In case you're wondering, I'd ordered a big pack of macro algaes and reef CUC, and they arrived the morning we set up the tank, so in they went and I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.
I replaced all the sand with Aragamax for a DSB, seeded it with a few cups of live sand out of my old tank, and used his rock, since I tested his water the day of the move, and it actually wasn't bad. I guess if you don't feed a tank for a while, your nitrates will eventually go back to zero.
Poor fish.
It came with a Fluval 405, which I've never used. Pretty beefy filter though, I must admit. I would have liked a sump, but you take what you can get when the men say it's time to move the tank, KWIM? (I just bossed them all around and did the cleaning part and detailed setup).
So now it's been about 2 weeks since setup, all tests are looking good, and we do a partial water change. On the 17th I put all the critters from my 20 gal tank into the big tank. Then we leave for a week's vacation and I'm still holding my breath and wondering if all this hurry will backfire.
So far so good. These pix were taken this week:
I think my corals are ecstatic to have new water and breathing space, not to mention even more water motion. Some of the small frags of colt that was overgrowing my small tank have doubled in size since the 17th, and so has the small toadstool leather that Reefcleaners sent as a "gift".
I know now why engineer gobies are called that. I'm not delighted with him rearranging everything under the rock all the time. If he doesn't chill, I may eventually re-home him, but I'm trying to work with his Extreme Makeover habits for now.