let me know if you have any other questions. This setup has worked great so far.

 

[alabella1]

At this point in my experiment I would like only recommend to seal your dry rock if you DO NOT want algae or coralline. Since it has not grown anything I am hesitant to recommend it if you want coralline.

I am more curious about what caused the excellerated coralline growth in my R250 though. Maybe it's not the glue but the crushed dry rock used on the joints. It may be due to the fine particles on the surface that created better attachment by coralline? May have to give that a shot when I tear down my 20g freshwater and convert it to a mini reef.

So maybe coat the entire surface with the thin glue and then cover that with the crushed rock?

 

[Chee-tomorpha]

Yep, I think that may be the case.

I started a different thread on this topic and there were more experienced individuals in there that explained how the glue may give hydrophobic properties to the rock which may explain them growth patterns I observed. To their credit, the hydrophobic properties did play out but the coralline growth also appears to have been prevented at this point.

I'm still curious if coralline will attach, although I'm getting a feeling that it may not, however this is a new tank with no coralline spores to begin with. Where as the rebuild had coralline spores and a smaller water volume to spread.

I'll continue as-is to see what happens. I had introduced two small plugs with coralline and they have encrusted a little since than. So far no algae is able to take hold except what looks like diano or cyano but even that is slowing down. I believe it was due to me reducing NOPOX dosages. I've adjusted it back to 15ml a day from 9ml.

I hope the two small plugs continue to encrust with coralline and maybe that will fuel more spores to populate the rest of the tank.