Like a kid in a candy store...

Well, now that I'm back from LBI I can resume my progress on my tank. A lot of stuff has happened tank-wise in the past day. I had ordered all of the electronic equipment that I needed while I was away so that it would arrive once I got back. Little did I know, Dr. Foster and Smith upgraded my shipping for free so that everything came on Saturday. I was surprised by that. I guess when you spend about $500 on aquarium supplies they do stuff like that ;)

I guess the next biggest thing that I got accomplished was that my Dad and I finished up the stand and brought it up to my room. We put the doors on the hinges and the doorknobs on. Speaking of doorknobs, I can now reveal what they look like:

Let there be light...houses!

Surprisingly, the doors went on without a hinge...I mean hitch...

The tank looks really nice sitting on top of the stand. It fits very well with the rounded edge of the stand sticking out an even amount around the tank. Never before have I put something together and had it come out the way it was supposed to on the first try ;)

You can see that the tank fits just as it did before on top of the buckets!

Another item that I put on yesterday was the compact fluorescent lighting system. This thing could probably light up a football stadium if you wanted to. It is powerful enough to simulate the light found in the shallow waters of a tropical coral reef.

4 fluorescent bulbs + 2 LEDs = One helluva cool light fixture

One of the coolest features of the lighting system is that it has 2 different types of daylight and a night lighting system as well. There are 2 10,000 K daylight bulbs and 2 Blue daylight bulbs that add some needed nutrients to the water. There are also 2 Blue LEDs that are used at night time to simulate what the reef would look like at night. It also brings out certain instincts in the fish so that they behave as they would in the wild.

10,000 K Daylight: The bright light

Blue Daylight: Very mellow...

Both at the same time: Very natural looking!

Blue LEDs: Psychedelic!

So that is my lighting situation, and that's all you are going to get for now. I've gotten a bit more accomplished today by test-fitting some of the other equipment I got, but I'm going to save that story for later. Again, I have to have something for you all to keep coming back to see ;) Until then...

~Paul Out