Peninsula Reef

[saltwaterwannabe]

I am moving in a few weeks and will be building a much larger peninsula reef style system than my 90 gallon bowfront.  I have ample room and structural strength for the largest tank I have seen on our site and will be adding at least one 100 gallon refuge and a 55 gallon below in a seperate room.  I have been told to build it for Dory and friends, so I am looking at a lot of tangs. That does not mean I am building the largest system:-}  I will be sticking around 300 to 400 gallons max and may go smaller if I an make it function so I can use less salt.  One of the major questions is about the depth of the tank.  I am looking at a minimum 6 foot long tank but am on the fence for a 24, 30, or 36 inch wide tank. If I am able to reasonably stay at 24 inches, I could go with a longer tank.  I am leaning towards 30 or 36 inches in depth so I have ample room for scaping the tank while keeping the rock and coral away from the glass on both sides.  The added width significantly increases the cost and would likely require added lighting.   I would love to hear members' thoughts and experiences in setting up peninsula tanks to see what reasonable minimum width I can go with to avoid the "vertical reef wall" syndrome of my current 90 gallon bowfront while maintaining enough space for ample rock and coral with the see through tank being a focal point of a very large space in the new house.

Pictures are great, but your words of wisdom are greatly appreciated too.  Thanks for your input!

 

[enderg60]

If you are doing a peninsula then do 30"wide minimum.  You will basically have two tanks back to back so give yourself room for depth.  I have a bunch of tangs in my 300g but if thats what you are going for I would look at an 8' tank.  If I did it again I would get a 96x36x28 maybe 120" long if it fit.

I get by on my 36" wide tank with center halides and supplemental LED's(white and blue) down each side to light the overhangs and shaded areas.

Check out my tank threads and you will see how to avoid the wall of produce look.  Easiest way is put minimal rock in the tank and have a HUGE fuge for more rock.

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

Thanks for the input!  Continuing the look for 30 inch wide tanks then.  Unfortunately, budget will restrict me to a 72 inch tank at 30 inches wide unless I can pickup a used system.   I need most of the primary equipment for that size tank, which tends to bust the wallet a bit.

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

I am picking up a 180 with two rear overflows instead of a peninsula for the time in being.  At least this way I will not feel bad buying a few fish that will outgrow my current tank.  In the meantime, I am looking for 30 to 36 inch deep tanks and stands to upgrade and may convert the 180 to a different use later.  I have either picked up or am picking up up most of the major equipment this week, sizing everything for a 300 gallon tank as I buy it.  Today's pickup was 3 XR30 Radion G4's...they look awesome when held over my current tank!  I had no idea how much color I was missing before.

I see the Marineland 300's are at good pricing and am considering one, but I cannot seem to find a good stock stand for one.  I have also asked a few LFS for pricing.  Any ideas on where to pickup a good 300 gallon stand that does not break the bank but makes a centerpiece between a dining room and formal living room look good?

I plan to start a build forum once I actually set the tank and start putting it together.  I have been looking at basement sump room pics to get some more ideas and currently have a few tanks that could make great inline additions to the sump room.  I plan to expand with frag tanks and the works over time, so the initial setup will need plenty of room to grow.  If anyone has a functional basement sump room, I would love to see it.  Once I clean up my current water and "fish" room as my family calls it, I will take some pics.  It turned out well and was a good learning experience to plan for a larger build.

 

[the fish store]

We have several 300 - 1,000 g tanks available in our warehouse.

 

[ricky5415]

I do have a 300 DD marine land stock stand in black color if u r interested. In real good condition

404-421-4670 text

 

[spiderman097]

I would trust anything you buy from Ricky! I got a calcium reactor from him, and it's tuned and perfectly running!