What to add first?

[Johmanda]

Thinking of finally adding some color to my tank. I would like for it to eventually be a community reef tank with primarily LPS corals. What do you all recommend that I add for color first? Fish - which one/s? Coral - which one? or something else?

 

[returnofsid]

Tell us A LOT more about your tank...

How long has it been set up?
What size is it?
What lighting are you running?
What type of equipment, such as skimmer, are you running?
What type of flow do you have?

Do you have a potential fish Want List?

 

[Newb73]

Im going to tag along here because i have very nearly the same question at this point. Mine is a 5ft long 120g with the center 20inches covered by a Nova Extreme Pro 6 Blubl T5 and the rest of the center 48inches has a Marineland reef ready LED over it. Started as a FOWLR/LS project but i want some soft corals now. I have a finger leather a clown, a royal gramma and a green chromis in there. Parameters are perfect, its 3 weeks old. ( i cannabolized a smaller tank).

 

[Johmanda]

What to add - specs

My tank is a 46 gaql. bowfront. Set up 08/01/12 - it is still cycling - big diatom bloom Am. and Nit. = 0 but Nitrates are still reading 40. I put Astrea and Cerith snails in last Thursday. Running an Eheim Professional II filter with Hydor powerheads for more circulation. No skimmer YET. As far as a wish list - I want color (Blues, red, purples) and compatability. I don't want to add any corals until the tank is well stabilized.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

What lighting do you have? This will make a determination for the types of corals.

Fish:
purple firefish
Dwarf angel like a pygmy or flame
I think every tank needs a pair of clowns

 

[Newb73]

Oh ok. Beware the firefish if you dont have a top on your tank, they jump out.

I would suggest A Royal Gramma (purple and yellow) a pair of tank raised ocellaris clowns (orange and white-hearty and inexpensive) a blue-green chromis (very inexpensive), and then later on if you arent doing corals, a dwarf angel. If you dont mind waiting till the tank is WELL established, a bi-color dwarf angel may be worth a try as it could be the showpiece of your 46G. They are a bit harder to keep however so if you are i in a hurry youll need to select a flame angel or coral beauty instead. Dont attempt a yellow tang/any tangs/ or any rabbit fish for that size tank.

The last fish to go in after all the other are in....could be a mandarin. I recommend a refugium and a healthy pop population set up first however. The CPR in tank refugiums wont break the bank and you can actually order the pods in a bottle now days online or even at the local fish store.

A tad bit more color could come in with a nice looking shrimp like the blood red, although i have never had too much luck keeping shrimp alive for some reason (not sure if there was a hitch hiker in my old tank that was killing them that i never identified or if they just got sucked up in my power heads (those maxi 1200s seem dangerous).

Good luck!