TANK UPDATE WITH PICS
The tank has been up and running for nearly two months now and things are coming along nicely. I've tried to be as patient as possible and I think it paid off as I have only had one loss, a purple tang that I really regret losing.
Currenty inhabitants in order of who got added first:
2 percula clowns, blue tang, yellow tang, flame angel, diamondback goby, scooter blenny, 4 anthias and a royal gramma. I think I've pretty much maxed out my bioload. Water parameters are good with Nitrates around 10 ppm, phosphates at .25. I got a weird calcium rating yesterday but I think its in the mid 400s. Everyone is eating and getting along nicely. Well, except for the royal gramma who most hangs out in the back by the rocks, so when I feed, he usually doesn't see the food. Its sort of annoying really. Darn pretty fish though.
The two perculas are pretty hilarious. One has been chasing the heck out of the other for about 2 weeks now. I havnt seen any nipped fins or anything, but one is really chasing the other around.
The other hilarious thing with one of the clowns is that I seriously think he has formed some sort of relationship with my Diamondback goby. The Diamondback likes to just chill on the sandbed, very still, for a minute or two at a time. Then he'll move to a new spot and munch on the sand there. He's always right out front. What I'm noticing is that one of the clowns, the same one every time, has a tendency to swim right up next to him. He slowly get closer and closer till he is literally right next to the goby, touching him even. He just sit there super still, just like the goby. Its hilarious. At first the goby would open run away, or he would open his mouth real wide to scare the clown off but now they pretty much just chill together sometimes. I'm trying to get a pick of it. Its really funny to watch.
As far as corals, I've got out 7 or 8 assorted pieces in there now. Mostly polyps and zoos. They are doing quite nicely, except my leather likes to be sideways for some reason. I thought I had him positioned wrong but pretty much just likes to point in a weird direction.
I was fearful that I didn't have enough light for these guys but everyone seems to be doing just fine. I even have a clam that seems to be doing just fine. This is with 4 54watt T5HOs.
One issue I do have is that of the 20 snails I put in, I think very few of them are left. I know some of the 20 hermit crabs I put in have died as well but I still see a bunch of them. Is it normal for the cleaner crew to sort of die off like that. I keep the glass pretty clean so maybe the snails didn't have enough food. Not really sure.
Now for some questions
1) How big a cleaner crew should I have for my tank??
2) I have one cleaner shrimp right now. I think I'm going to add another cleaner but I'd like to add some different ones as well. Anyone have recommendations for some neat shrimp? I was going to get a Fire Shrimp but the guy at the LFS said they pretty much hide in the rocks most of the time. I also really liked the Coral Branded but have heard that they can be a problem.
3) My skimmer cup fills with water. It fills very slowly, but after a few days, there is dirty water in there. Is this normal? Also, how often do you guys actually wipe down all the crap that gets stuck on the cup. Is that like a weekly thing? The skimmer cup is probably one of the worst odors I've ever experienced in my life. Its worse than the gnarliest crap ever.
4) In the beginning I noted how I had a TON of pods. I saw them on the rocks and on the sand. Not just tiny ones but nice sized ones. My problem is that I havnt seen a single pod for more than a month. They completely disappeared. What explains this??
Thanks for lookin and sorry if this post is too big!!
MORE PICS OF MY TANK CAN BE FOUND HERE