Lampshade's 55g

[Lampshade]

So, it's been an adventure so far, but seems to be going well. I've been reading many many hours of forums, guides, books, whatever i can to find about saltwater setups, so thought i'd give it a try. It seemed exciting, so when i recently moved into a place that had a nice spot for my 55 gallon tank to fit in, it was the perfect time to try. I've had a few freshwater tanks in the past, but they've been moving house to house with us empty for awhile now.

This is my son helping me size up the opening:


I'd built the stand in an afternoon with some friends, it's probably overkill to hold my tank up, but better overbuilt than falling over.


Since it was a tight fit, i needed a pull out sump drawer to be able to do anything in there, but as you see, i still had to notch the frame to fit my skimmer in there:


I put the rest of the covers on, and started the fun wait of the cycle, you can see the edges are right up against the railing on both sides, it's a VERY snug fit.


It sat like that for awhile, and since i've picked up some live rock, and finally have a balance in my tank.


Since that pic i've picked up a 175W MH, and built a canopy. I don't like the look of the canopy at ALL, so i'm trying to figure out how i'm going to build a new one (Google Sketchup is amazing :P)

I still need a bunch more live rock, but as of today, all my levels are looking somewhat ok:
Nitrite:0
Ammonia:<0.1
Nitrate:<1ppm
PH:8.3
Salinity:1.025
Calcium:480(its high... should have paid more attention to the whole"don't add chemicals for stuff you can't test")

Even with the small start i have it's been a lot of fun, all kind of things growing in there. I have lots of mushrooms growing, and some xenia, and we're discovering more things growing everyday. When i picked up my rock the tank was being disassembled and he gave me some frags to start out.(Thanks again Dk) Some blue ridge coral, an encrusting monti, and a couple acro's. I was worried putting them in a freshly cycled tank, but now that they've been in there for awhile they all seem to be doing well.

Any advice, pointers, anything let me know, i'm new to this saltwater thing, and there's far to much to learn.