The first post was a test my memory of how to post pictures. As you can tell, my photography skills are sketchy at best. I'll try to get some better photos before posting any more.
In the meantime, here's the plan.
The tank is an 88 Gallon DFW Reef Ready. It doesn't have starfire glass or fancy hidden overflows, but its price was "reasonable" and it seems pretty well built. It is on a DFW black oak stand and added a matching 12" canopy to house the lights.
The center overflow box has DIY dual 1.25" Durso style drains. The flow through them is low, 450-475 gph, so noise isn't an issue. A single return line is positioned in the center of the overflow box.
A DIY 16" X 24" acrylic sump with a simple skimmer & return bay sits inside the stand. It houses an old 6" ID Reef Octopus recirculating skimmer, a NW150 or something like that, and its Sicce supply pump, a Sicce return pump, and ATO controls. There's room for a GFO reactor and its supply pump when needed. The ATO is gravity fed from a 35 gallon Brute. It is solenoid and float switch controlled with a float valve back-up.
Current inside the tank is handled by two Jebao RW8's and an old MP40 that you can see in my picture. I don't know how much flow I'll need, but these should suffice for quite a while.
Lighting for now is two RapidLED Onyx dimmable fixtures, totaling 56 3w LEDs, that are mounted about 10" above the surface. I don't see a need to dim or modify their color at this point so I haven't added any dimming controls yet. I do plan on adding some T5 fixtures eventually to reduce shadowing.
As you can see, the tank is bare bottom. ~60 lbs. of dry Fiji Rock that has been power washed, bleached, acid bathed, and rinsed are stacked in the tank. A few fiberglass rods and some epoxy putty stabilize them. I have 35pt ASW in the tank and am monitoring phosphates. Yea, I know, I should have done this outside the tank, but I didn't have space. I'll have to make do.
A LitremeterIII and two remote dosing pumps will eventually provide two-part and some Balling method trace elements. They aren't needed for now, but I have them when needed. I have a BRS dosing pump & timer to provide a carbon source when needed.
I don't plan on using lighted or dark refugiums, DSBs, ATSs, or other nutrient control methods other than carbon dosing and GFO... and some water changes.
Now it's time to be patient. That part sucks! I'm hoping posting more pictures with long explanations and making everyone comment might help pass the time!
