Reef Tank Update

OK, so I said I would do an update on whether my DIY protein skimmer worked or not. Well, it DID! :) It took a while to break in (2 days) but it is now collecting very light colored skimmate (dirty stuff from the water) and should hopefully start to collect more as the tank and skimmer mature. The tank has had a LOT of diatom and other algae growing in it because it is so young but the pod (amphipod and copepod) populations are up and, at times, I can see over ten of them on one side of the aquarium. The corals seem very happy and are open (most of the time). I now have one of the new lights (20 watt Coralife 50/50 bulbs but I only have one) and am considering getting a Finnex 26 watt bulb for the other side instead of the Coralife. I also re-aquascaped the tank and added some more rock. It looks nice now (there is a little "island" now) and I am happy with the scape. I'm ready to add corals and inverts but our local pet store is redoing their saltwater systems so I have to wait a bit. :( Well, pictures coming soon!
Oh and please pray for Socks from "Alasandra, The Cats and a Dog"
http://www.alasandra2003.blogspot.com/

A New Gerbil Buddy for Clark!

Well, today I got a new male gerbil buddy for Clark! Right now I am split-caging them (a process which gets them used to each other) and will introduce them directly once everything looks good with them. So far, they are getting along pretty well (no fighting through the cage bars) and are curious about each other. Will post pictures as soon as I can!

My New 10-Gallon Nano-Reef!

Well, my new 10-gallon nano-reef is set up and has corals in it now (my 5-gallon is no longer set up). The equipment consists of a standard 10-gallon glass aquarium, an unknown brand hang-on-back power filter, a Whisper filter (mainly for flow), a 50 watt Jr Heater, and (right now) a Coralife 50/50 10 watt PC screw in bulb plus a house PC screw in bulb (the coil type) which will both be replaced in a few weeks with two 20 watt Coralife 50/50 PC screw in bulbs (to provide a total of 40 watts of light, or 4 watts per gallon). I am working on a DIY protein skimmer and will be testing it hopefully tomorrow! I'll post results on that and instructions on how to make one if it works! Here are some pictures of the tank.