Personally, in a reef system, I prefer to add/place the corals prior to placing most fish in the tank ~ so if you are planning to go reef at some point, I would recommend starting with the reef. Recognizing that it will most likely be more demanding in terms of time, money, maintanence, water paramter regulation, etc. Often people who start with a FO system end up selecting fish that they think are going to be reefsafe, and when corals are added later discover they are not. Or they treat diseases in their tank w/ copper and then discover that they cannot now add corals or other inverts to that system. My suggestion would be that you sit down, research, and actually plan out exactly what you are going to want in your tank before you ever start purchasing anything (granted I've never ever been able to stick to my plans because I'm too much of an impulse buyer when it comes to corals), but at least then you will have a start. Search through tank diary threads on the boards and use them to give you an idea of what you want your final product to look like ~ then be prepared for all the trials and tribuations, as well as the rewards, of getting there.
