Great news guys. Went to the local grocery store, where they have piles of fresh ocean and saltwater fare.
I bought some cuttlefish, a baby octopus, a squid,6 freshwater sardines, some freshwater bay scallops, and 6 regular large shrimp. I put that in the food processor and it made 4 small freezer bags of the mixture. This is about 2 X the cost effectiveness of buying frozen shrimp.
So I put some in and wow...everyone in the tank went nuts for it. The brittle star managed to snag a couple pieces that I put towards him, and it was cool watching him eat.
I've been checking the levels of ammonia daily. Yesterday the ammonia was at the rating above zero (I forget, and i don't have my chart handy). Today it's back down to zero, but the nitrites went up one chart level. Cool to see the ecosystem working. All my other levels are where they should be.
So far in my tank I have 8 nassarius snails, 2 cerith snails, 1 brittle star, 1 clown fish, 1 peppermint shrimp, and 5 blue legged hermit crabs.
To buy still: 1 skunk cleaner shrimp, and another 2-4 fish. Maybe a 6 lined wrasse, coral beauty and a royal gramma. Anyone have any suggestions for a blue coloured fish that isn't a damsel?