I'll answer a couple questions at the same time here:
I removed the shrimp after two days due to the smell. Rotting shrimp doesn't smell too good. I removed it the evening before I got the
LR. I don't think it would have hurt any at all to leave it in, I just didn't want the smell to get out of hand or my wife would kill me. It wasn't terribly bad, you had to stick you nose under the tank lid and take a deep breath to smell it, but like I said I just didn't want it to get out of hand. I also knew the
LR would probably do more good that the shrimp, the shrimp was just something to look at until the
LR got here.
As for other filtration, I have a large wet/dry with bio balls. The wet/dry is designed for a 125 gallon tank. I've put a few rocks in the sump to take up some space in the sump itself. This helps get the water level in the sump up to where it should be, yet there's not too much water that it would overflow the tank should my siphon overflow box not work.
The damsel and the few crabs that came along with the
LR seem to be doing quite well. Every now and then I hear a single click, so I think I've got a pistol shrimp too. I haven't seen him yet, so that also helps confirm my pistol, not a mantis, shrimp thinking...I hope. My next addition will be two small perc clownfish, you know nemos, at the request of my 3-year-old. As for the blue damsel, I'm not sure if he'll go back to the
LFS or not. I've heard they are a little aggressive, we'll have to see. I don't anticipate any more fish for now, as a 29 gallon tank and a new
SW hobbyist like me needs a low bio load.
It will be at least a week to a week and a half before I get the clowns, as I need to wait for pay day. I will contine to keep my log for that time and see if there are any other ammoinia spikes. If so I'l wait again. It's funny how pay day plays a big roll in delaying the addition of fish to a
SW tank. I never seemed to have that problem with a
FW tank.
p.s. As for adding
LR, I will be adding some more base rock (not live) as soon as it arrives from hirocks.com, bot no more
LR is planned.
Thanks your everyone's help again,
Kurt