Just a quick update:
The tank is now sumpless and skimmerless. I've added five more large pumps to aid in water circulation which has more than doubled water turnover and added another 20kgs of living rock. I'm now doing a strict 20% water change every fortnight and running carbon on a permanent basis. The skimmer wasn't removed instantly, I gradually reduced the time per day it was on using a timer over a period of weeks.
The tank has been like this now for a couple of months and water quality has actually improved after an initial spike , which was fairly unnerving. I think the huge water surface movement and the various algae that is harvested is the contributing factor to this.
Here is a photo of it since the sump/skimmer has gone. The bubble is a bit grumpy because it has just been moved. You can actually see how it's splitting into 2 when it's closed. All of the leather corals are the same ones from the first tank photo below, you can see how they've grown. The leather in the middle of the shot is even bigger than in the photo, it actually rubs on the glass, again it's closed up a little because I've touched it when moving the bubble. The tank is now 99.99% silent, I can only hear the water rippling...... heaven.
The regal in the picture below is the same fish that was mentioned in an older post. It's face and fins are all much improved and about as good as they'll get. It's also now 7-8 inches long including it's tail and is extremely fat!!!
