jestep

20 Cree's has got to be like nuclear blast blinding. I can't wait to see this on a tank.

One of the owners went to JBJ. I wouldn't count on them passing their business off in any way, unless that owner has sold all of his interest in the company. We'll see how the whole situation develops.

With the 20K, you'll be pretty blue. They will get more blue as they break in as well. You may want to go with 14K's when you replace the bulbs. Personally, I would probably just deal with the blue until the bulbs need replaced since they're not the cheapest. I also agree with increasing intensity first and then photo period second. Keep a close eye on your SPS, especially blue ones or seriatopora, as they should be the first to show signs of bleaching or RTN.

That's a massive increase in light so you should work up to a full schedule over at least a month, maybe even 2 if you have a lot of coral. Fiberglass window screen also works great. You can lay several layers of screen over the tank, and remove 1 per week until the tank is at full light.

Welcome to the forum. You really don't need a skimmer on a 30 unless you are doing high-end SPS. Most monti's and seriatopora, and some of the hardier acros are fine without skimming. LPS and softies will normally grow better in an unskimmed tank. Weekly water changes, and selective stocking, are more than sufficient to keep the water in good condition. If it's truly a budget issue, I would skip the skimmer and stock accordingly. Otherwise save up for a good quality skimmer.

My wife forbid that one since it can kill about 20 people. Would be awesome to have an octo tank though.

Definitely going if it's in Dallas.

There's no way to get your tank temp down to the room temperature, fans or anything else. You can generally expect 2 - 10 degrees above room temp depending on the pumps, how intense the lighting it, and if there's any fans cooling the lights or the surface of the water. Unless you can lower the room temperature, I wouldn't expect to get lower than 83 even if you are blowing air on the light fixture and the surface of the water for evaporative cooling.

You heading towards Austin any time soon. Interested in the monti cap and the tyree. Outstanding pictures.

Took this one a while back.

Is it on the surface of the water or on the surface of what's inside the tank? What sort of lighting (type and wattage and photo period), temp, stocking, and water changes are you currently doing? If you need to get a leg up on it, the only algae removing product that I would ever use is: API's Algae Destroyer Advanced. Dose it immediately after your water changes and increase changes to 1 per week to get it into control. It will still take several weeks, but this stuff destroys algae and has no ill effect on fish or plants or your tank's biological filtration. To maintain a stable system you need to find a balance of lighting, and nutrients. CO2 isn't necessarily required, but it can help if the tank is well planted. It helps the plants to out compete the algae under the correct conditions. Let me know the above questions, and I can provide a better answer to the specific situation.

Are the red planet's or the plum crazy tabling?