My First Aquarium and DIY Skimmer

I use two t5 retro fits on my tank. I was gonna snap a picture but the bf wants it to be done first lol.

Either way, all the wiring was done its just a matter of putting bulbs in (easy part) and hanging them (the part with all the curse words)

I like the way it looks, but its a little rough around the edges lol
 
Yes, my wife is good at making things look good. He's a artist with the wood work and paint:) Is 4 foot long, T5 HO , 2ea blue, 2 ea white a good setup for my tank?
 
I have two blue and two white, but im changing one of the white out for a purple, My colours dont pop the way i want to with all that white light
 
The Ricordeidae mushroom coral, as I have found out it is called, is doing well. This morning he was about the size of a US Quarter. After about 1 hour of lights, he is now the size of a 1/2 dollar:) I read that over skimmer can hurt them because they eat from the water. Is this a concern for me?
 
What do y'all think about this comment:
P8SRIBCU4pgmQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==
"Mushroom Coral Propagation:
R. florida propagates easily, yet depending on genetics, can sometimes multiply slowly in captivity. Swifter water movement may speed up propagation.
Mushroom corals can be easily propagated in captivity by cutting individual polyps into several pieces. Placed the pieces on a gravel substrate with low water flow. They will attach themselves to pieces of gravel. Later they can then be super glued to a suitable substrate such as a reef plug. It has been stated that the warmer end of their temperature spectrum encourages reproduction." Florida False Coral, Ricordea florida, Mushroom Coral Information and Corallimorph Pictures
 
I think it its true, but i wouldnt start fragging stuff until you have the proper light set up. You want to give the frags the best chance at healing up and doing well.
 
Yeah, for sure. It's really interesting stuff to read though. I'm not going to cut 25$ in half right now and see it grows into 50$ :) I'm to much of a noob for that right now.
 
Tonight I am going to turn on my skimmer and sump system again after finally getting around to fixing the leak in the skimmer. It's leak checking one more time today while I'm at the office. I have a question about adding this to the system. The water in the sump is premixed saltwater of the same level as the main tank, using my SHINNY NEW REFRACTOMETER! Thanks for INSISTING I get one everyone. When I turn the pump on which will start the siphon and the system going, will the water in the sump cause a shock to the main tank? Whats the recommended procedure for doing this? Basically I'll be adding about 17 gallons of fresh saltwater to the system all at once won't I???
 
Ok, I applied the sump/regufium again. When I started the water movement, i noticed little peices fo the chaeto algae from the fuge were finding there way into the return chamber of the sump and then into the pump.
Also, to my surprice, I found a small baby star fish, it's a rigid star fish too. Looks like a spider:)
Should I be concerened if a little of the algae ball make it into the main tank? The ball is loaded with little critters too.

Also, I bought a frag od a hair mushroom...it has green tips and rust colored body! Looking good after first night. He's about the size of a quarter.
 
The yellow tailed damsel that is the only fish in my tank has started to loose some of his blue. By this I mean it looks like some of his scales are are almsot transparent. His yelow is still very vivid and normal. He's very active and healthy acting but his color looks like a car that has paint chipped of the leading edge:)
Any thoughts on this everyone?

By the way, my two mushrooms corals are looking AWESOME! when they get a little bigger I'm post some pics. They are jsut frags now. Snails, crabs, and conchs all doing well and burning through algae.

Today I asked about how I learned and figured all this out and how I keep going after failure. I told them determination, patiance, and THIS message board! Thanks to everyone here for helping me through of the STUPID mistakes I have made:):):)
 
Fish will change colors a bit depending on their mood, time of day etc. They can also get scrapes if they have been dashing in and out of the rocks. I personally wouldnt worry about it unless the has stopped or reduced eating and shows other behavioral changes.

What are you feeding him too BTW?
 
ya, that could be part of the color loss, you arent feeding him a very nutritious food. I would switch over to a variety of different frozen foods and then rotate through them. Variety is the spice of life and key to good nutrition.
 
So today I went to get a clown fish again. I walked into the LFS and the only clowns they had were really young ones. I asked about the price and they said they were only 18 dollars which was half the full grown price. I bought two because I wanted them to be a pair and not fight if I added one later. As soon as they hit the water, there couldn't stop exploring together. They virtually stay together all the time. They of course came from the same tank at the LSF, so maybe they were buds already.
Anyways, the yellow tailed blue damsel investigated and defends his little hole in the live rock, but other than that he stays on his side of the tank. I noticed after 1 day, one of the clowns looks little fades but he's still acting ok. The other is a bright orange. I'll keep an eye on him.

I got my refugium and the skimmer i build up and running again. My algae ball is still small, but I have 24/7 lighting on it to help it grow in the refugium.

My wife just called saying the water in the return section of the tank is nearly out!:ugh: I drew a marker on the tank to show the minimum water level before shutting off the pump and it's there. The other line I drew was a max line to prevent overflow int he event of a power outage. In between these two lines is about 3/4 of a gallon. I hope it is not leaking as it was full when I left for work this morning, about 7 hours ago. She says she can't see any leakage, but I'll have to investigate later.:frustrat:
 

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