37 gal column conversion to AIO with foam/rock wall

[Cubeman]

More of a progress report than anything this week. The CUC has done its job and taken care of the algae on the rocks. I am still getting a generous green film on the glass that needs to be cleaned daily but this too shall pass.

One of my scarlet hermits crawled out of the water and sat on top of the rock wall until he dessicated. Literally within an inch of the waters edge and he chose to sit still and die. The intelligence of hermits went down a notch in my estimation with this event. Anyway I pulled him out of his shell and fed the cleaner shrimps with it. This may not have been a smart thing to do as now the larger shrimp is grabbing at the remaining living hermit thinking it would make a good meal. I'm guessing the shrimp will give up once he loses a leg.

Slowly getting a handle on how much Calcium and Alk to add to my two fresh water top offs so that the levels remain constant. The worst part about this dialing in stage is the time it takes to do multiple water tests each week as you track the changes you make in concentration against the results.

I have close to 20 sps frags in the tank now, 9 from my other systems and 11 that are new. I have another 7 being shipped in on Friday from Fragalot. Other than 2 encrusting monti's that bleached under the LED's and haven't regained their colour the rest are doing fantastic. Couldn't be happier with the colour and polyp extension.

The rock wall is no longer gleaming white and sterile but it has not gained any coralline to speak of yet. The live rocks however are purpling up nicely. The wall is however home to a magnificent number of organisms that come out under the moon lights.

I'll end with a FTS just so I can mark the progress of the tank. I should call this one "How to hide 20 frags in a 37 gallon tank"