New member and new nano planning

[scubaethan]

I just became a member of ARC :yay:

My 12g JBJ nano cube with LEDs is almost 2 months old now. I got some great live rock from Imagine Ocean with tons of mini stars, bristle worms, vermitid snails, and an elusive 1inch crab.

Water quality:
pH 8.1
Ammonia 0
Nitrate <10
Nitrite 0
Alkalinity 2

I have some good algae and plant growth and I think I'm ready for the clean up crew. Does this sound good or too much?
10 cerith
10 nassarius
5 nerite
3 astrea
4 hermits

I plan to have mostly softies and LPS. I'd like to eventually get a clown and some other openly swimming fish as well as a yellow watchman/pistol shrimp pair. Do most of them pair up automatically or am I better of getting a proven pair?

I had this tank set up a few years ago but had to break it down, unfortunately. I got rid of all my livestock on this site. Everyone here was so nice and helpful during my first saltwater endeavor, so I'm glad to be back :up:

 

[rdnelson]

Welcome. You picked a good LFS to work with in my mind. I will let some of the more experienced chime in on your stocking list but just wanted to say welcome to ARC.

 

[stacy22]

Welcome aboard!

 

[frantz]

Welcome aboard! Do you know what sort of crab you have in there? Alot of them are not reef or fish safe.

 

[scubaethan]

I don't know what kind of crab. I just Google image searched and haven't seen anything like it yet, but then again I've only gotten a few glimpses. It's solid brown and smooth (not hairy) and either one claw was broken or one is much larger than the other.

Is my alkalinity of 2mEq/L too low or normal for a startup tank? I'd like to get some livestock this weekend. I'll do a water change before then.