[wmcinnes]

Okay, well things are moving along slowly but I have made some progress and spent more money..

I now have the tank full of RO/DI water and added about 25lbs of liverock & 20lbs of livesand to the system. (Most of it into the sump/refugium)
It is kind of hard to see in the photo, but there is good growth of coraline algae on the rocks so I am hoping this spreads to the MarcoRocks.



My NAC7 protein skimmer is still breaking in and I think it needs to be raised even further than the recommended minimum of 9.5" water depth because the bubbles continuously overflow into the collection cup. Right now I have the collection cup draining back to the sump until I can get some pvc cut for the makeshift skimmer stand. I have read threads from others who have found their NAC7s to have a sweet spot of around 7" depth so I think I will give this a try.





Also picked up a clamp-on utility lamp with a reflector for a refugium fixture. The bulb is a Philips 23W CFL Daylight Bulb around 6500K, so I am hoping to grow some good cheato with it.



As of now, it is a waiting game. The tank is cycling,I am dosing the tank with MB7 & Seachem Stability, and I am still waiting for my Phosban reactors to show up so I can get Carbon and GFO running. Hopefully soon!

Here are some shots of the tank as of now just with a 36" Dual T5 fixture..