Well I am back from my family trip and while the tank didn't come out perfectly as I left it, it's all fixable. I think this is one of my most favorite things about softy tanks, they tend to be hardier and more forgiving than other types of tanks.
I'll start the fixing with a typical 5G waterchange, maybe 10G to get things more back to normal. I know the Carbon and GFO change-out is due soon so maybe a 5G would be best to not over stress the tank with "newness". That reminds me I need to order more Carbon and GFO!
I also got some free corals from a friend while in Florida. One of my favorite corals is the Montipora Cap. It's not a softie, but I think it will be hardy enough to deal with my tank's environment. I got the orange/red cap (3 pieces), the purple-rim green cap, and Ked's reds (sp?) zoos. After a 12 hour trip in the car, a moderate water acclimation, and an iodine dip, they still look great in the tank. Now it's just the matter of finding them places in the tank and sticking them there. This leads to my other issue:
I'm a bit torn on something. I'm a pretty strong supporter of less corals more growth. I've steered my tank in that direction for the most part but I have one rock that's not following that rule. The right arch has quite a bit going on: Rics, green tree coral, anthelia, and a knobby leather. Most are frags, though the Rics have been growing well and own most of the real-estate. I found a great spot on that same arch for the zoos I got. It kind of just fell there while I was trying to clean up the tank, and it opened on the spot. I figure why move it when it's clearly happy there. I'll call it a "garden rock"! ;)
As for the Monti cap frags I've decided something. While I claim my tank as a softy tank, I like caps far too much to keep them out of the tank, especially when given beautiful large frags for free. I am lucky as I have two spots for them to grow into a nice colony. I am going to try to glue the three pieces of red together, to form a single piece, and then attach it to it's new home rock.
Unfortunately the overflow was not constructed while in Florida. Between my new son Cayden and a secret project for Reef on the Rocks, my small business, I just couldn't get the time to build it. I'm thinking of purchasing one from fosterandsmith:
Overflow It should house the HOB's intake fine. It's a little deeper than I'd like but realistically I can't complain. :xd:
I'll take some more pics of the tank once I finish these mini-projects. :bigsmile: