When we had our tank we had a small school of senioritas, a couple smaller kelpfish, several various stars, a couple purple urchins, and 2 or three abalone. If you have a real good water filtering system you can start collecting some of the many beautiful nudibranchs, especially off of santa cruz island or san miguel island (take nothing from anacapa it is a national marine fish sanctuary). Several that are very common are spanish shawls, lemon, and green nudibranchs.
Your best bet is to get a book on channel island fishes (there are several put out) find some you like and check them on the internet specifically to see if they are ever held in aquariums. When you get a list, you need to contact Fish and Game (they have their main channel islands department in Ventura) and find out what you will need as far as permiting and to double check that there are not any species on your list that are off limits. Also be aware that there are collection rules reguarding depth of collection... some things can be caught in less than 33 feet, and others have to be below 66 feet, it varies by species and location.
If you have any other questions as to species that are appropriate for collection and holding, contact either UCLA, or preferably UCSB which has an extensive marine labratory, and ask to be put in contact with one of their collection divers (I used to do that) and they can probably assist you.
Good luck and please, keep it legal, and remember... NO PURPLE CORAL!!!!
