New reef in the works, 225g

[Dave C]

Yesterday I half filled the tank and then put the live rock in. Now that is not an easy chore. Between handling the couple of 55lb pieces and not scratching the glass on the way in, positioning them to my liking and making sure that they are solidly in place... that's tough. Then of course after I'm done my wife gets home and asks me to move that big piece over there, shift those pieces over to the gap you just created and move that one on top of that one. She's an interior designer and has a good eye so I'm not going to argue. In the end I'm totally happy with what we ended up with. It's hard to visualize the depth of the rock but it is not a solid wall. There are caves everywhere, fantastic mounting spots for coral and lots of holes, gaps and neat stuff to look at and for fish to swim in. I'm still making water as I don't have enough to fill the sump so the tank is just being circulated by a couple of Tunze 6100s (and boy are they dead silent) and heated by the light. But I did have enough water to overflow the tank for awhile and there were no leaks. I also don't have a skimmer yet, but from what I noticed with my first tank I wouldn't want to be skimming right away anyway as the skimmer goes nuts producing tons of foam and overflows for the first week or so until the saltwater gets "experience".

So here's the pics, hope you like them. If you want me to move anything you'll have to submit your requests to my wife... we'll see how that goes over. All comments are appreciated though.