I went with starboard to protect the tank bottom. And I didn't want white because I thought it would be too bright. I figured whatever I put down there would be covered in algae quickly anyways and I've never seen black, but I have seen black sand & liked it. So what the heck, give it a try.

I went with the black starboard also on my 190g - actually exactly the same as you did, cut in 2 pieces and from the cutting board factory. Like you say it soon gets covered in coraline and IMO looks better that say white which would also look dirty with live rock shedding etc.

Ruth, do you have any pics of what your starboard looked like in the beginning & now?

I know I don't have any from the beginning and right now it is just - um purple - I think there is a full tank shot in my gallery or photbucket account. Not much to look at really.

Today I got an ozone reactor, air & water carbon filter from Marine Technical Concepts. It looks really good, well built. It allows me to use ozone without risking my Deltec skimmer.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...k/DSCN0176.jpg

You've got INSANE equipment! Especially for a new Reefer!

Yeah, I know. In the long run it should be cheaper to do it this way rather then to go inexpensive & continually replace equipment to get to this point. Of course, no one say I had to get to this point but past experience helps me choose my equipment.

Man....Sfiligoi lights??? You lucky bastard! :)

That is gonna be one sweeeet setup!

The stand is painted and in my house. It sure is tall. I'd measured the area that it would go in before so I had a good idea how big it would be but until you see it you just don't know. Now I'm painting the boards that will form the base, shelf & sit on top of the stand. There will also be 3/4" styrofoam on top of that.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...k/DSCN0206.jpg

I got my Aquatronica controller & accessories today too. This unit will allow me to control the temperature, monitor salinity, control the ozone by monitoring ORP, top up the sump with a couple of float switches & solenoids, control my kalkwasser mixer, control the calcium reactor pH and affect any other devices on a timer basis. There are two power bars that will be connected to each other. In the future I may get the calcium probe & dosing pumps. There's also an ethernet adaptor that allows you to check/control all parameters over the net from anywhere in the world. And lastly there's an SMS module that will contact you by text message and allow you to respond to alarms/conditions. Not that I want/need those but it's nice to have the expandability.

Here's the main unit. There's also a PC Interface so all of the programming can be done on the computer and this unit is just used to check parameters at the tank...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...k/DSCN0207.jpg

And here's the unit with a power bar connected and a few probes attached. This unit can also be used to control multiple tanks. You can connect up to 10 power bars. With longer USB connectors the tanks can be pretty far away too...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...k/DSCN0205.jpg

Go
 

Dave, it's not the having, it's the getting. If you do it fully, completely, and properly right from the start, you'll have nothing to look forward to. :lol:
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California Dispensaries