That's 120g? I guess I was picturing something bigger
. Maybe the barnacles you put in there are just freakishly large. Just in case you don't know this already, I'd wait until your tank is nice and established before putting any feather dusters in, as I read they can be a pain in the butt to feed.
I've been reading a lot this past week on critters since my dad suddenly decided he wanted a saltwater tank. Some corals I thought look amazing were:
• Cynarina sp. aka "button coral"
• Nemenzophyllia turbida (commonly known as a Fox coral)
• Xenia
• Caulastrea furcata (commonly known as a Candy Cane coral)
• Toadstool/leather coral; top placement, sheds monthly
• Scolymia
• Acan
• Sun coral
Man, I loves me some sun coral. Right, so most of those (except for the scolymia and acan) are really peaceful and don't constantly try to sting the heck out of each other. Most corals have sweeper tentacles that they use to sting anyone who's encroaching on their turf. I think the button corals might have palytoxin, but most of the corals I listed shouldn't release any mustard gas while being fragged.
I like the leather coral since they come in such gorgeous colours, are considered fairly hardy, and are often used by clownfish as an anemone substitute. Heck, they're BETTER than anemones, since anemones apparently like to crawl all over the tank, stinging everything in sight and knocking things over, search for just the right spot to settle down.
I'd personally start off with LPS corals as I personally find them very attractive and they're supposed to be quite easy to feed. The tank I'm picking up next week has some sun corals and Xenia in it, which I'm really excited about. Sun coral is supposed to be quite fussy and will often pout if you upset it, and it'll refuse to eat anything. It also has to be fed daily, which can be annoying, but I've been smitten ever since I saw them online.
As you probably know, a reef tank needs good water current to help keep the corals sediment-free (sand and whatnot hurts their delicate flesh and can end up eating right through to their skeleton), provide them with nutrients, as well as feed them food that's floating around in there. A real problem with a lot of wavemakers and whatnot is that the consistent flow over the same spots on the corals, day after day, can hurt them. So, a cheap solution to this is random flow generators. Vivid Creative Aquatics makes these inexpensive 3D-printed ones that have excellent reviews. From what I understand, these allow you to create a far more natural flow. Not only that, but you don't have to worry about programming different wave patterns, nor do you have to have the current as strong.
As for the layout of your live rock, I'd recommend checking out photos on google of "reef tanks". Rearranging your current layout, instead of just placing the majority along the back wall, can create a lot more depth and interest, but do whatever you like best. For my tank, I'm thinking of arranging the live rock so that there's not only some along the back wall, but I'm also going to place some along the sides. I want the random flow generators to focus on blowing on both walls, while creating a gentle current in the middle for dragonface pipefish to live. I'm hoping to buy some toadstool leathers to put along the walls to create shaded areas and further reduce the current going to the sand bed.
Right, sorry, got off track. Once the tank's established, you might like to buy a giant clam or two. Those guys like lots of light and do a good job of sucking up ammonia and nitrates. The juveniles need to be fed frozen food and whatnot constantly, so buy one that's at least 2" in size. Man, they look great. For a cleanup crew, I'd recommend:
• Brittle stars (Ophiopholis kennerlyi is pretty)—NO GREENS OR YELLOWS (the green guys will devour every living creature in the tank); eats detritus and other garbage
• Tuxedo urchin; eats algae and other garbage
• Blue-legged hermit crab
• Scarlet reef hermit crab (Paguristes cadenati)
• Lysmata amboinensis aka "cleaner shrimp"; offspring provide food for fish, adults groom fish, eats leftover food
• Fuzzy chiton (Acanthopleura granulata); eats algae and other stuff
• Black Ribbed Limpet (Lottia leucopleura)
Oh, and this is up to you, but I hear deep sand beds can be great for providing a home for live foods (copepods, amphipodes, mysis shrimp, etc.) and reducing nitrates. Here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/deepsandbeds.htm
I'm personally going with 6" of 1–2mm grains. All the critters I listed are probably the best, most reef-friendly critters. A lot of the various fish, corals, shrimp, hermit crabs, starfish, sea urchins, etc., can cause issues when kept in reef tanks, but as I mentioned, the ones I listed should all behave themselves.
As for the fish you want to put in it, I can't say for sure, but some of them can be quite aggressive. For example, flame angels apparently enjoy eating coral, so I don't know if I'd stick him in there.
