Opinions on Peninsular tanks ?

[lllesley]

Hi all. Been successfully running a 240 g reef tank for 14months now. We are now considering an upgrade as we are doing some renovations & are considering a 290g 7 foot peninsular. I am worried because the whole concept is foreign to us. I will be coming from a tank with a. Coast to Coast 5.5 foot overflow. & 4 tunze 's (2 either end ). To a 7 foot tank with a 2.5 foot weir and all power heads on one side. ! Urghhh !! I am sure someone on here can offer suggestions with regards to making the change. Any clever suggestions on how to try & copy the rock scape would be very much appreciated too ! Adding no new rock just more swim room for fish ! We love what we have now and are very worried on how to get it back the same. !

 

[ReefPony]

I love the look of a peninsula set up if the room is right for it - they seem to make great, eye catching room dividers.

I've never had one but it seems like the only "hard" part is plumbing the sump since the overflow and return will both be at the same end. Well, that and aquascaping it so that it will look great from both sides (considering I had enough trouble aquascaping mine to look good from one side, that could be a challenge for some).

 

[lllesley]

I love the look of a peninsula set up if the room is right for it - they seem to make great, eye catching room dividers.

I've never had one but it seems like the only "hard" part is plumbing the sump since the overflow and return will both be at the same end. Well, that and aquascaping it so that it will look great from both sides (considering I had enough trouble aquascaping mine to look good from one side, that could be a challenge for some).

Any ideas on how to transfer scape ?and your right challenge is both sides looking nice and having to buy so many more corals to fill it up ! Return plumbing will Run up along underneath the tank and return to the left hand side Sounds good in theory. As the tank is 2 1/2 wide we should hopefully not be to crowded for room.

 

[toothybugs]

Transferring the scape is probably going to be all but impossible - your best shot is great pics for reference, and breaking it down in to sections as you set up. When I re-scaped my 40 I had the top level of rock set aside, arranged left to right, and all the layers way down to the base layer so when I put it back in it was close to what it was. Still wasn't a dead match when it went back up but it wasn't far off.

Of course, a little re-scaping allows you to tweak your setup a little as you may discover the shape of some of your rock may look better on the outside of the pile instead of inside it. That's how I ended up with a couple new fingers sticking out in to my water column.

 

[lllesley]

Transferring the scape is probably going to be all but impossible - your best shot is great pics for reference, and breaking it down in to sections as you set up. When I re-scaped my 40 I had the top level of rock set aside, arranged left to right, and all the layers way down to the base layer so when I put it back in it was close to what it was. Still wasn't a dead match when it went back up but it wasn't far off.

Of course, a little re-scaping allows you to tweak your setup a little as you may discover the shape of some of your rock may look better on the outside of the pile instead of inside it. That's how I ended up with a couple new fingers sticking out in to my water column.

Thank you very much. Advice taken and very much appreciated.

 

[RocketEngineer]

It can all be done from one end: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh6Cz_H8Uhg

In some of my dream designs I've considered having the return travel up past the overflow end and then run down the length of the tank to a single or double outlet at the far end of the tank. Another option is to place two smaller powerheads on the exposed short end with the main powerheads at the overflow end.

 

[Timfish]

You might consider a closed loop with a controller running a DC pump to give you varying currents. This allows you to run just a few turnovers throeugh your sump but still have very high flow rates in your DT if so desired.

 

[lllesley]

You might consider a closed loop with a controller running a DC pump to give you varying currents. This allows you to run just a few turnovers throeugh your sump but still have very high flow rates in your DT if so desired.

Closed loop is something we have looked at but decided against. Although it would work well there can be associated problems with it. Running costs is one and being tied down to a particular scape (hiding pipes) is another.
I have heard mixed reports about it and unfortunately more negative than positive.