The last piece of the puzzle is now in place.
Ray (onegreenray) came over this evening and drilled out the 20g tank (thank you jbollbach), and plumbed it in line (please forgive the background... I just wanted something to hide the cinderblock, etc., that was behind the tank, and this was the only thing I had laying around):
This is now the complete set up in the equipment room (formerly known as the utility closet):
The tank on the right is the refugium. Sand to be added. Thanks to Ray's very clever creativity, the phosban reactor is now online too. The use for the tank on the left is still to be determined. Most likely a coral propogation/grow-out tank. Less likely seahorses or an anemone/clownfish tank.
Ray also swapped out all the old PC bulbs (the question is finally answered... it wan't the ballasts, but the bulbs that were blown). Installed now are six 55w actinic PC bulbs (along with the 250w MH bulb).
The effect is totally stunning. Apparently the bulbs that I got when I ordered the PC retrofit kits are a waste. Ray recommended Coralife PC bulbs (and Cindy gave me a great deal on them), and all I can say is WOW! The colors on the corals just totally POPPED!
Attempts to take a decent picture were futile. This is the best that we could come up with:
Last, but in Tracy's eyes certainly not least, Ray took it upon himself to clean up the mess that was the utility room (kudo's to Ray's mom
). This could perhaps be Tracy's favorite picture