Given that my ammonia and nitrite levels were down to zero and my nitrate was fine, I decided it was time to add something live to the tank. I wanted to go with a hardy species in case there were any subsequent spikes, so I decided on an ocellaris clownfish. This was where it got tricky. I know that my tank is new, so I was on the fence about adding two at once... I wanted them to pair well, and considered the notion that adding a second fish a few weeks down the road might result in the first inhabitant becoming aggressive or territorial toward the second one. Anyway, I ended up getting two small ocellaris clowns. They are fairly small, as you'll see in the pictures. I'm going to be feeding them every 2 days in order to cut down on the waste that they produce, and if I notice any ammonia spikes, I'll do a water change to help bring the levels under control.
The first clown has a thinner middle white band, and was quite a feisty little guy in the tank at the LFS. He was the prettiest of the group, but he would dart out at the other clowns here and there, and seemed to show the most playful/aggressive demeanor. I selected him because he was so incredibly active, and seemed quite healthy. The second clown was more docile and spent its time hanging out against the wall of the tank at the LFS. This one is just a hair bigger than the more active one, and has a wider middle white band that actually overlaps slightly onto the back dorsal fin. Both fish have great coloring, and no defects like nicked fins or discolored spots.
When I got home from the LFS, it was time for the acclimation process. I closed the blinds, turned the lights off (both the tank lights and the room lights), and floated the bags in the display tank for about 20 minutes. The smaller clown seemed fairly active most of the time, but the larger one seemed to just be resting on the bottom of the bag, moving its fins slowly. Next, I opened the bags and rolled the tops down a bit, clamping them to the side of the tank so they would float. At this point, I added a half cup of water from the tank to each bag, and both fish seemed to perk up a bit. I continued adding a half cup of water every 5 minutes until the bags were just about full, then I emptied about 3/4 of the water out into the sink, and started the process over again. By this time, both fish seemed quite happy and active in their bags. After the bags were full again, I poured most of the water out into the sink and poured the rest through a net, which I used to place the fish into the tank. This way, I didn't get any of the LFS tank water into my own tank. After the fish were in, I replaced the water that I put into the bags from the tank with freshly mixed saltwater. I left the tank lights off for about 4 or 5 hours, then turned on the blue light for 30 minutes, and finally, the white light (in order to acclimate them to the tank lights).
The two clowns stuck together upon entering the tank, and huddled together near the bottom in a corner. They spent about 10 or 15 minutes hanging out there before they started to venture out. They would travel together across the tank, a little at a time, and then return to their "safe zone" in the corner. Each time, their excursions got longer. After a few minutes of this, they were zooming around the tank, exploring every inch of it. They swam around the arch, hung out in the cave, played with their reflections in the glass, and frolicked in the stream of the powerheads. These fish are really energetic, and it's a blast to watch them zipping around the tank. They don't seem stressed at all.
And now, a note on their behavior/relationship: Most of the time, they swim around together, getting along happily. It's interesting, though, because their roles seem to have reversed now that they are the only 2 fish in a tank together. The slightly larger, more docile one seems to be dominant to the smaller one, who was originally more aggressive at the LFS. During the night, I did notice them getting especially close, and the slightly larger one made displays of dominance toward the smaller one. It would brush up against the smaller one, and every now and again, it would nip at the smaller one's belly, which the smaller one would allow. I haven't noticed any of the trademark "shaking," but that will probably occur with time. When the tank lights are off, the slightly larger one will hang out in the cave, while the smaller one will swim around (usually closeby) and guard the cave, at times. I'm fairly certain that the slightly larger one will become the female, so I'll refer to it as a "she."
I tested the water this morning, and ammonia is still below the detection threshold of my test kit, although the "yellow" color of the test water is not as deep as it was before. Nitrite is basically nonexistent, as well. When the lights came on, the fish perked up, and they're zooming around in the tank again. Overall, they seem quite happy with their new home. I am, of course, paranoid about the health of my new inhabitants, and given how new the tank is, I feel that is justified. I know that there will be people that feel that I might have put them in too soon, but things seem great right now. I think the key will be adequate monitoring. With my windows open, the pH in the tank has risen to about 8.2, and all the other parameters seem fine. We'll see how it goes!
Here are a few pictures of the fish that I took with my phone (hence the poor quality):
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Hanging out in their intial "safe zone".
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Enjoying the tank.
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Hanging out in the cave at night (lights out).
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Passing through the arch.
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The slightly larger, potential female with her wider middle white band.
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The smaller male with the thinner middle white band.
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I also love the softies because of the movement they have. It's a great aesthetic for the tank. Ideally, I'd like to have something my clownfish can play around in. Unfortunately, most of the corals with a lot of movement also have sweepers, and having to keep them separate from other corals in my relatively small tank will limit the number of corals I can keep. I love hammer corals and torches, but they fall into the "sweeper" category. If I could find a really colorful pipe organ, I'd go with that, or perhaps a nice bright toadstool (although most of the ones I've seen have looked rather "bland"). I'm also considering some ricordea. One thing that I definitely want in the tank are zoas. I love the look of the bright green polyps with the eye-catching red edges. Candycanes/trumpets are also beautiful.