March 1999:

After about a month with rock in the tank the ammonia and nitrate levels had reduced down to zero and even the nitrate level seemed to drop without any water change or denitrifying filters (I can only guess that the algae was responsible for that). I transferred the rock temporarily to the tubs, drained and completely cleaned the tank. I was then able to complete the internal tank set-up (pumps, plumbing, airlines etc.) and build a reef wall with dry tufa rock. I then refilled the tank with fresh water, restarted the filters and replaced the live rock, building it into the general rock work. The rock work quickly formed emerald green and brown hair algae, I put about a dozen turbo snails into the tank along with three small red legged hermit crabs and a light foot crab. They have done a good job of keeping the dark coloured hair algae under control but now a lime green hair algae has started to form on the new tufa rock. I have noticed small shrimp-like creatures have hatched in the coral substrate - I have no idea where they came from - they will make a good snack for the future inhabitants. At this point I started to put in place a more regular tank maintenance procedure.

New Introductions:

The first additions to the tank: 12 Turbo Snails 3 Red Legged Hermit Crabs 1 Light Foot Crab

Water Status:

Not yet available.