The tanks doing great! Almost every coral I try has shown great growth. I've had a lot more success with lps and sps than I'd ever imagined I would so I keep slowly trying more. Duncans, acans, frogspawn, torch, blastoids, montepora, digitata, clams, elegance, brains, anemones, dendrophyllia, goniopora, are some that have been doing really well. I've lost a hammer, bubble coral, and a brain but that's about it. I have another bubble that I'm trying and having a hard time with. I think i've found a spot with low enough flow and high light to keep him happy though. All my shrimp are still staying alive so thats very nice, plus the fish are pretty peaceful together. The only thing that scares me is the red reef lobster on being destructive. He's getting big and isnt scared of anything, it'll fight back at my hand when i try to push him away from coral i'm feeding lol. The starry blenny also loves to nip at my arm too. Overall I'm very happy and still excited about the tank.
And on the black sand note, I really like it. Some people say it just gets dirty and doesnt stay looking black but mine has pretty consistently looked good. Once I was done with the initial algae blooms and added the additional two mp40s it stays pretty shinny and clean. I just think its key to have a lot of flow down low with it. The colors in the tank also stand out really well around the black so I say go for it!
