new tank pics- finally

Okay, so I suck at taking digital pics. This tank is only about a month old with 3 green chromis, a fromia star, 10 hermits, couple snails, and a kenya tree frag. Some of the crabs, the starfish, and a kenya tree frag came from a 5 gallon hex that I took down. The acrylic rod across the top keeps the plumbing from falling into the water. I am going to make a nice stand and canopy soon with jfinch's help and the plumbing will fasten to it. I have a SCWD on this tank so I wanted the water to come at the corals from the front corners rather than reflecting off the glass. I have 3" of Carib-Sea Seafloor and about 35lb of live rock in the tank. I left quite a bit of open room for corals to grow out and for fish to swim above the corals. Ryan Williams built the overflow for me and Jon Finch let me use his diamond bit to drill the bottom. Thanks to both of you! This tank is a 25 gallon with a 10 gallon sump/refugia. I used Aquarium Silicone from the paint dept. at Home Depot for the overflow and the refugia. It seems to hold very well. I filled the overflow up with bio-balls to help with noise. I also made a cover for the overflow for looks and noise. A lot of work went into this little tank but when its done, it'll be awesome! I only plan on putting sps and some lps in it. I plan on getting a double ended 250 watt Aqualine Busch 10000 K halide and 2 18" VHO actinics for it. I have a DYI skimmer that Ryan Williams made for me and as you can see, its working like a champ. I have a RIO 17HF for a main pump, that I am thinking about replacing with either a Dolphin or a Mag. I have a 50 watt heater in my refugia because its too big to fit in my sump. I have a DYI top-off that Jon Finch made for me a long time ago. You can see the float switch from one of the pics. Right now, I am using two 55 watt PC's with a Workhorse 7 ballast and some DYI endcaps. Its pretty ghetto looking right now, but it'll improve in the future. Thanks!

Edited by Marcus

This is my cluster f*** of wires and my sump. When I get my stand built, it will look cleaner.

More sump and skimmer pics.

The float switch that Jon made. Thanks jfinch!!

The complete pic as is sits now. I can't wait to get this mess cleaned up!

Looks good to me too Marcus!

I was wondering your reasoning for wanting "the water to come at the corals from the front corners rather than reflecting off the glass."?  And, what kind of light do you have on the refugium?

 

rstruhs, I have a home depot screw-in 8 watt UV bulb that is supposed to be 6500 K. I haven't seen them at Home Depot for over a year. They used to be in a blue plastic package rather than in a green one.

Marcus, how long have you been using your SCWD (squid)?  I recently found one from Foster Smith (They said they were a new item) and was thinking about getting one.  Obviously you must like it!

I have only had it for about a week or so. I got it for x-mas. I like it so far.

he forgot to mention the gift giver....