briight

Okay, I'm a little slow on the uptake with things this morning...Saturday I added a bunch of photos and descriptions of how we got started with the best Christmas present ever, all the way to where we're at now with it. And just this morning, following the second cup of coffee, I figured out that the "Create new post" button would allow me to post images in the blog format, which would have worked better. So, please go look at photos through my profile...
The plan is to have the Display tank (125 gallon) where it sits in our living room, with a macro display/fuge tank (not entirely sure of the size yet) next to it, plumbed from, and back to, one of the drain lines from the Display tank. The main sump (100 gallon Rubbermaid tub) is in the basement almost directly under the display, and we are in the process of plumbing through the floor. I say "we" but that's my sweetie Brian's department, all of the technical stuff, as he likes to build stuff. Next on the list is siting the sump on the appropriate sized stand with a platform beside it for the pump, and then finishing the plumbing connections.
Little Bright Reef is the 20 gallon tank that we set up (in the pictures) because we just couldn't wait for the 125 to be in the house and ready for coral. It creeps up on ya, ya know, just buying one little coral, and then another one little frag, and before you know it, the reef isn't looking half bad, and you realize that you really need the bigger tank to get finished...
Right now, we have saltwater and aragonite sand in the DT, with a ball of chaeto and a small whisper filter keeping things moving. I put some scoops of sandbed from Little Bright Reef in the DT, and suddenly the smooth sandbed had little bumps all over from the critters establishing themselves in their new home. Yesterday I saw pods crawling around and did the happy dance...
When the plumbing is ready to start circulating, we will move the Little Bright Reef to one end of the DT and continue to light it with the GLO endcap and ballast with two tubes. We will replace these with LED fixtures, type and brand yet to be determined. From that point we will continue to build the reef sideways from Little Bright Reef to the other end of the tank. Which leaves plenty of room for upgrades and new additions.