Aquascaping/fish/invertibrites/corals/anemone's!!! I need ideas of what to make my reef tank like!

now i decided to go with TONGA liverock just since you cant buy it anymore. but what sort of things should i try to create with my rock, i have a large shelf and lots of holes and such, what else can i do?


secondly as far as things go i want to do something like alot of soft corals and anemone's what kinda are compatible keep in mind i am a beginner to salt water but i have a lot of fish keeping experience! i want to have alot of corals in my tank that really do look cool and are colourful! ; when should i add them?


fishies: fish are going to be my BIGGEST hummdinger i absolutly love the clown trigger and lion fish but i know they are agressive. i always went by the rule of mouth being i can have fish that are smaller than any other fish mouth. that being said i know you can get dwarf lion fish but will it be okay with other fish like a clown trigger fish? also i wanted angel's and im told to try and add all them at once so they can set up there own territories.. is this true? but i do like some of the smaller clowns, and gobbies.. will they be okay with angles or trigger or lion fish?
and what kind of shrimp, snails, crabs (cleanup crews) would be okay to get just being that trigger fish have them on the menu!! is there any type of invertebrates that would be alright with the trigger fish?

that being said i'd kinda like to also have a clam and/or urchin(s)


what do you guys suggest i do?



p.s seahorses are also awesome!

Do try to leave a little space or a tunnel on the back glass so as not to create a dead spot where garbage collects. As for the things you should try to create....create what pleases your eye, everyone elses opinion be damned. There is only one person who needs to be happy with the way the tank looks.

For the most part no special care is needed for softies. Anemones on the other hand thrive iin very high light. There are a few acceptions but not many.

What fish to stock is a tough one. For every generally accepted rule you've read about a species I can point you to a person that has had a different experience. But as a rule I would recommend staying away from Lions unless you are setting up a preditor tank. Fish of the same species and/or shape with often beat on each other when introduced separately but if the tank is not over stocked this usually ends in a couple of days.
My experience has been that triggers tend to be coral nippers and invert eaters.
Clams like anemones require lots of light to thrive. Urchins a kind of cool but some species like to munch on your coraline algae.

Seahorses are cool but in my opinion require a species specific tank to do well.

HTH
Matt

Chromis's to start along with hermit's if you can keep these alive your ready for coral's

coral's I would say kenya tree,discoma shroom's,button polyp's

later you can have more colorful stuff imo to be on the safe side that you are able to balance perimeter's

Not a big fan of the chromis or hermits. So many more colourful and entertaining fish than chromis and hermits have a bad habit of killing any snails you may decide on in the future. I always liked starting a tank with snails given that they are cheap and ultra sensitive to poor water conditions (nitatite, ammonia, nitrate).
I do agree with the coral selections though for the most part...zoanthids, palys, mushrooms, finger leathers. I've also found open brains to be easy as well as rather colourful. Keep in mind they should be fed once in a while. Mysis works nicely. Star and clove polyps are nice additions as well when starting out.

yeah i found a really nice maze brain coral for sale, its constantly changing colour! like every 2 days its entirely different, so i wanna grab that one but hes gunna set me back 150 bucks but it is 8" in diameter!

LiveRock wrote:yeah i found a really nice maze brain coral for sale, its constantly changing colour! like every 2 days its entirely different, so i wanna grab that one but hes gunna set me back 150 bucks but it is 8" in diameter!

Maze brains are nice but consider the space they take up. Its huge. I purchased one about 2 years ago and put it in my 90g. I knew they put out stingers at night but Holy Hanna this guys are 3 to 4 inches long and it kills any other corals it touches. He is currently on my "time to get rid of you list".

favia are on their way out for me too much hassle when changing thing's around or postion other coral's above it and it fall's ontop it's over

if you plan a large coral garden they can kill with their tenticle's with the slightest current changes also when taking coral's out and forgeting about them together in the same bin etc

blasto's aren't bad

alot of people I fine try to get there current/flow down by adding just cheaper coral's at first if you can keep theese cheaper coral's alive along with a cheap fish and plan what size fish you want for the future you can put in some hole in the aquascaping the right size of the fish you are planning

the hole behind the rock should be deep enough aswell with a medium flow powerhead not too strong thou just enough so the fish can swim comfortably

after you know all this it should be easy to stack your rock's around pipe's,powerhead's etc