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Hi! I have recently joined the saltwater community (I keep freshwater nanos) and I'm going to catalog all of my tank goings in this journal! This is going to be an -attempt- on a mini reef with fish tank.  A little background on me: I am a PhD student in Illinois and I have 6 5 freshwater aquariums that I have been maintaining since March 2017. The reason for 5 is that I have converted on of my 10 gal tanks at home to saltwater (this journal). My freshwaters are detailed later in this post as the saltwater stuff is first and foremost in this journal.  My setup as of now is: - 10 gal Aqueon tank - just your boring, cheap, rectangular, regular tank, but it's the best - 1 HOB AquaTech 5-15 gal rated filter with filter floss - 1 100W heather (usually off as my room runs a little warm and it doesn't seem to sense the water needs to heat (good!), thermometer reads steady 78F at various times in day - 1 Elite mini underwater filter (powerhead) with filter foam removed --> this is being replaced with 1 Hydor Koralia Nano 425 and will eventually be fitted with one of those rotating water flow things - 1 random light I found --> to be replaced with AI Nano bought from forum member here - 1 HOB breeder box (med) because I needed somewhere to put the LR rubble while I scaped tank --> probably grow some macros here once I move the rubble into the main display - lid will be acrylic custom made by my friend and I as I can get acrylic for cheap and he can laser cut it - woo!  And now the stock list! Here's where I'd like some advice - I've read plenty of stuff on the forum here about not over stocking and such (researching is a major part of my job actually), so I'd like specific advice as it concerns to my stocking list. Maybe there's nothing that could be said, but I'm sure you all have great advice to give to someone just starting out.  Fish (2 total): - 1x Onyx true percula -OR- black and white ocellaris (or teardrop, undecided on pattern) - 1x Purple firefish -AND/OR- Orchid basslet/ dottyback  CUC: - variety of snails, about 5 of larger species (turbos, nerites) and 10 of smaller species (nano conch) - 1x electric blue hermie - I'm not too keen on hermits so let's say this is just a test, I can always take him back if I'm unhappy  Shrimp: (2 total) - here's where my LR rubble is going to do wonders for hide-outs/ territories - 1x Fire shrimp - 1x Skunk cleaner shrimp  Corals: (not terribly picky on colors though I love purple, xenia is a non-negotiable - does anyone have any?) - 1x torch coral - 1x hammer coral - 1x star polyp - 1x pulsing xenia (soon to be 1M hopefully?) - 1x purple blade gorgonian  I am planning to get some good water tests for my tank, but as of now I'm just taking my water to the LFS for testing (actually a dependable LFS *gasp*). I should be ready to add something small this weekend. Oh! Also I'm using DI water with IO sea salt to 1.024 - 1.025 sg and 30 - 31 ppt salinity. I used a combo of dry rock (extremely white) and fully cured LR to cycle my tank. I see a few tiny feather dusters probing the water, but no microfauna as it's obviously been long blown away from my LR.  The photo I attached is my tank today. If you've read this far, congrats!  -Freshwater musings- My freshwaters are: (and a ton of plants - maybe I'll post pictures tomorrow of the freshwaters if anyone's interested) -home- - 2.5 gal betta tank for 'Magmar' - 5 gal shrimp tank: 4x amano shrimp, ?x orange rili neocaridina - 10 gal community tank: 1x betta 'Sonic', 4x guppy (3f, 1m 'Sticky fin' xD), 6x pygmy cory cat, 3x guppy fry that haven't been eaten yet.... -office- - 5 gal community tank: 1x f gardneri killifish (f), 6x lampeye killifish, 1x CPO, 2x amano - 5 gal shrimp community tank (?): 6x white cloud, 1x nerite snail, 2x mystery snail