yeah, lets stay off the topic of "tank set-up" for a while. i dont think theres gonna be much progress anytime soon!
rumlads right. you should deffinatly try your hand at the easier corals first, and achieve an extended period of success before trying to move into the intermediate coral keeping. and like he said, success isnt determined by being able to keep a mushroom alive for 4 weeks! you need to aim for long term success, and success doesnt just mean keeping the corals alive, but having your corals thrive! if you were to start with a hand full of mushrooms and zoanthids now, you should have 5 handfulls in a year from now! not only will they multiply, but they will grow quite large as well! (not neccesarily the zoanthids, but the mushrooms) so when you start to see asexual reproduction, and growth of your softies, you know your reaching a level of success that will warrant the upgrade of your novice status, to a more intermediate level of coral keeping. if i were you i would stay away from anything with a skeleton while becoming accustomed to reef keeping. 3 good begginers corals would be mushrooms, zoanthinds, and xenias! they are very easy to care for, and come in a wide veriety of colors to choose from. (except xenia) all being quik spreaders if given the right conditions. so, if you do achieve any level of success while keeping these three types of corals, it will be noticeable by looking into the tank. if you do it right, your tank will be completely full in a year!
what i would suggest doing at this stage, is buying books, and reading them the whole way through. if you havent already? good books are going to be your best friend! not only for knowledge and a better understanding of what your doing, but you can referance them later on also. there are so many good books today that its hard to wonder why even a begginer would go wrong in the hobby?
have you read any books on the subject of reef keeping?
) then you could try you hand with some advanced corals.
