Sump finally complete... and a new light!

Well, it certainly took longer than I thought it would, but I finally have the sump completely set up. From the overflow, the water travels down through a filter sock, into the protein skimmer section. In there, I have my old protein skimmer inside the sump. It seems to be fractionating (yes, that's a word!) really well - a very dark skimmate. From there, the water travels through some rubble rock for some added mechanical filtration, then through a bubble trap. Next, into the refugium, where I have a deep sand bed and some chaetomorpha macroalgae. I also have a pump that diverts water into my new GFO and GAC reactors, and recycles back into the filter sock. From the refugium, the water overflows into the discharge section, where I have my autotopoff finally set up. The return pump lifts the water back into the display tank, and the filtration cycle is complete. Other small elements in the sump are the heater, a nano-koralia powerhead to keep things mixed in the refugium, and an aqualifter pump that continuously pulls air out of the overflow to prevent loss of syphon.

I also finally purchased the new light fixture to supplement the existing lighting. The tank looks really bright. I'll post pics eventually to show how bright it really is. I'm hoping to get better coral growth with the new lights.

In other news, I'm trying to trap another Larry (mantis shrimp). I'm hoping to give it away to one of the members of LIRA - the Long Island Reefkeeping Association. That's the reef club that I belong to, and where I got all of my "$5 corals".

Off to go eat dinner... but when I return, I'll explain "Penny Watch 2009".