a LOOOONG vacation

[ReefWannabe]

Well, Ive been MIA from the fish sites for a bit now. I get on reefcentral every so often to check for sale ads though.

Ive been waiting out my 8 weeks of baren tank. Im 2 weeks short and starting to get excited again!!! I lost my first 3 fish last time, and ive made some changes since then.

So far ive added another 30# LR. A few cups of LS (and MAN I got alot of stuff from that) I added some trochus snails, who eat EVERYTHING. I made a simple kalk gravity fed drip system. Been dripping kalk for a week or so now. I got my skimmer dialed in perfecto, so I get some nasty stuf now. Ive gotten my canopy and lights installed. My temp even with summer and lights, now stays the same no matter what (as long as my a/c is on) My temp has varied from 78.8 to 78 ever since that last temp mishap.

Now im attempting to figure out what to get??? I know my system is FAR more healthy than before. I have tons of pods now also. But I cant figure what to get. This time around I want a list, and actually stick to it in a certain order. Nice-not so nice.....

Not sure on what order yet, but so far
2 clowns, any type.
blenny any type
2 neon gobies
1 kole tang
maybe 2-3 chromis?
anything else can wait for the bigger tank. but what order would these guys go in? and what type of blenny and clowns would be a fun choice? something nice, and i dont want a "nemo" lol. any and all suggestions would be awesome!!!

my coral list will be
any zoos.
maybe some ricordia
a few select sps. no acro yet. mainly monti capricornis.
frogspawn and hammer maybe
1-2 clams ( i know this isnt coral )
and maybe, an anenome, not set on this just yet.

[jhnrb]

Just a heads up. at this point you should not need to drip kalk. at such time as your water changes do not keep up with the calcium needs you can drip kalk. just thought i would share that bit of information with ya. good luck sounds like you are moving along. keep us posted.

[Bifferwine]

I would start with the chromis first. They do well starting a tank off. As for what kind of blenny, I have a lawnmower blenny, and although they are not very pretty and sometimes hard to find, he (Lenny is his name) is by far the most interesting and entertaining member of our tank. He is so much fun to watch, has so much unique character, and it's funny how he interacts (friendly, not mean) with the other fish and snails and crabs, and he keeps the glass, rocks, and filter parts clean of algae (the places where the snails and crabs can't reach). A lawnmower blenny is one fish that I would never go without in a tank.

[ReefWannabe]

ok once this batch runs out, which it should today, ill just refill with fresh water with no kalk.

If I can actually find chromis locally lol, i will likely get 2-3. I know the tank is mature enough to handle it. Its not really starting off, more like a second time around. As for the lawnmower, I dont have algae issues at all. I even put food and such in the tank to attempt to grow algae for my snails and hermits to munch on. Would the lawnmower be ok with flake or frozen? I had a combtooth before, and he was cool. this time I was thinking of trying another? or maybe a midas or bicolor.

[Bifferwine]

My lawnmower blenny loves the nori (dried seaweed strips) more than anything else. I attach the seaweed to a rock with a rubber band, and he perches next to where I usually put it, waiting for me to drop the rock back into the tank, then he dives on top of it and devours it. I don't know if they can survive on dried seaweed alone, or if they need different types of algae, but I suspect that mine would do fine even if there was no algae on the glass...