"you will have a large shaded area but it should have a nice dramatic look to it. try to get the unit with 70 degree optics for better spread."
That does sound pretty cool the island idea, by shaded areas you mean the ends and front and back? as the units would be set parallel, with 8 inches of space from the ends and from eachother.
sps corals are the hardest to keep due to the quality of water they require. almost 0 nitrates and almost 0 phosphates. if you dont run a skimmer you will be instead spending the money on extra liver rock,
would 120 pounds in the display and say 30 pounds of rubble in the sump be enough?
a well stocked fuge with tons of macro algae,
I was hoping to have eatable Macro fuge one day (fish eatible) so no cheato, the Tang heave diet perhaps
http://www.ipsf.com/tangheaven.html
and salt for large WEEKLY water changes. Skimmers help reduce tank maintenece and also oxygenate the water so you will probably need extra power heads to increase gas exchange. You can get a good quality used one on this board for under $250. if you do decide to go the skimmerless route, i would wait a FULL year to ensure your bio filtration is at its peak and you are able to maintain good water parameters with whatever regiment you choose. If you find its not cutting it, add a skimmer.
Definitly was goning to be a year plus as I would want the Pod population and all the fish to be in the tank before adding corals.
Clownfish eat pods btw.
Damn you clownfish!
Thanks for the info will definity have to put on the thinking cap now with regaurds to the macros and skimmer.