[Michael Hoaster]

OK, I'm back home. It was nice to get away for a week or so, especially with all the work I've got ahead of me.

With the UV and other measures going, it looks like dinos are all but gone. I now have chaeto taking over! The caulerpa on the back wall has been knocked back again. I quick look revealed 3-4 adult slugs, doing their business. I guess I'll just have to let them chow down until I drain the tank.

Looking over my list of to dos, the first thing I can do is rehang the metal halide light. This I want to do BEFORE I drain the tank, so I can see the light spread through the water. I want to raise it up to see if I can reduce the heat radiating into the water. I also want to make sure I can limit the spread to where I want it, so I'll be bending the reflector in to constrict it. These two desires oppose each other but hopefully I can make it work.

Everything else will be done after I drain it. So, I'll need to figure out holding tanks for the stuff I want to keep alive. The fish I should be able to fit into the two QTs. I'd really like to keep as much of my sand and its residents as I can. What I don't want to do is bring any aiptasias or dinos or caulerpa slugs. That would be bad. I will also try to frag some of my sponges to carry over. As for macros, I probably won't try to keep many, especially because they have been invaded with aiptasias. And this time around, I'd like to focus on the seagrasses. I noticed an unwanted trend of ever-growing reds. I would prefer the overall look to be more green-dominated, with a small splash of red, that never attempts to take over.

So that's the vision! With luck, I hope to improve on the original concept, and fix a few mistakes.