davidgnome

Some jobs you take, some you walk away from. This is one to walk away from. It can't be done. A double pump system will flood either the DT or the sump, and it might be one today, and the other tomorrow.

A drain system up and then down will never work either, as you already know.

With a commercial occupancy, these things are planned and put in before the building is finished and occupied. Also, this tank is too small to go to all that trouble. Make it "awesome" in place, certainly; walk away from the "fish room." Not going to happen. My bid to actually make it happen, would be $300,000.00, and would have to tear up the building. (Part of that bid is to upgrade my catastrophic liability insurance.) I would not even consider it with under 500 gallons, and no way to go down.

sent you a pm

Hi David, Sadly I sold them to The Greenwich Aquaria, but I like the way you're thinking and can't wait to see the finished product!

Joe

That could def be a source. I cover my tank with a cardboard cut out on the front and one side that faces east where it gets blated by the sunrise every day. I have been doing this for a year now and the corals have responded nicely since. Sure in nature you have the moon cycles, but windows can put out a lot if light...especially if the sun glares through them. Plus direct sunlight can give spectrum of light that grows green algae.

Your solution of having light run/turn off earlier is a viable solution you can try. But some people (like myself) like to view my tank in the evening so I choose to cover glass during night and morning hours. So my guess is to shorten the photo period a little....

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I also have found (for my system included) that some of the 'feasts' foods (phyto, oyster, roti, ect) are very benefitial to your entire system. You have to remember what the building blocks of life begin with....algae. You need alage to feed the micro plankton which in turn feeds that larger plankton which in turn feeds corals. Make sense?Just take things SLOW....adjust only ONE thing at a time. If you play with several things at once and see a benefit or adverse reaction, it will be impossible to know which one or more adjustments caused the reaction. I also find documenting/dating everything I do to my tank (WC's, dosing, bulb changes, parameters) will help me for future. This way you'll know exactly the whats/whens/how much/ect with no guessing.

Nothing happens quick in this hobby unless it is bad.

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Well its hard to say...I know zoos don't need light like most SPS do. 8-11 'total' hrs with peak (all running same time) about 4-6hrs. You may have to adjust down or up from there. You also have to take in consideration if your tank is near a window or room that has ambient light (TV, lamps, etc)....all that gets added to total light that corals receive in a day. Corals need time to rest or they will get photoinhibited. Your tank is young...most tanks don't fully mature until a year or more. My tank didn't take off until about a year and half point then it went bezerk! You can add more fish which in turn will add more nutrients in your tank via poop/pee and leftover from increased feedings.

Having an LED combo with T5 or halide is the way to go IMO right now....at least until the manufactures start to develop LED that broaden the spectrum of light they produce. So with your LED/T5 combo, I am sure your tank looks nice and is getting the wide spectrum needed for corals. Now there could be a lot of reasons of fading colors. Nutrients, lighting period (too much/too little), stability, maturity of tank, chemistry, pathogens, ect. Do you test your water? (NO3, Po4, Salinity, Mg, Ca, ect). Also have you posted your question in the Zoos forum? You may get some good answers there.

GL
Jason