So with my water parameters falling and the tank having critters and coral seemingly doing well (albeit for 2 days) AND in reading a post by someone responding to a new user with critters from live sand - I decided to consider the cycle as a "very minimal cycle" and the current bacteria load from the rocks and sand capable of handling what is there - with a water change.
So I decided to go to the next step. I bought some inhabitants for the tank. Bought an emerald crab, peppermint shrimp and some small hermits. 2 hours of drip acclimation and about 15 minutes of temperature acclimation and turned em loose. Shrimp skeedaddled and hid out. Crab found a hole in one of my base rocks and climbed into it and the hermits sort of wandered around in varying levels of escape mode.
Couple hours later still no shrimp but the emerald was exploring.
Couple hours more and I found the shrimp by peering under and behind a rock :), the emerald was crawling ALL over one of the live rocks eating algae bits and no sign of the hermits.
By bed time the shrimp were surfing the water currents exploring the crab was still eating and the hermits were wandering and my mini brittle star had come back out to play. I was pretty happy.
This morning we saw the shrimp flitting around - amazing how they know which holes to dive into and disappear into the "guts" of the rocks. Saw a hermit crawling around on the live rock and one on the sand. No sign of my emerald crab. Guess he found a nook to sleep in.
This tank is so cool
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