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One advantage of the higher turnover rates is gas exchange / Oxygenation. I agree 10x is excessive. Personally, I wouldn't shoot for anything under 5x IMO. But that's just me.
Don't sweat it. We lock members up for not posting pics. No such thing as too many pictures IMO. Keep em coming!
BTW...tank looks great! What's that big bullseye, scolly looking thing on the bottom anyway?
Make sure you get the individule bulb reflectors (SLR's) if your doing it retro. Otherwise you will only be getting a small amount of the available par into the tank.
The rule of thumb, which may not necessarily be correct as it seems excessive to me, is 10x the tank volume. So a 65g tank would require a 650gph pump more or less.
Nick, the crabs were picking at something under their own belly plate. I'm not sure but my guess is they are female's and I believe they carry their eggs under the plate. Hopefully they are just doing some house cleaning.
Well, I live about 1/2 hr south of AC. The store closest to AC, Ocean Aquarium, isn't much for reef stuff. And this time of the year they cut way back on the fish order also.
Even though it's "central" jersey, I'd recommend Tropiquarium near Neptune / Asbury Park.
If your going to get all cured rock, pick up a half dozon or so chromis from Ocean Aquarium. You'll also want to add a small pinch of some type of food every 4 or 5 days even without fish.