[Michael Hoaster]

Yeah, gotta chill and watch it grow. Let Nature do her magic!

I'm trying to resist getting another condylactis gigantea, but I want one. In v1, I had thoughts that I shouldn't have added one, when I was focused on the plants. So this time I'm limiting my efforts to plants only, for a while at least. It will allow me more freedom to accommodate the plants, without harming sensitive anemones.

Today I received my two red macro frag orders. One of them had ice in the bag! Otherwise it looked OK so I got them planted in the rocks at the right end, with the other reds there. I think my splash of red is going to be pretty cool. Right now, everything is quite small. Assuming I don't kill them, they should grow and provide a nice contrast to the greens.

My crew is starting to make a dent in the algae. Still a ways to go but I'm encouraged. If I recall correctly, in v1 I never really got algae under control, until I got the mini strombus snails in there. Getting them in the tank much earlier this time gives me hope that this algae phase won't be so bad. I can hope!

The manatee grass looks to be doing well. They did bring in with them some unwanted algae, so I have to tidy them up to export some of it. It will take some time but I'll get them prettied up eventually.

All is well so far. Even in this less than perfect condition, I'm thoroughly enjoying the viewing experience. There's much still to do, but also there is much of doing nothing and just watching and thinking.