Cheato/pod question

A 5000K min flood. I saw on Melvins Reef where he had the best growth with a 5100, but I couldn't find one.

 

I may try the cover, I would think by drilling holes in the back the mildew would just end up on my wall

 

Yes a 5100K is preferred but something close will probably do ok.

 

How i miss those days...

Your sump/fuge looks good. I see you run the skimmer b4 the fuge. just an observation and something to take into account for low cheato growth:
some people use a central return style sump so there is 2 points of entrance for water, 1 going to the skimmer section and 1 going to the fuge section where both sections poor into the central section (the return). The thought with this method is that the skimmer will skim dissolved organics b4 it gets to the fuge. this will lessen the food the cheato can use. This being said I dont think you have to worry too much about it as it is unlikely a skimmer can pull all the waste out of the water in a single pass. just something that maybe slowing the growth but i would not change your working sump to address this.

The black stuff on the wall: Is is slimy? whats the texture? reason for asking bc it may not be mold. I saw you have a black tube against the white paint so maybe the black is leaching off in the humidity that is your "junior high's boys locker filled with sweaty socks". I dont think you need a fan just some vents for the moisture to escape. I put a thin acrylic sheet over the sump and fuge area to keep any splashing and condensation inside the sump and also to guard against water hitting my lamp.

 

I had to put the skimmer there the way the sump was built. The guy made that area so small I couldn't even put an in sump skimmer in, I had to hang a Aqua C on there.
The black stuff is "slimy". So should I cover the entire sump with acrylic or just the return section?