Saltwater Newbie, Want An Invert Tank...

[eschaton]

Hey all

I've been doing planted freshwater for awhile now, and am considering a move to saltwater. Ideally I'd like a small to medium, beginner's reef tank. Saltwater fish don't interest me much aside from Gobies and Blennies, so I doubt I'd put in more than one or two, plus maybe a small top-swimming fish.

I've come up with the following ideas which seem to be good beginner critters.

Corals and the like:
Knobby Sea Rods
Finger Leather
Xenia
Zooanthids
Green Sea Mats
Mushroom Corals
Montipora
Brush Coral
Bird's Nest Coral

Crustaceans:
Cleaner Shrimp (Caribbean or Pacific)
Peppermint Shrimp
Sexy Shrimp
Hermits (heard most actually eat small featherdusters and the like, but some are good in small numbers?)
Emerald Crab
Porcelain "Crab"

Mollusks:
Chiton (hitchhikers)
Turbo Snail (non-Mexican)
Astraea Snail
Collonists/Mini Turbos
Trochus Snails
Tectus Snails
Nerite Snails
Money Cowries
Nassarius Snails
Bubble Shells
Sea Hare/Sea Bunny (maybe)

Annelids:
Feather dusters (hitchhikers)
Fireworms, etc (hitchhikers)

Others:
Forams (hitchhikers)
Calcerous Sponges (hitchhikers)
Peanut Worms (hitchhikers)
Yellow Cucumber (likely purchased)

If there's anything I should add or take off let me know. Obviously I'm not going to get every single genus of snail. My preference would be towards any which would breed successfully in the tank.

 

[SkiFletch]

If you want to talk snail breeding, Donya is your man, I dont claim to know that much about how snails breed. Other than that the only thing I see that you'll have to watch out for is that montiporas require some significant lighting to thrive