Black & white tank begins

[ACBlinky]

I'm setting up a new tank for my saddlebacks, they're just too nasty to stay with their current tankmates in the 65g. I thought it might be fun to do something a little different and also wanted to set the tank up on a budget, so it's going to be a FO with a little LR. One advantage to having other tanks is being able to steal filter media - between that and the cured LR & LS, the cycle is moving along nicely. There's no NH3, NO2 is just above 0.1ppm, NO3 ~5ppm.

Details:
21g Hagen Waterhome tank (24"L x 14"W x 15"H)
2*15W NO fluorescent (18000K & actinic)
HOB AquaClear 30 filter, Maxi-Jet 900 PH for flow
5lbs Fiji LR
5lbs Aragonite, 20lbs Bahamas Oolite live sand

Inhabitants:
8 Hawaiian B&W hermits
4 Nassarius snails
zebra turbo snails (not in the tank yet)
2 Amphiprion polymnus saddlback clowns (not in the tank yet)
Black sun coral (not even ordered yet, looking to add in about 12 weeks)

Here's the nasty little couple, the last pic is a face-off with the flame angel, just one more reason they need to be moved.

Their new home, two of the hermits, and a close-up of some of the LR:

I'll update as the tank progresses

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

Nice tank! Looks like the crabs are trying to get out before the meanies show up!:lol:

 

[sunfishh]

Good plan and a nice looking tank for the clowns

 

[jcopp24]

sexy lil tank you have going!

 

[ACBlinky]

Thanks! I brought some more live rock home today, the price was too good to pass up. There's now a total of 13lbs. There was an Astraea hitchhiking on one of the pieces, and I've discovered a red mushroom as well! I'm going to remove the shroom and put it into my 5.5g, but I'll give it a little time to recover from the trip first. It looks quite a bit different now, I'll post some more pics tomorrow.

 

[ACBlinky]

Here's the most recent picture. We added a four-striped damsel, he's doing very well. NH3, NO2 are 0 (thanks to the LS and 8lbs of VERY well cured rock), NO3 ~5ppm. If the little guy doesn't get along with the clowns, he's got another home waiting for him.

 

[jjj1100]

nice shots!

 

[bkmorris]

what is the green thing below the clowns in the very first pic? sorry if that's a dumb question...

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

Looks good!! and the Three striped Damsel is the perfect tankmate for those Clowns!

 

[Brandon M]

Looks good!

 

[ACBlinky]

Thanks guys!
Bkmorris - that's Caulerpa macroalgae. I have a patch in the 65g that I keep because the fish seem to like picking around at the pods living in it

 

[ACBlinky]

Well, nothing goes as planned! I wanted to wait a week or so before adding the clowns to the tank - NH3 and NO2 are 0, but even with established rock and media it's awfully soon to up the bioload so much. I watched the clowns take a tear around the 65g and shred a few tails, noticed my goby hasn't been out of her cave all day (the sand is untouched and her 'door' is closed) and figured now was as good a time as any. I caught them and put them into the 21g (made sure the parameters matched when I set the tank up so I could make the switch quickly if needed) and 10 minutes later they looked right at home. I have 20g of water mixed and waiting in case I need to to emergency water changes, but these guys are tough and I have no doubt they'll be just fine.