36 gallon fowlr redo progress

Thanks. The light surprisingly doesn't get hot enough to melt it. i stuck my hand under there to see how hot it was and it was just warm. The top get hot but the light has two fans built in that really help. I am going to replace the hood tho because it doesnt allow for all the light to enter the tank. Im probably going to get a piece of plexi glass cut to fit over the top. Yea I wanted to do a deep sand bed about 3 inches thick, however i had some sand left over so i just put the rest in. I need to make sure my clean up crew does a good job of cleaning it. Right now they have just been picking all the algae off my live rock. I got some cerith snails that really dig down into the sand. Plus I eventually am gonna get a sand sifting star and they dig down in the sand. The one piece of live rock i have amazes. Its one big piece. I saw that and had to have it. I want to get some more live rock to build up and try to hide my filter intake. I hate my tank stand. If I had the room I would get a better one so I can put i sump in it. It wasnt even big enough so i had to cut a piece of plywood to set it on. The return line for my filter annoys me also cause it always manages to get crooked somehow. It provides a lot of flow. Thursday I should have my first fish because thats when my lfs gets them in.
 
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personally i think you should ditch the cenario background and get a black or blue one, aesthetically pleasing
 
I have the same tank as you and lights. be careful with putting the plexi top on it. I had the glass one my tank came with and it shot the temp up. I decided to go with an open top. Don't know were your located, but I'm down in Miami so i guess if its colder were you are then it might be ok. Just keep an eye on your temp. I agree with you on the stand. I cant find a sump/fuge that fits in their, not even a 10gal fits in it.
 
yea i wish i did black from the beginning but since right now i have it wedged in the corner and sorrounded by two couches, i cant get behind the tank enough right now. As for the light, im on the Jersey Shore and it can get pretty hot . I remember even in January one day it was 80. I have been keeping an eye on the temp and so far no problems. If i have to ill raise the light some how. Oh and the stand. I actually didnt buy that. It was a solid wood stand for something else, but still it is just like the ones that come with the tank. Eventually Im gona have a bigger spot to put my tank so I can have a nice refugium o the side or something.
 
Ok so I did some reading up on the macroalgae I have, the grape caulerpa(may me spelled wrong). Is it really worth it to have in my tank since it can go sexual at any time and mess up my water? I have in a breeder net to keep it from taking over my tank but now im worried about it messing up the water.
 
I did testing today. Ammonia, Nitrates, and Nitrites are at 0 ppm. The PH is between 8.0 and 8.2 so i put some liquid Marine Buffer in to help raise it. Also, I was just sitting there checking up on things and I noticed this little clear shrimp looking thing crawling around on my rock. Its too small to get a picture of. Can it be a copepod or amphipod? Or worse an isopod? It looks just like a shrimp, but very small.
 
Might be a small shrimp hitch hikers. whoo hoo
 
Ok so I think its an amphipod after looking at some pictures online. I doesnt look like an isopod because it seems like isopods look more like those rollie pollie bugs, which are crustaceans on land. I also think I have an asterina starfish. I noticed it two days ago on a piece of rock. It hasnt really moved to far at all, not even a centimeter. Again its also to small to get a picture of.
 
Today I went to my LFS, the hadn't recieved their shipment in yet, but i did notice a fish that I didnt last time. It was this really nice black saddleback clownfish. So I got that as well as two neon gobies and a skunk cleaner shrimp. I have never seen a clown like that before and the guy said that they rarely ever get them in. I also saw that they offer a gallon of RO water for 50 cents and RO saltwater made with reef crystals for a dollar a gallon. I might get my water there to top off my tank when it evaporates.
pictures to follow after im done acclimating them
 
Yesterday during acclimation one of my gobies beat the other one up, so im going back to the lfs today to get another one. the clown is doing great, and my shrimp is also doing good, but he rarely comes out from behing one piece of live rock. When he does come out he looks like he is doing great. Are shrimp normaly like that? I need to go buy some mysis shrimp from the store because the clown doesnt really touch what I fed the other fish I had. Thats what they feed their fish there so Ill just go with that.
 
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