A new tank from scrath...

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Im just writing this to keep me mind fresh and perhaps let others see how another newbie did it.
Ill edit this post as things progress, and with a bit of luck, move it entierly onto my website (when its ready).
DAY 1:
After some shopping around, I settled on Pet Harbour in the wal mart complex in town (Winter Haven,Fl). Its a little farther from me than Pet World, but the aquatics guy knows his stuff and promiced to hook me up with a good deal. Pet World had some nice tanks, but their aquariums had a lot of algee on the bottom, and I spotted some dead livestock in the tanks.
The aquatics guy walked me through everything I needed and we put together a heafty pile of merchandise on the counter.
He did manage to get the owner to knock $20 off the 40Gallon tank I wanted.
Tank = $100, Hood+8K light = $52, Live Sand = 2x $20, Live Rock 10Lbs - 6.30 per Lb = ($63), Skimmer / filter = $63, Heater (for emergence use)=$15, some DeChlorinator=$7, 'Cycle' = $10.
Managed to get it all into the Geo Metro fine.
Got it home and say down for 20 minutes thinking about where to put it and how to set it up.
The tank was filled from the house supply and the DeChlor was added during the filling process. then the water was allowed to sit for 30 minutes while I had a beer and assembled the Skimmer, setup the power strip and got the rest of the stuff from the car.
Next the live sand was added, black on the bottom, white ontop (it will mix in time). Then the live rock was added after the Ph and Amonia levels vere checked, Ph was fine and Ammonia was bearly registering. The skimmer was mounted and started. A small amount of Cycle was added into the Skimmer and a dose was added to the tank water.
DAY 2:
Water is really cloudy, but it soed seem to be clearing slowly. I can just about see the animals on the rock doing their thing.
Played with some sound deadening with the Skimmer.
DAY 3:
Added 1/2 a shrimp in the morning. Cut it in two and put one bit in each end of the tank. Took a reading on the Ammonia. Came out at 3.0ppm. The water is crystal clear now. I added a minute dose of Cycle to the skimmer again. Bearly even enough to cover the bottle cap.
DAY 4:
Nothing much today. Just watched the organisms on the rock going about their happy business.
Day 5:
The shripm has been compleatly engulfed in bacteria, and its about half the size it was when I added it!. Upon fishing it out the first bit was almost gone, the second bit just disentigraded in my fingers. I took the lumps of bacteria I could fine and dropped them into the Skimmer. The Ammonia in the tank is sitting at 3.0ppm still. No higher than 2 days ago.
Day 6 of my tank.
I bought myself a 50/50 lamp and a full test kit from ***** for a reasonable price.
I did a full spectrum test of the water.....
Happy me.
No3 is at 15ppm
No2 is at .5ppm
(both dropping slowly)
Alk is about 325
Ph is about 8.6
Ammonia is dropping like a stone. It spiked to around 6.0ppm on day 4/5 and now its dropping hard.
I consulted with the LFS and they sold me a 2Lb bit of live rock (i wanted it, it had some nice looking plants on it) and to Damsels. One black and white, the other yellow and blue.
I aclimated them for about 20 minutes, adding half a cup of my water every five minutes. Then transfering them to the tank.
They loved it!.

 

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Day 7:
Nothing different here. Ammonia levels are dropping rapidly. All other mesurements are holding steady.
Day 8:
Nuts, the Damsels seem to like the plant on my rock. Its almost totaly gone. Checking the water today shows steady drop in Ammonia and everything else is holding steady.
Day 9:
Cleanup crew added to the tank.
Since things are progressing so quickly and steadily Im adding some more live stock. Blue Leg Hermit Crabs, Turbo Snails and A feather duster. I aslo got a clown which is currently aclimating in a sepperate tank with water taken from my 40G. Ill test it out in the AM and possibly add it in the afternoon.
Day 10:
Wow. 2 of the four snails were dead. Irritating, but thats fine. Im sure the small Hermit crab will make use of the larger snail shell after its eaten the contents. The Sebae Clown entered the tank and promptly did nothing.... The little Damsel however swam upto it and gave it a few whacks with its tail... and that it. As the day progressed, the Clown slowly explored the tank trying to keep behind the rocks and out of sight. It eventualy found the Duster and seems happy trying to hide in the duster fronds. I should upgrade my lights and get it an anemony.
Day 11:
I added a little Krill to the water for the clown. I was entertained for hours watching the clown take a Krill from the surface into a cave and then go to retrive the next Krill. In the mean time, the smaller Damsel was pulling the krill out of the cave and letting it float back to the surface.
Day 12:
All tests show the water quality is awsome!. Still ever so slightly on the 'hard' side. But thats not going to upset anything. Now I need to look into diets and foods to find out what best to put into the tank to keep everything alive.