I was bad...

 

Well, I disregarded my own advice and plans on Wednesday; I bought my first fish, and it was indeed a maroon clownfish.

It was a moment of weakness. It all started when I packed the baby into the car and drove to Blue Planet -- one of the few saltwater stores on the south side of Atlanta. It's a small store, but all their fish and corals looked fantastic. The prices were higher than Keen Reef, but still reasonable on most items. The little one was fascinated by the shark tank, but strangely uninterested in the great dane behind the counter.

It was a choice between the maroon clown, a lawnmower blenny, a set of 3 damsels, or a little blue tang. I didn't want to spend the $60 on the tang for a "first fish" purchase, and didn't really have enough algae growth for the blenny. The damsels were tempting but then, well, you're stuck with damsels. Tiny little time-bombs set to go off the minute you shell out for the expensive fish that you fall in love with and they happen to decide to hate. So the clown it was.

He is very happy so far; he hasn't picked a home yet, but my money's on the leather coral. He is living up to his name and playing in powerhead currents and generally being cute.

I also did a 10% water change on Wednesday (before adding the clown), and the corals look very happy now. They were fine but the tests showed a slight increase in nitrate, so it was time. I'll be doing water changes at least every other week now, if not every week, based on testing.