Planning for Future: New Fish for a New Tank

[4Ever the AquaNut]

Hey, down the road, after a big move from one state to another, I am planning to put together a saltwater aquarium, fulfilling a childhood dream so to speak. Don't when, might be either near the end of the year or sometime early-middle of next year. Anyway, the new aquarium would become my third fish tank, the other two are tropical freshwater, which I have been doing for over 20 years, starting off with a 10g, which I still have, and added a 20g tank about a couple of years ago. While I don't have the full specs on what the tank itself and the equipment needed to go with it, along with wither it's going to be a reef tank or not, or throw in a bunch of live rocks or both. Decisions, decisions, yeesh. The size tank would be somewhere around 50-70g, the rest, still researching. What I would like is to do a community tank, with a mixture of fish and inverts.
What I would like to know is what critters would help make a decent enough start when the tank is ready to take anything living and, depending on if I feel brave enough to do a reef tank, moving. Right now I'm considering the following, fish: cardinal, chromis, dwarf angel, butterfly, clown, goby, dottyback; Inverts: Cleaner Shrimp, Hermit Crabs, Horseshoe Crab. And before anybody jumps to conclusions, I'm not considering all of them at once, just throwing out what options I'm aware of.
While I am doing the research, I wouldn't mind some advise from those who have some experience and idea on what to mix with what, and some suggestions/recommendations on what to get. Also, please don't be afraid to bring up a critter that I might have missed, or might not be aware of.

 

[Longnose Hawkfish]

All the fish/inverts you are considering would be fine except for the horseshoe crab. Do not get one of those without crazy research and it's own dedicated tank. Some of your fish that you want have the possibility of eating coral. The butterfly and angel very well could. Most of your fish are fine in a med size tank except the butterfly. They usually need slightly larger tanks than the other fish on your list.

 

[Longnose Hawkfish]

For a critter that I think you would like is a goby. They have awesome personalities and it is very cool when they pair up with a pistol shrimp.

 

[4Ever the AquaNut]

Which ones would eat the coral? Thanks for the warning about the horseshoe crab. If it's at least half, then I'll just toss in a couple of live rocks and leave out the coral. As for the inverts, which ones, besides the other two on the list, would get along with the fish without eating them or getting eaten by them? Saw some places that sell saltwater snails, but remember some of them aren't afraid to take care of the fish, living or dead.

 

[dcarrion144]

The butterfly fish i hear eats some corals also check out on Youtube vivd aquariums channel they actually cover this topic with detail information on both fish and corals. They go through all fishes and explain the ins and outs of having them along with personality as well as corals and inverts. I believe its buy beginner saltwater fish and clean up crews for reef aquariums. It actually gave me a direction with my tank and understanding of what i really wanted.

 

[Longnose Hawkfish]

With almost every butterflyfish you run the risk of them eating coral. And for inverts, most will do fine in your future tank. Go on liveaquaria and look at the saltwater inverts there.

 

[4Ever the AquaNut]

What about dwarf angelfish? Anything about them I need to be aware of? The experience I have with angelfish are the freshwater ones.

 

[Longnose Hawkfish]

Dwarf angelfish are very good looking fish. All dwarf angels have the potential of nipping coral, some more than others. They also can be slightly aggressive so I would add one last if you want one.

 

[martini5788]

Be sure to look into blennies as well. I love those guys. Tons of personality. Also, I think a 75 gallon is a great tank to start with. It has a nice footprint that makes some great aquascapes and allows a lot of different kinds of fish. For ex a 55 is a lot more difficult to aquascape because it is very thin and you
End up getting stuck with a wall of rock

 

[4Ever the AquaNut]

And what would be a good mix if I decided to just toss in some live rocks onto the sand I plan to use for the tank, minus the reef? Right now I'm looking into both options.

 

[martini5788]

I'm not sure I understand the question. A mix of different kinds of rock?

 

[4Ever the AquaNut]

Not the rocks, the critters. Not sure if there are any that require a reef or not.

 

[martini5788]

Fish don't require there to be corals. But some fish must have established liverock with algae growth as they are algae grazers. As well as others require a sand bed for sleeping or food supply.

 

[4Ever the AquaNut]

And what about the inverts?

 

[martini5788]

That depends on each individual invert.

 

[4Ever the AquaNut]

Go figure. Anyway, right now I'm checking out LiveAquaria's little thing where you can create your own reef cleaner pack, which would come in hand later. Since I like to mix and match fish, what the hey, why not do the same with the inverts.

 

[martini5788]

That's a good place to start

 

[4Ever the AquaNut]

Yeah, but the fun part is making sure everybody gets along so well with the other, like the shrimp and the crabs.

 

[martini5788]

I'm gonna to recommend against crabs. I have heard some horror stories about crabs. I would focus more on shrimp. Crabs you won't even see most of the time, if ever. Just my experience. Or they will kill your fish and cuc

 

[4Ever the AquaNut]

Does that include hermit crabs? And I've seen crabs that are so small, that they mainly help clean out the tank and coral of leftovers and other things.