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Hey, I just joined up a few days ago, I've been keeping a "journal" at nano-reef there's way too much traffic there and no one looks at mine because it's pushed off the page 
so I never get any help. So this first post is a copy paste, I will be keeping my journal here from now on 
.
Copy-Pasta:
Day1
Here it is day 1 FW test. I spent day 0 scrubbing all the old growth off and you can see some still on the back wall.
The back looks like this (chaeto still in the mail)
Salt mix later tonight, even out chem levels tomorrow and Wed, and hopefully my live rock will be here Thursday.
I ordered Fiji rock from yourreef.com they are more local than my original plans to get it from premium aquatics but premium aquatics was so far it would have cost me $100 to ship $100 of live rock
Day 3
Well today I added 23lb of AragAlive Carib sea aragonite. Why 23? Because the Tropical Reef Aquarium had an open 40lb bag with 23lb left in it and sold it to me for less than a 20lb would have cost.
I also added some fish jellys that my girlfriend gave me. Since you know, there wont be any real fish in there for a while.
I'm expecting my LR tomorrow or Thursday ordered from http://yourreef.com/ because they're located near Sac. Also I ordered some replacement fans for the hood from Newegg. once i got them working i realized one was making alot of noise.
Day 4
I got my LR today. The LR from. yourreef.com was very nice and healthy looking. It had plenty of red algae spots and as requested they gave me some nice shapes to play with.
I just wanted to ask: Is there a problem with having a C shape? Would the back corners become a problem? I have plans to make this more stable than it looks, I'm just waiting for aqua putty. But basically this is what I think i want, a C shape with two small rock in the middle and 2 larger ones in the front, excuse the cloudy water and uneven substrate. Let me know what you think 
I still need 5 more LB of liverock I'm going to go hunting at my LFSs tomorrow should i get something to fill in the corners or just something I like... or both
Thanks for the welcome Kyle! I'm located in SF near SFSU. Sadly I mail ordered some cheato before I joined BAR. I don't have any real plans yet, I just know I want some sexy shrimp, I figure I have a few weeks to figure it out. I stopped by Ocean Treasures today on my tour of the LFSs I found a really cool LR that I'm making my centerpiece. The thing I really like about this LR is the big holes + the multiple platforms on different levels. I got kind of ignored at OT because they were remodeling, but once someone noticed I was there they were pretty helpful.
Here's the LR I found
I think it's pretty cool. It has some big holes and different flat platforms on multiple levels, where I'm assuming I can put different frags.
Full View:
Sides:
haha the heater and probe are in the main display because I'm still adjusting the heater and I want to see when it's on.
I'm still iffy about that one branch, but everything else just needs some aqua putty
Now I play the waiting game.....
Tests:
PH : 7.7
NH4/NH3: >10 ppm
KH: <17 ppm
Ca: 380 ppm
Po: 0 ppm
No: 10 ppm
Salt Grav: 1.022
Temp ~ Unstable
My lights make my temps fluctuate from 78 to 80+ is this normal/safe?
I think you should try to put the heater and temp probe in the back filter areas of the tank. they should fit back there and then it frees up room in the display part of the tank.
Yeah, that's the plan. But I'm having some temperature swing issues right now and want to see when the heater is on. My heater is too strong for my tank, if anyone wants to trade a day old THEO UL Heater 200W for a 100W let me know 
If you're near SFSU, check out Aquatic Central on Ocean Ave near Victoria, Chris is very helpful, of course so are we
Thanks for the suggestion rider, I'll check it out when I need a cleanup crew. Otherwise I'll be too tempted to buy something.
I must have the worst timing =/ I've been trying to get a 250w Sunpod used. I finally gave up and bought a new one from marine depot. They JUST got discontinued so they canceled my order and now i cant find a 24" sunpod anywhere (cheap, marine depot and petstore.com had them for 227)
The only 20" sunpod on ebay has broken white LEDs (seems like a driver issue) and I don't know if i can find the parts to fix it.
Sunpod woes aside I FINALLY got my aqua putty in, it was one of the first things i ordered. I mended my tank and here's the result:
I'm not 100% happy about that rock in the right corner, but I dont know where else to put it. Before i had it mostly burried in the sand but it has the most red algae/flat surface space out of any rock i own. I Also moved my koralia when i was moving the rocks and now I have a dead spot in the corner and I cant seem to fix it
The hermits didn't seem to mind the move. One was back to eating before the dust even settled.
Edit:
params after the dust settled.
SG 1.025
Cal 400ppm
KH 174 ppm
Phosphate .5 ppm
Nitrate 20ppm
Nh4/Nh3 0-1.5? ppm
PH 8.0
I think my Ammonia is 1.5 ppm the thing doesn't look like any of the colors, but it didn't really change over the 20 min wait time.
Theres nothing wrong with the rock on the right corner think of it as a shelf to place corals down the road
don't be afraid to keep an eye for rock, base or live, the fits the right corner better than the flat rock. shoot, you could even add a little space on the right bottom rock to create a small tunnel with a 'bridge' rock over the tunnel. just an idea. love the main rock you got from OT. keep up the good work!
I made a media rack with some egg crate zip ties and an old cutting sheet (like a cutting board but thin)
I used this guys idea:
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=221185&st=0
But i added support for my cheato and the cutting sheet to force the water through the media
Welcome to BAR! Where are you located? Many folks have some chaeto to offer - I like many others, throw the stuff out on a regular basis.
Your tank design looks great so far - what are the plans for fish, corals, etc?
I think the C shape is fine - might just want to blow out the corners when you do a water change to make sure detritus is not getting caught in those corners, but should be fine.
Best,
-Kyle
-Kyle
"To him, all good things, trout as well as eternal salvation, come by grace and grace comes by art and art does not come easy." -Norman Maclean