Well, a year later, I feel like I should give some closure to this chronicle. I feel bad for leaving everyone hanging.
It has been a pretty stressful year for Shell and I. School and work really wore us down, and sadly updating this thread didn't make it very far on our priority list. Even more sad, is that you guys didn't miss much. We did rebuild the tank, just in time for our semester to start again and for our lives to get exponentially busier. By Christmas time, we still had nothing but sand and one lone rock residing in the tank, and we pulled the plug on the filters and pumps.
On a happier note, Shell has graduated, and I'm currently on track to graduate in August (due to a string of bad luck, I have one class remaining to take this summer). This means we'll be moving yet this year - new city, new apartment, and new jobs (if all goes according to plan!!) This thread has made us more friends than I would have imagined, and I can't wait to chronicle our next setup, wherever we end up! Thanks everyone!