[kigs]

Charles, for a fuge light - if you look around in the lighting section in home depot, they sell these cheap clamp on lights which you could probably get for $10 ~ $15.

[fernandokng]

Sweet set up charles!

[chazertis]

so the toothpick goes through the straw and suspends it. i've also cut holes on the straw right below that to vent out the air. i think the toothpick blocks too much of the top. i messed with the length a ton. currently its only a few inches long. the drain is mostly quiet now. also, i tried a bunch of different designs. the bubble tea straw made the drain deathly quiet but it blocked too much of the drain resulting in the rising level of water in the display tank. the straws you get at the bodega are the thinnest, the ones from mcdonalds are medium, and the bubble tea straws are the thickest.

[rookie07]

great tank...great aquascaping

[masterswimmer]

Very nice setup. It is totally SCREAMING for a clam (or two or three) though. As Wingo asked about the flushing noise, that was my very first question too.

The straw and toothpick method is a nice way to solve that problem. Nice job.

Enjoy and good luck,
swimmer

[lfsmarineguy]

I wouldn't downgrade the light, but if you had to I would go with a 175w mogul in a lumenarc reflector or other reflector that has that kind of spread. The single ended halide gives you better spread over the double ended while the double will give you more intense point lighting. But since you already have a fixture and it's only 250w I wouldn't bother wasting the cash on another setup when the one you have is fine.

[kmaintl]

awesome tank!

[chazertis]

so going along with the risks of having such a wide open tank, i had a fish jump out the other day. i've never ever experienced any fish jumping out of any of my tanks so this was a first for me. >knock on wood< the victim was a niger trigger that my roommates had bought me for my birthday. the tank is flanked by 2 couches. the best i figure is he jumped out, hit the arm rest of the couch, and fell to the floor between the tank and couch. he must've missed the sump by millimeters. *sigh* i'm really going to miss this guy. he was one of the smartest fish i've ever owned. full of personality.

[chazertis]

i need to give a shout out and thanks to my friend helen. she did her research and aquascaped the tank. i love the rock corridor. it looks really really cool when fish swim through it.

[chazertis]

yellowtail damsel
yellow tang
hippo tang
purple firefish
pair of ocellaris clownfish
skunk cleaner shrimp
snails
hermit crabs

and my roommate bought me a blue damsel and a bluefin damsel to replace the trigger. i'm going to have to keep an eye on those damsels.

my clownfish were tiny when i first bought them. the female is now about 3" and the male is around 2.5" their rbta was also small when i first got the guy. he has lived in my 29 gallon tank for over a year, under PC lighting and frequent feedings, and has split 3 times. the rbta is now no less than 1ft in diameter. scary!

	PC Power Compact Lighting, typically used in lower light aquariums supporting soft corals, LPS, and fish. Their low cost and cooler operating temperatures are an excellent choice for beginner aquariums and smaller tanks.