I will have to post some pictures soon, but the 180 Gallon is now stocked with the rock and livestock from my 33G "nano" in additon to the rock you see below. In case you're thinking "Woah, that guy didn't cycle the tank." Think again. All the rock in the sump was seeded many weeks ago with live rock and has been cycled using mysis shrimp only. The rock in the display has been cooking in the garage since Thanksgiving and the "nano" had about 60 lbs. of rock that's fully cycled.
So, what next?
I'm pretty happy with my aquascaping right now. It could use a little refinement, but mostly it's working out. I'm liberally applying Aquamend, however I'm not doing too much at a time. Amazingly, I'm pretty sure my Aquactinics TX5 will work nicely for 2/3 of the system for now. The 250W reefstar will hang over the other side. I'm just not sure that I need 400W halides, but I've got those 3 IceCap ballasts if they become necessary down the line. The electricity bill associated with that kind of lighting is a little more than I want to deal with. Heat isn't an issue as I've got a chiller.
Speaking of the chiller, it's still in the box. It's a 1/3 HP Teco Seachill TR20. I heard that the little plastic valves that come with it are prone to leaking. No problem, it can be hard plumbed. I'll add my own valves and barb fittings. I'm not sure what kind of pump I'll feed it with, but I'm looking into newish Maxi-Jet utility pumps. Some other options are the Mag Drive or Tunze pumps. I really dislike submersible pumps. I may use something externally or tee off from my return pump (that also should be external, but I'm using a Mag 18 internally. I've just about killed myself with several pumps. Maybe it's my mistreatment of the pumps (as I do move them around quite a bit), but it's irksome that they seem to want me to die.
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