[nineball]

There is a lot going on here and its all good. At the moment the main activity is preparing for Christmas. Judy and I are buried in Christmas trees, lights etc.. I've just been fitted for new golf clubs which feels incredibly dumb considering that its six months before I can play again. I can hear all the Aussies grinning from ear to ear. I have been working on my home theater refresh and the room looks more in disarray than when I started. I'm taking a lot of heat for not cleaning it out but I get hung up watching a movie and never seem to get the time to get anything done. Making matters worse I have just added an XBox 360 and a PS3 playstation and of course I had to try and break them in. Anyone who has ever tried to play Call of Duty on a 14 foot screen would understand why so little other stuff gets done!

Soaring through the middle of all this have been activities related to the coral ecosystem. I will be taking the time to do a photo update in the next week. I have been waiting for Mr. Wilson to do the final swap and upgrade to the lighting system over the display tank. I continue to be very impressed with the Orphek lights and will have a lot more to say when the new product arrives and is installed. I continue to learn more and more, the deeper I get into this hobby. Lighting is a fundamental and very basic component of a healthy marine coral ecosystem. This everyone knows. There is above all this a general preference for particular aesthetics ranging from 10K to 20K colour and various levels of intensity in between. The hobby generally accepts that metal halide lighting gives the best results as far as health and nutrition goes but I believe that this is changing very fast. I am observing a phenomenal evolution taking place in the tank and I expect I will have tangible proof that the world is ready for LED's that do not compromise either the health or the aesthetic of the maine inhabitants in our care. I believe we are looking at a best practice in using LED's to light our environments. Again more on this as we move forward.

I continue to be impressed with the Abyzz pumps. I cannot understand why anyone would use anything else except for the cost. We will be taking one of my pumps apart in the summer to see for ourselves how well they are standing up. I have five of them and I still have to actually touch them to see if they are working because they make no noise, vibration, heat or obvious signs that they are even plugged in. The biggest testament to their effectiveness would be the impact on the life in the tank. The growth and colour of the corals in the tank I believe speaks for itself. 5 pumps to move the water column in the display tank with a peak of 540 watts total.

One of the best things I did was to study the water quality system at the very outset of this build. I am very pleased with the configuration I now have in place for the RO/DI. The off the shelf consumer products I started with were in comparison terrible products that introduced unnecessary risks with numerous failures to maintain 0 TDS reliably and consistently. I know what I have is a best practice and is a major contributor to the excellent health and welfare of my tank inhabitants.

The mangrove trees are kkrrrraaaaazy. They are growing very well and fast. I am very impressed with the misting system that is making most of the progress relatively labour free. Thank you Mr. Wilson. Again, as I have said in the past, the design of the wall unit raceway is truly unique and represents yet another best practice for the fish room support system. My refugium is waaaay undersized for the size of display tank I have so the Mangrove raceway goes a long way to make up for the refugium shortfall. I have a real challenge with respect to the plasma lights that are feeding the mangroves. I can't argue with the health and growth rate. They are second to none but there is also a regular blooming of nuisance algae which does not seem to occur as severely under the plasmas. The plasma are big, very heavy, hugely energy inefficient, generate a lot of heat and extremely awkward to hang. They are the last option I would use if other options were available. On that note we are going to test two custom made 300 watt LED pendants to evaluate all features of life in the mangrove environment. We will be taking a lot of pictures through the test period for everyones benefit.

Mr. Wilson has been very very busy lately preparing for the official opening and launch of his new coral and fish store. The Coral Reef Shop has been competing for his time on some of the projects for our tank but I think it will be to our benefit to be able to count on his continuing participation in this build as he has to go by my house on his way to work every day. I think it is going to open in January so I was thinking that we might organize a drive/fly in for folks who might be interested in meeting Mr. Wilson in the flesh and I would be willing to combine that experience with a tank tour since we are so close. Since he is so busy that he can't find time to read this thread perhaps we can try and organize a surprise visit!!!!I will bring up the idea again when we get closer to the date.

Steve Noakes has been a godsend to the build. The coral could not get better care. Steve comes here 7 days a week and tests water quality each and every day. Every coral is inventoried and inspected. The results speak for themselves and I will produce a photo essay later this week for everyone's benefit. Thanks to everyone for hanging in and checking up on our progress. You are a great community.

Peter