Thanks again for all the nice words guys. It truly is an awesome hobby. There are so many cool tanks out there.
Mr. Sandman-
No, I don't run carbon although I do have a whisper set up in case that I need to or to use a mechanical filter. I feed 4 capfulls of DTs every other day. The rose has remained in the same place since early Decemeber. Before that I had a regular brown BTA who stayed in the same place for over a year. I think having the maroon around helps as wells as weekly feedings. Also, everynow and then, the rose stings the tips or bottoms of corals too close to it. Hasn't killed anything entirely but does kill off offending branches or bases. I don't clean my sand bed...I have nassarius snails, worms, a fighting conch, and a serpent star plus loads of other unknown critters doing their job. The top is always clear although the sides of the sandbed appear dirty now and then. Lastly, the mandarin only eats the living pods in the tank...never have seen him go after prepared foods. He's been in the tank over a year. I'd love to add a female but I'm not sure my 40g would support both.
Rob:
Yes, I feel my formula is divisable...when I make up a 5gallon recipe, I mix 50ml of vinegar with 8 tsp of kalk...a 25gallon recipe is 250ml of vinegar with about 13 tablespoons of kalk.