re: Just got back into saltwater aquariums. got sick deal

There's a reefing show next month in Slidell. National vendors brought some really high end corals but the equipment/dry good deals at last years show were hard to believe.-- link

Here are a few pics of mine

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why no caves in the middle of that live rock mound?

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There are some there, just hard to see in those pics. I'm not the best photographer. I have several hermit crabs and snails in there. There are also a couple of shrimp and emerald crabs in there....which I hardly ever see. A sea urchin and a sea apple which can bee seen in that last pic on the right hand side stuck to the glass. That live rock is always producing new corals that just hitchhiked in. It's a lot of fun to watch. I will try to find a video showing a demo of how the lights produce a thunderstorm. It's pretty neat.

SOL Blue Thunderstorm

Miracle Mud or live sand is used in the refugium to create an anaerobic environment for denitrifying bacteria to thrive. In order to create that type of environment, you need a good 6-8 inches of substrate.

As for what type of algae to grow and further reduce the nitrates in your system, I have always found Chaeto to be more readily abundant and easy to maintain. It grows in a ball, and so every once in a while, just tear the ball in half and throw one half back in and the other in the trash.

As for seeding the rock, deacon is right- it will eventually become seeded over time if you add some live sand or live rock to your system.

If the live rock needs to be cured, now would be a good time to throw it in with the old rock, put a heater in there, cover it and let it cure for the next 4-5 weeks. Or if you get rock that has already been cured, just set the tank up like normal and add both the "dead" rock and "live" rock together and let it cycle for a few weeks.

Also, those bioballs in the sump are widely considered to be nitrate factories, so I would suggest dumping them.

They're in the sump and the overflow. What would you suggest in place of them? Thanks

Really don't need to replace them with anything. The refugium you plan on setting up, in conjunction with all the live rock in the system, will provide all the necessary means to convert ammonia to nitrite to nitrate. Those nitrates will then be used by the macroalgae growing in the refugium. When you harvest the algae, you are essentially taking those nitrates out of the system.

If you want to replace them with anything, I would suggest filling the area with small pieces of liverock.