Our New Aquarium: Post #5

Well, here's the big picture. We have a backdrop now, and we've installed new lights...a special kind that are best for fish and coral. (By "special" I mean "expensive.") We hooked the lights to a timer so the fish get a regular cycle of light and dark.

The light-colored rock on the left is from Tonga; the darker rock on the right is from Fiji. You can see the mushrooms on the Fiji rock.

We've upgraded our filtration system as well. Here's the basic setup, but we're not quite done yet.

The dirty water will come down into the left-most segment of the "eco-system," where we'll have put live rock rubble, then it flows into the large center segment. In that segment will be "Miracle Mud" and an algae called Cheato (CHAY-toe). The live rock begins the filtration, then the mud and algae really clean things up. From there the water flows into the right-hand segment and is pumped back up into the tank. Once we get everything in place, I'll put up another picture.

Many, MANY thanks to our son-in-law Chad, who worked several hours putting everything together for us! That includes shopping for all the plumbing hardware, measuring and cutting...we could never have done it without him.