won digity - Thanks! I'm glad you like it. This period is certainly a test of my patience after all the work and planning I've put into this.
Hey Sam -
Glad you stopped by. I wish I still had some of your frags left to put into this tank.
I got my other tank up and running now with some of the rock you gave me a couple years ago though! Amazingly enough, it has colored up on its own, after sitting in a black trashbag completely dried out for 2 years!
ooja3k - I think you are right. It was about a 50 minute drive from the LFS to my house, and another 30-40 minutes of spreading all the pieces out on towels to see them all at once and decide on their placement. It's just another thing to be patient about in this hobby I guess.
Since I'm responding, brief update:
The LR has been in the tank a week now, and the skimmer is pulling a full cup of green/brown gunk about every 12 hours. I think since this tank has such a large water surface area, and all the flow is going over the overflows, it allows the skimmer to work very efficiently. That big surface area acts like a huge magnet for the pollutants and directs it right into the skimmer.
Ran basic water tests last night, and it's still cycling.... seems like its leaving the ammonia phase and entering the nitrite phase. Here's where I'm at:
Total Ammonia: 0.2
Nitrite: 5-10ppm
Nitrate: 2-3ppm
pH: 8.1-8.2
Alk: 9.1 dKH
SPG: 1.026
This is about what I'd expect at this point, and looks like everything's on track.
Thanks for reading!