 | Construction is underway. This is the mess I made in the living room. |
 | This picture was taken on April 12, 2003, shortly after the plumbing was finished. The tank is a 75 gallon tall acrylic tank from SeaClear, which is much better for insulation than glass and is also more transparent. Underneath the tank are the Aqualogic 1/4 hp chiller (left), Proquatics canister filter (far right), and Iwaki water pump (mid-right). I have since added a small fan to help exhaust the chiller. Also visible are the chiller controller and the timers and ballasts for the lights.
The tank was started with some mud/dirt and a few rocks from shore. Some of these rocks had small aggregate anemones on them, as well as barnacles. The temperature is kept between 56 and 58 degrees F, which is slightly higher than the Sound in summertime. |
 | The clear tubing next to the filter is connected to the intake of the water pump and is terminated by a ball valve. This makes it easy to remove water from the tank by gravity feed (with the pump off) or add it by pump suction (when the pump is on). And it saves me from having to deal with a siphon or lifting heavy buckets over the tank to pour water into the top (think of the potential for disaster!). |
 | Inside the tank are the following (from left to right): Hagen Aquaclear 802 powerhead, chiller output, canister filter intake, canister filter output, temperature probe, Rio800 pump/Remora H.O.T. protein skimmer intake, chiller intake, and another Hagen 802 powerhead. The chiller intake has since been moved to the far right to reduce the amount of seaweed getting sucked in. |
 | The bulbs are 30 watts each. The bluish purple bulb is a Hagen Aqua-glo bulb, which provides a better spectrum for keeping plants. The other bulb is an ordinary fluorescent bulb. In combination, the two bulbs provide a nice whitish light for the tank. |
 | Here is a closer look at the timers for the lights. The on/off times are staggered to provide a somewhat more gradual transition from dark to full brightness. On the bottom right is a small Profile 1500 air pump inherited from my last fish tank (a 10-gallon freshwater tank). The air pump is connected to the two powerheads in the tank to provide additional aeration. It is timed to come on late at night so that the bubbles don't interfere with the view. |
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