-Today marks 2 weeks. :dance:
-As for the skimmer, it's "rated" as capable handling a 60 gal. tank so it's somewhat big. I also think it's too loud. The little air intake noise difuser just doesn't cut it, so I have it only on from 12am to 5PM while I'm not home. Also, the bubble diffuser on the exhaust doesn't diffuse bubbles. Since it's a large bulky box (compare the first big pic to the most recent big pic), I removed it. Now the exhaust comes straight out...pointed down at the substrate. On the one hand, it's excavating some of the substrate right there which isn't all that great. On the other hand, it puts some water flow into a corner behind the rocks that normally doesn't get too much flow.
-They way the guy sold me on the refugium was to make the point that algae is going to grow somewhere in your tank, why not give it a place to grow all it wants? A refugium allows algae and all of the critters to live and grow without being eaten by the aquarium inhabitants...a refuge. From what I read, Nitrates are the bane of SW fish, corals and invertabrates. So these plants and algaes work at removing them. Right now, the refugium outlet is a 90 degree elbow, but I'm thinking of removing the elbow so it outlets straight down into the other corner. There's not a ton of flow so I don't see it excavating as much substrate as the skimmer.
As for life...there's not a lot there...but it's enough (barely) to keep me from being bored. I put one cube of brine frozen brine shrimp in there when the lights were off and the little anemones were open hoping they might grab one...I don't think they did. Then this morning, it looks like that one tiny little snail cleared a patch of algae on one of the rocks. I was hoping to get my hermits and snails by yesterday, but Foster and Smith is dragging their feet. Oh well. I can wait a few days. My only concern is that it looks like the brown algae is overgrowing the coralline. I want these snails to get here to knock that stuff back.
