Thought I'd post an update. Tank is doing well.
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I'm trying to stock it slowly. Current inhabitants include:
- 3 RBTAs
- 1 rock-flower anemone
- lawnmower blenny--it's name goes back and forth between Lenny (the Blenny) and Blenda (the Good Fish).
- 6-line wrasse
- gorgonian
- tiger conch
So far I've had one rockflower anemone die, but nothing else. The tank is obviously in the "uglies" phase, but past the worst of it (I hope). I just added pods and purple coraline algae from AlgaeBarn, and I'm hoping that both will help promote healthy surface flora/fauna, albeit over a couple months.
I had a lot of trouble getting the BTAs off of the rock they came on--they were really dug in! But I learned a cool trick: get a length of PVC with a big enough diameter to fit around the nem when it's closed up at night, attach it to the rock over the nem using a sponge and rubber bands, and face the pipe so the lights don't shine down the center. After a day or two, the nem walks to the other end of the pipe, to get back into the light. And it's a lot easier to remove an anemone from a smooth PVC surface than from a craggy piece of live rock.
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Two of the anemones attached themselves to the shell that I was using as a feeding dish, but I moved onto the main piece of rockwork, and they seem happy enough there.
So far I'm using only equipment I already had for the reef setup. I've turned the Kessil A9 to go as far toward white light as it can, and I put fresh coral ATI bulbs in the fluorescent fixture. I've been trying to 3D print a replacement part for my protein skimmer (red cap for a Bubble Magus Curve 5), but I'm about to give up and buy a new skimmer. Precision fits are hard.
