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Do you have a cleanup crew? blue leg hermit crabs, emerald crabs, astrea snails.

That sounds like a plan scoop the cc for the 10 gal. set it up for nemo. I would still get a pair of cleaner shrimp for him. For FOWLR 1 light is ok. preferrably a reef or saltwater type bulb. not regular flourescent bulb. For added light you can buy an extra light canopy. pull off the front...

how do you feel about nitrates. If you are going for the reef look you will want zero nitrates. Then you will want 4+ inches. The whole purpose for sand is nitrate reduction and deeper is better.

wait on cleanup crew until you have good algae growth. a load of hermits can strip a tank in no time flat. I suggest a pair of cleaner shrimp. Cute easy to feed and will be useful in cleaning up excess food and cleaning fish in the future. Once the algae grows then get blue leg hermits and/or...

went fine. I used the bioalive. Its not "live in the sense of "bugs and worms" but supposedly has bacteria (sales gimmic?) Everything said not to mix different sizes but when I saw all those cute little bugs I didnt have the heart to throw it out so mix I did. besides everything I read about jaw...

pull some gravel/sand and rock from the main tank and put in new tank add new sand. Tank will cycle but at a much safer level. I started a 40 from a 20 this way. ammonia went up to .025 nitrite .25 but zero in 3 weeks.

depends how green your tank is. Usually sold in lots of 10 here. If you get too many they will die back. Too little and you will have algae. Totally depends on how many fish, how much food, how much light, etc. Don't buy too early either. Make sure you have good algae growth, then order cleanup...

The book says 30 gal. Yes to shrimp no to fish. I like 2-3 cleaner shrimp as they help clean your fish while in QT. 10 gal will work for QT however the coral beauty will probably pace alot. Keep the outside edges open for swimming. (put any rock in middle) Vacuming the cc will work but nitrates...

ditto. The smaller ones are definitely safer. The key is more is better. more space, more rock. My coral beauty swims laps all day long. It also picks at the rocks all day long.

shrimps and lobsters shed their outer cover like a snake. This usually invokes panic in the new tank owner thinking their precious critter is dead. Shrimps seem to molt every 1-2 months and lobsters less often. Since they wear their skeleton on the outside the only way they can grow is to shed...

could be fighting with either the lobster or the urchin.

who are his roommates? is he being chased? If not just give him some time to get to know the neighborhood.

Yeah. I had the same problem. My LFS was brand new to saltwater when I started. Seriously I would consider either covering up or switching out the cc. Unless you really like to do weekly cleaning. My first real fish (after the damsel program) was a coral beauty despite what they say about...

Honestly, sit back and enjoy for a while. Keep an eye on your nitrates, the crushed coral may get you into trouble. If you do get a new fish quarantine it.

been there done that. I've suffered more than a few heart failures over the past year.

My LFS has one in a 55. Very aggressive. Eats inverts, best friend is a blue devil (that should be a red flag). The young kids that work there hate him because he bites them when they put their hands in to retrieve inverts to sell. He also drags the anemome around if he doesnt like the location...

0.5-1.5 aragonate will not blow around. oolite will though. If I had my way I would outlaw cc. HIGH maintenance. If I had that big of tank I would go deep 6-8 inches. I'm green with envy. Good luck.

if you have ammonia you are still cycling. New rock, new fish, over feeding or dead guys? these will elevate ammonia. Do you have a cleanup crew? snails and hermits will help. start small though the cleanup crews are too big and will starve out.

absolutely sand. cc will cause a constant struggle with detrius and nitrates.

how deep is your cc. I had 1 inch and dumped 3 inches of sand on top keeping all the bacteria and microfauna. If you truly want to get rid of the cc some suggest doing it in sections. move rock to one side scoop cc out put in sand. then next week swap a different section out. My nitrates have...