My new aquarium

Nobbs did you get the monkey free with the tank , more importantly where the fook is the sump pics

Just make sure the pipework is tight , then make sure you set the cut off levels and test it 1/2 dozen times, fill to the inlet with saltwater leave overnight,make sure you have plenty of towels down as it better to test for leaks and weeps with only a tiny bit of water, if your as sad as me you will sit for hours just watching the sump working, especially if you put a bit of live rock and a clean up crew in, i used to hatch brine shrimp next to my sump and put them in the sump, they would only in there for a day or so till the were sucked up into the tank, you always knew when they were in the main tank as the fish went ballistic

So controller diy or ready made

Typed a feck off long reply last eve and for some reason it disappeared so im trying again with my tinfoil hat on.

Are you adverse to a diy controller as there are some cracking builds out there that are well priced.
when i had my tank i had separate controllers and 7 double sockets behind the tank my reasons were cheaper to replace 1 thing if something broke

Depending on which way you go, my bare minimum would be, a light controller (diy) as one had included wave pumps , moon phase and differing intensities during the day to mimic real conditions, a storm functions is also worth it as if used correctly it can have a good effect on corals etc.

Live food there is a good diy system i saw whereby you have 3-6 tubes with a conical bottom a grid plate and a tap at the bottom ,there is also a stand pipe an inch or so above the grid plate and an adjustable air feed at the top of each, dead simple and cheap ,the idea being different types of live food in each, when hatched shells etc fall to the bottom and can be individually fed into sump.

I got more pleasure watching the sump than the fish as ,i find it absolutely amazing that scrubbed cleaned live rock will slowly come back to life and was genuinely astonished how stuff could live for so long out of water

Still need sump pics

more pics nobbs, close up of sump pls. daft question have you fitted an inlet sock to the sump (mesh type filter)

The inlet pipe from the tank to the sump, i would put a big sock on it ,as it will collect all the large debris, used one on mine and it helped with water quality no end, plus had the advantage of when it got a big grimy was a simple job to rinse it in the sink
with your reactor have you got a control on it or does it run free, somewhere around here i have a tmc controller with relay(ed) socket, which switches on co2, i have the valve as well just needs some ph probes ,if your not in a rush and want it i can dig it out and send it over, i think you mentioned you will be over this year for a game if so you could pick it up close to the mem

Lol you just reminded me of my bubble magus skimmer, dial it in then all of a sudden stinky foam everywhere. good luck with it nobs n keep pics coming

Today I ordered a 36W UV Sterilizer....How exciting is that !

Get yerself lubed up Inee........I'll have pictures of a working Sump in the next couple of days !

So, the tank is now running and I've transferred the first fish over from my old tank. So that's only two Clowns, two Yellow Bellied Damsels and an Orchid Dottyback. No corals have been transferred and none of the Cleanup Crew.
The water looks a little cloudy as I had just added the ATM Colony bacteria to kick-start everything. It's also very 'blue' as the shots were taken in the evening so the lights are on 'ramp down' towards sunset.

Sump pictures tomorrow.......