Coral or fish first?

[pterois]

My 55 gallon cycle began on Nov 10. Both my testing and the LFS testing says I'm good to start adding living things. I have:
55 gallon Nov 04
ProClear 75 with skimmer
35 lbs live rock
1.5 inches live keys sand
Snowflake eel (added Dec. 25)
10 gallon refugium
30 gallon June 04
Dwarf fuzzy lionfish
Damsel (supposed to be food but survived)
Snails
I'm currently working on upgrading lighting, that I hope to get this week (VHO).
What are some good starter corals? I like the look of the Purple Bushy Gorgonian. I would like to start next month.
What inverts can I successfully add with the snowflake? I read here that they eat all of them, but then one post said the cleaner shrimp actually clean their mouths.
Thanks,
Angela

 

[lion_crazz]

Hey Angela, what happens in the wild does not always happen in captivity. You could try a cleaner or coral banded shrimp, but there is definitely a good chance your snowflake may eat them.
You could add snails, hermits, starfish without any problems though.
I would start the tank with good starter corals. Start with mushrooms, leathers, polyps, fingers and see how they do. Then move onto more advanced things like hammers, torches, frogspawn, brains, gorgonia, etc.
That is the way I would go. Let me know if you have any further questions.

 

[jester805]

I'm new to this, so I apologize is this is a dumb question. I've been wondering if corals require anything special? Do you need certain lighting? Certain temperature?
Thanks!

 

[pterois]

Yes to both questions. I'm new too, so I'll just tell you that I ordered 650 watts of VHO lighting, as a start. I may add MH lighting at some point in the future, but am going to start with VHO and some "beginner" corals.
I've researched for 4 months before even thinking about starting with corals. There are some great advice posts here, so dig in. I'm definately investing in some coral books recommended here as well.
Good luck with your journey into corals.
Angela