In the pursuit of converting our main DT to a FOWLR, part of the plan was always to transfer all the zoas and also some other corals into a smaller tank.
We had been scouting for a tank for quite a while, and were almost dead set on an IM Nuvo 10, but when a deal came up for a Fluval M40 with stand in immaculate condition (plus a great deal to boot!), we pulled the trigger and got the project started (thank you Daniel for the great tank and your courtesy).
Daniel was kind enough to include some black sand which was enough to fill the bottom. We haven't ran a tank with black sand before but after looking at his tank (unbelievable rock flower anemone tank, probably the nicest tank I have ever seen), we were converted. With that, I added some newly made water and some sand from the DT and some live rock and away we go.
Gear list:
Fluval M40 with stock return pump
Skkye 18W LED
Vortech MP10wes
Reefkeeper Lite
Heater (duh)
That's it. No skimmer, no doser, just trying to keep it simple. Livestock will be limited (yellowheaded jawfish and maybe a firefish).
As for corals, it'll be mainly zoas and dendros, with a smattering of other LPS.
Here it was a few days ago:
(zoas to go on the front circular rock)
The Skyye LED is a nice form factor and the power is a non-issue, but the lack of controllability and the spectrum may prove to be an issue. We'll see what it feels like after a while, it's hard to gauge without all the corals in. Would have liked an AI Prime but currently trying to keep it budget friendly.
Last night I checked the levels and the basic parameters were in check, so Joanne put in the dendros and some LPS. Everything was nice and happy afterwards. (sorry forgot to take a pic!)
More pictures and updates to come as this project chugs along.