I believe I have my wife convinced that nothing else can go in the tank until water has been prestine accross the board for a month. lol I am going to find some plastic crate or something to use as a top for the tank. I currently have glass and have pretty much no evaporation at all. So new water only goes in at water changes. Any way, here are a few photos of my critters such as they are. I'm not certain what breeds they are..............

the snails!!!



towards the bottom of the pic



The Hermit crabs!





I love this guy. Very active and he just looks cool!!

Looking good, Jim!!

You'll be amazed how much water you loose to evaporation, even with a glass top... I have glass tops on mine and still loose probably 1-2 gallons a week!

A good 'break in' period is super critical- Let it cycle properly!! I cycled mine with live rock and no fish, it took a little over a month before I added any new 'life' to it, and once you do, add it SLOWLY- and try to keep a balance. Saltwater tanks are not that much more work than a freshwater tank, if you do it right!!

-Andrew

Fantastic pics Jim. No glare from the glass.

I really wanted to do that!!! Wait a month. But Kelly had other plans. I had my first good water test, told her, the two Chromis and crabs came home with her. lol
I just found out my tank is in puberty!!! lol Lots of brown algae every where. No pretty pictures for a couple weeks.

Come the 5th I'll be getting a new light, boy has my knowledge of lighting ever expanded WOW!! Going to get a 150 watt metal halide pendant.

Good to know this! Currently on our 90 gallon we have plexiglass covering half the top (other half is covered with lid, lights, and filter parts). We've been meaning to switch the plexiglass for glass for some time now and we've thought that the glass will help with the evaporation - guess there's no rush in switching!

The critters look great, Jim! It is sooooo hard to resist filling the tank right away!

Yes resisting the new critters! - after many false starts I really learned that one - from an excellent aquarium book or 5. So I got into decorating the tank very carefully.

I hope all goes well with your critters. Our tank top was like Sarah's - all lighting & plastic. I really wanted plants growing out of the aquarium & hanging lights but never got there.

I love snails -as pets. Your Hermit crabs are wonderful - I'd like to have them too. Do you have a Shrimp? I remember going to an Indonesian Restaurant in the Hague the had lots of large tanks & they fed the shrimp & other critters using a long thin gripping-claw - carefully handing the food to the small guy. It was very colourful & very cool.

I feel like I'm snorkeling in the Gulf! YEA! Thanks Jim!

Jim- You'll go through a LOT of algea blooms- Especially in the first few months... Until the tanks 'mature'. My tanks are all at least 4 yrs old- although I did break a larger tank down into some smaller ones, I used the water, live rock, and live sand from an established tank to set the up, so they didn't have to cycle...

GO SLOW when it comes to adding critters, and you'll be fine! Also, remember that you can keep a LOT of little critters like hermits, serpent stars, etc in there- Inverts have a relatively low bioload on the tank, and actually really help keep things clean. In my big tank, the inverts were so efficient I NEVER found a dead fish- They just died, and 'disappeared' in the night when the stars and crabs fed on them...

The mini hermit crabs are great- at one time I had over 100 of them in the tank- They keep it spotless!!

-Andrew

shrimp are in the plans. Probably part of the next addition.