Looks nice dude. Ya lose the nitrate factories. The fluval sucks for flow id run both. Not for the cleaning aspect but for the flow. Keep it up.
.............stay thirsty my friend.
What, if anything, would you recommend I put in place of the ceramics?
Nothing my good man. Let er flow. N if u keep the sponges in it'll catch the floating poo just gotta promise u will clean them every 3 days. Not twice a week that's too long every 3 days.
.............stay thirsty my friend.
Now my curiosity. U in the navy?
.............stay thirsty my friend.
In addition to the slight temp increase from the T5s, plz be mindful of using your fire place since it's in such close proximity.
The green bubble looks like bubble algae... the second pic looks like an aiptasia anemone, both are huge nuisances. Remove them both before they multiply beyond control. Do not pop the bubble algae while removing or it will release spores that allow it to spread. Since you have a new tank I'd recommend removing that piece of rock from the tank and scrape it completely off followed by saltwater rinse before adding back to the tank. For the aiptasia, I have had success feeding it a mysis shrimp so it can't retract. After it pulls the food into its oral disc, use tweezers to gently remove it from the tank. There are quite a few different methods for removing aiptasia but this method doesn't require the purchase of anything I don't normally have on hand.
Most skimmers have a break in period. Let it get a little yucky n see if adjustments need to b made
.............stay thirsty my friend.