moopiespoo--We were not worrried at all about what was going on inside, because we were so psyched for change. As it turned out, they didn't change that much style wise. It wasn't half as outrageous as we'd pictured.
I actually thought they were putting in a much bigger tank, by all the steel and concrete they carried into the house. I had no idea, at the time, what maintenance costs if you have to pay someone to take care of it (as a newby like me must, for a while). I think we may be lucky they stopped at 250. I heard a rumor later that they had considered getting us one of those huge archway tanks, but they couldn't get it in fast enough, logistically, to work with the shoot schedule.
The fish we kept are doing great. Our professional fish guy is very pleased. We did send away several of the larger, messier fish to reduce the bioload and save maintenance/feeding cost and stress to the tank. And, 17 out of 25 of the little blue guys vanished mysteriously in the first 3 weeks. Only 2 bodies ever found. We also lost our lyretail wrasse suddenly, without sign of sickness--he just dropped dead about 2 weeks after the tank started. Otherwise, they are all doing wonderfully. Here is the final count:
8 little blue guys (damsels?)
5 yellow tangs
1 purple tang
1 flame angel
2 clowns
1 panther grouper
1 clown trigger
1 long nose butterfly
1 red hawkfish
We also took out almost all of the fake stuff. The tank is dressed very colorfully for TV, but for daily life, the look was just too high maintenance and fussy.