getting something in my piece of ocean

[SmokeOneLV]

I think im almost ready to stock my tank, just lookin for some advice so i can get my list together. Im going to take a shot at setting up a reef what should i look to get first fish, corals or others? My first ever reef just looking for some advice Thanks Looking to get my light this weekend and want to get my first resident in the tanks soon after.

[Witfull]

what llighting are you getting? that has alot to do with which corals to suggest.

[Gina]

Have you selected your clean up crew yet?
I would probably add a fish first and possibly a mushroom coral to start. As Wit said above though, your lighting will depend on the types of corals you will be able to keep.

[SmokeOneLV]

what exactly is the clean up crew? I have 15 crabs, is this enough for the clean up? or what can i add to the crew?
not sure excactly what lighting, im going to pic out my lighting this weekend. Was looking at getting the Satelite Lighting system i think it has 2 x 96watt cf. Would this be enough light or sould i go with something stronger? 55gal. Reef is what i want to do.

[Charlie97L]

what kind of crabs? hermits? or others? some of the crab crabs can get pretty nasty, especially in gangs.

mostly cleanup crews are different types of snails, for algae, and maybe a sea star to sift through the sandbed... maybe a cleaner shrimp, too.

with a 55gallon, that would be moderate lighting. you'd be able to keep low to moderate light corals, it's not a bad setup, just put the ones that need more light up higher on the rockwork. this will include most softies and some LPS, and maybe one or two types of hardy sps, but most sps, especially the really bright colored ones, need more light than that, ie. metal halide.

sounds like you're off to a good start though!

[KeyserSoze]

I have a 2X96 on my 65g. I'm slowly working up to a true reef tank and am finding out that I'm limited with my current lighting. I agree 100% to what was said above about selection but I would add that if you're even considering a reef tank you should really think about metal halide. Alot of those "oh wow" pictures you see of other peoples tanks are going to require MH.

[SmokeOneLV]

im hearing the advice about the MH but They are a little past my budget and space, i think but im going to look into them and see, but what about 4 X 65watt pc? i really need to get this lighting this weekend thanks again for all the help. How much MH run and do they require lots of space or canapy?

[Witfull]

while you are looking at lights,,check out T-5 bulbs, they are better than PC's.