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If you can't get a sump with a fuge in it you could always do a HOB fuge like one from Aquafuge. You could even get one with a skimmer in it for a little more skimming action but I don't know if it's worth the extra money for it. I did a DIY in tank fuge consisting of a speciman container that...

I noticed that you said it was in your QT tank. Have you ever used copper in your QT tank? If so you cannot add the rock you have curing into your DT if you want to keep corals/inverts. Even if you changed out all the water in the QT tank copper still leaches out from the silicone and it...

That hippo tang is going to outgrow that 55 gal. Hopefully you will either upgrade or plan on getting rid of it when it gets too big.

You never mentioned if you took out the salfin tang and the rabbitfish...

crushed coral is known to be a nitrate factory compared to sand beds. Left over food and waste gets trapped in the crushed corals and leads to high nitrates. I would def ditch the CC and go with a sand bed. Research what a deap sand bed does. I have about 5" of sand in mine and like the DSB...

I got lucky and found a great LFS before I started researching. He wouldn't sell me any livestock until he tested my water and was sure the tank was fully cycled. He also told me to research. It's a shame that there are not more LFS's around like the one I mentioned. I guess I'm really lucky...

I'm a big fan of refugiums. I've never had any first hand experience with any of the above mentioned items but I always like to keep things as natural as possible in my tank. I never had a problem with nitrates in my tank (~10ppm all the time). I put in a small in tank DIY refugium made out...

I've always leaved dead items in my tank (unless they died from a known disease) and let my CUC eat them or I place the fish in the anenome. That's what happens in the wild so it's good in my tank. I never really have to worry about the dead items causing a mini-cycle because the CUC usually...

I've kept my RO/DI water in tubs for up to 3-4 weeks with no problems...

Great pics!!!

T6 are just 6/8" or 3/4" thick bulb as compared to a T5 bulb which is 5/8" thick or a T12 which is 12/8" or 1 1/2" thick bulb

I would put the skimmer before the fuge for the reasons mentioned above but also because you might loose some of the critters that grow in the fuge when they are sucked up into the skimmer. I know it wouldn't be a lot of critters but I'd want all those critters to make it back into the DT.

With a 250W over a 30 gal tank I would think you could keep any kind of clam...

I keep softies and some less light demanding LPS in my 55 gal with just 2 x 96 W PC's. I would think with that set-up you could run SPS and clams.

If you have a good quality skimmer you could ditch the canister filter. I just use LR and a skimmer and have crystal clear H20. Also if you have a sump consider getting a refugium with LR rubble LS and cheato. If you don't have a sump you could get a HOB fuge. I made my own in tank fuge...

Here's the link to the brands... http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Fluorescent/ I plan on purchasing a retro-kit from them in about a month and I've heard nothing but good things and they have been very helpfull in answering all my questions.

I had an orchid dottyback with a skunk cleaner and a fire shrimp with no problems for over 2 years. My orchid was actualy kind of a whimp :)

What are your phosphates at? If they are high you will get extra algea. One thing you could try is on your next water change take out the affected rocks and scrub them with a brush (I've always used a new toothbrush) in the old tank water and then place them back in. Next keep the lights off...

+1 KellenR... My dad's 55 gal tank started leaking one day while he was working and I had the great pleasure of swapping everything into his new 55 gal. I put all the livestock in a spare 29 gal with as much live rock as possible. Then I put the rest of the tank water/liverock/sand into 5 gal...

Def T5's. I have PC's and I'm not that impressed with them and am switching over to T5's in about a month