Aquascape Advice for New IM Peninsula 14 Nano Reef

[AWiseOne]

Hi all, I am new to reef aquariums and after months of research am finally setting up an IM Nuvo Pro Peninsula 14. My plan is to eventually have a pair of clownfish, some soft corals, and some of the easier to take care of LPS corals. Not all at once, of course!

 

I'm to the aquascaping part and was hoping to get some feedback on my "creation". I used a little over 9.5lbs of Marcorock and plan on using Caribsea Special grade sand for the bottom. Does what I have look reasonable for it's intended use? Any suggestions to improve it? Thanks in advance for any feedback.

  

[AllAboutDatWrasse]

I think it looks nice, and I see lots of places to put corals. 
 

I would consider chipping down the rocks that are closest to the glass, so it’ll be easier to get your hand in there to clean the glass. 

[Xj reefing]

4 hours ago, AllAboutDatWrasse said:

I think it looks nice, and I see lots of places to put corals. 
 

I would consider chipping down the rocks that are closest to the glass, so it’ll be easier to get your hand in there to clean the glass. 

Yeah I found that when I made the mistake of having my rocks to close to the glass algae just built up really thick and then when I broke down the tank it a was a pain to get off even with a razor scraper 

[AWiseOne]

Thanks for the feedback. I think I'll go ahead and chip the corners of the rocks getting close to the glass. Is there a recommended gap? Right now I have about 1" gap between the glass and the rock at the closest points around the edge. Should I have a larger gap than that?

[AWiseOne]

I was considering adding an extra piece of rock to the top like the attached photos. Is that too much rock? Does that make it too tall?

[DaJMasta]

I don't think any of the options you've pictured look bad, but what may look better in the long run is trying to consider what your 'main' corals are going to be and how they're going to grow, and then leaving space in the scape for them to fill in.  If you have a particular large growing soft coral in mind, for example, leaving a space for it to grow into could yield better results in the long term - it's easy to make a rock scape that seems to fit with small frags on it that starts filling a lot of space quickly when things start to grow in.  Also see if you can consider any specific needs for corals - it sounds like your choices so far are relatively tolerant, but LPS with long sweeper tentacles or fish/inverts that prefer certain types of habitat you can make some allowance for in your initial scape.  An example would be if you wanted a euphylia or galaxia or something, having a little island for it away from the scape with the rest of the corals could help give you some buffer to keep those stinging tentacles at a safe distance.

[mcarroll]

7 hours ago, AWiseOne said:

Right now I have about 1" gap between the glass and the rock at the closest points around the edge. Should I have a larger gap than that?

How thick is your algae scraper?  How thick is your hand?

[Jakesaw]

10 hours ago, AWiseOne said:

 Should I have a larger gap than that?

I think generally you want to have some room for tank maintenance if you need to get your hand in there.  They make scrapers with extensions - but I always knock my rocks a bit when removing powerhead for cleaning or scraping down to the sandbed with razor.  

 

Too narrow a gap may reduce fish activity too.  Just depends. 

 

I like a 2" gap around my side and front of walls if I can.  Doesn't mean I'll never violate that rule, but it's a guideline for me.  I can place a low light coral in sand or do some tank maintenance. -- Still learning Myself

 

You should consider types or corals you're interested in too.  some need to be in sandbed / low light.  Some mid range, and some species like high intensity or any type of light. 

 

I have 2 duncan frags.  When I moved one to top of tank, it just got pissed and started retracting and getting thinned out tentacles and was closing one of it's heads. I've got it in sandbed and it's recovering / looking better.  Not sure if I'll get that 2nd head to grow back or not. We'll see

[mcarroll]

13 minutes ago, Jakesaw said:

When I moved one to top of tank, it just got pissed and started retracting and getting thinned out tentacles and was closing one of it's heads. I've got it in sandbed and it's recovering / looking better.  Not sure if I'll get that 2nd head to grow back or not. We'll see

Did that polyp die/shed tissue, or was it like you described and it just closed up?

 

It's hard to imagine a slight difference in lighting (eg moving 5-6 inches up or down) would cause any type of mortality – Duncan's are usually tough as nails and don't mind ANY kind of light.

 

From Sprung's "Corals: A Quick Reference Guide":

 

A great book if you don't yet have a copy.

[Nanoi]

Looking awesome. Like others said I'd plan around growth as well. It looks like you'll have room on the sides and front but not much up top since your water line won't exactly match the edge of the tank. Especially when it comes to lps. But you have room for them in other sections. 

 

I'm coming from freshwater aquascaping and tried to implement some of those ideas into my tank. Here's a link to my Pinterest board if you're looking for balancing tank hardscape. I noticed it's not as as popular in reef tanks. 

 

https://pin.it/7y0ivlt

 

[Jakesaw]

7 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

Did that polyp die/shed tissue, or was it like you described and it just closed up?

 

It's hard to imagine a slight difference in lighting (eg moving 5-6 inches up or down) would cause any type of mortality – Duncan's are usually tough as nails and don't mind ANY kind of light.

 

From Sprung's "Corals: A Quick Reference Guide":

Didn't shed it's  tissue and die.  The tentacles thinned up on both heads and one of them shrunk back ALOT.  They are both alive now on the sandbed and thickening up, though the worse of the two is still quite small compared to the size it started.  I've read sometimes Duncans frags have a head die off and it's not too uncommon.  We'll see. 

 

I've got more coral books than I read coral books.  Not looking to add to collection

[mcarroll]

17 minutes ago, Jakesaw said:

I've got more coral books than I read coral books.  Not looking to add to collection

To paraphrase someone else, there are only two kinds of problems you can have (with reef books)....not having them...or not reading them.  

 

😉😉😉 

 

Would love to see a post on my reef books thread with the books you have...especially any comments you have about them.

[AWiseOne]

Thanks to everyone for their input. I'm already regretting not going with a bigger tank! Even just an extra 6 inches of length would be great.

 

I think I'm going to chip back some of the edges closest to the glass to give a little more clearance and stick with the original layout. My wife eventually wants a hammer or torch, but I think I can dedicate one side of the structure to that while leaving enough open space for less aggressive corals on the other side. Eventually, I'd like to get a rock flower to put down in the sand, but not for about 6 months after I'm up and running. 

[mcarroll]

14 minutes ago, AWiseOne said:

Thanks to everyone for their input. I'm already regretting not going with a bigger tank! Even just an extra 6 inches of length would be great.

There's no better time to go bigger than RIGHT NOW. 😉 🙂

 

[AWiseOne]

2 hours ago, mcarroll said:

There's no better time to go bigger than RIGHT NOW. 😉 🙂

 

I'm sold. Now I just have to convince my wife!