Which fish, coral, and inverts for my 75?

[dacia]

Well, I asked in another forum about my cleaners, but I want to also get a little input from others on other livestock.
Right now I have a 75 gallon tank with built in overflows connected to my 30 gallon DIY sump/fuge. I have about 65 pounds of live rock that came from my 55 gallon tank, and that LR has about 5 years of coralline algae growth as well as a couple of feather dusters here and there, sponges, and various other hitchhiker organisms. I currently have NO corals and NO fish. I also have no cleaners right now either. I want to get my inverts first, then fish, then coral... Oh, and I figured I would let you know that I have crushed coral in this tank due to previous bad experiences with DSBs including the recent crash of my sand bed in the 55 gallon reef causing major water issues and ultimately the death of corals and fish...
I have decided to get some turbo snails, hermit crabs, peppermint shrimp, and a cleaner shrimp. I would also like a starfish. Would it be better for a reef to have a brittle star or a serpent star? I had a green brittle previously that did battle with a purple lobster, both ended up dying from their injuries...so I will leave the lobsters at the store. But I also had a cute little lettuce nudibranch that was gobbled by the green brittle star as well. So I am concidering a serpent instead...which would you suggest as being a better choice for a reef with softies, LPS, and a handful of fish?
Now for the fish...I would really like at least 1 or 2 large fish, and I am leaning towards a couple of tangs (1 yellow and 1 blue hippo). In addition to the large fish, I want a couple smaller ones. I want a pair of percs, definitely. I was also considering a coral beauty angelfish (I prefer flame angels, but I have heard that they nip corals...is that true?). And I was also thinking of a sixline wrasse or a couple of firefish gobies since they do well in groups. Obviously I don't want to overload the tank...but I really want the tangs and some smaller fish as well. Are the above choices good ones that are compatible with each other and reef safe? How many fish TOTAL should I even consider for a 75 gallon reef with 30 gallon sump/fuge?
And of course...corals. I have 6 65W bulbs in my fixture, 4 of which are 10k white and 2 are true actinic. So at 5.2 wpg, would you please just name off some softies and LPS that would be good additions to the tank? I definitely want zoos, colt coral, hammer coral, GSPs, a brain coral, and possibly a short tentacle plate coral...but what else would be OK to have? I want lots of color, not just pink/brown/gray leathers and such. I want a "rainbow" tank, so to speak, haha.
The tank is cycled and ready for me to start adding to it, so I'd like to make a decision and take my prepared list to the LFA. Without that list, I buy too much...

 

[flower]

Don't add a CUC until you have something to clean up, a nudi will starve in a clean tank.
A serpent star is best ...but you won't see it, they stay, and I mean stay in the rocks.
As for the fish, two tangs are too much, so chose a favorite.
Now for some really helpful advice. Go slow, be picky and double triple check to make sure all you buy can dwell together in harmony. There are allot of fish in the sea for you to choose from, that is the joy of the hobby.
So choose your absolute favorite must have fish and build around it, because what you put in the tank will dictate what else can be added later.
My personal favorite fish is the blue Hippo tang and the Lemonpeel dwarf angel. The flame angel, like the lemonpeel can nip coral, but most don’t. They will nip a clam for sure.
Have fun and post pictures, I LOVE pictures!!

 

[dacia]

Thanks for the response.
I definitely like the blue hippo over the yellow, so I am hoping to find one at the LFS when I go today. If not, I do have some others picked out...like one of those beautiful angels (I'm hoping for a flame angel cause I think they are prettier than the coral beauty, but it really depends on their price and availability) and a couple of clownfish (I've had clowns in every SW tank I've ever had and I love them!).
I do have some algae on the rocks. I had some growth around the time when the DSB crashed, and that's actually what really helped the cycle to go so fast this time around. I will probably get a few turbos for now and get the others later.
And perhaps they will have some corals I like today. I would like to get one softy, perhaps mushrooms or GSPs or something else easy to care for, to start out with.
So today I plan on getting the snails to munch on the rock's algae, 1-2 fish (if I get the clowns, I want both at the same time), and perhaps a small coral.
Wish me luck...I'm off to the store in just a few minutes from now!
And I love pictures, too. My favorite that I have ever taken in a close-up of my tomato clown nestled in a condylactus that was in my 55...I'm sad to say the condy died because of the stupid DSB crash...and even more sad to say that Tom became sushi to a hungry cat when I wasn't in the room...especially since I had that fish 6 years and he was perfectly happy and healthy even after I had issues with the sand.

But at least now I know that when I have to remove fish from the tank in an emergency situation, I should use my tank originally bought for FW fish...it has a LID and doesn't sit on the floor...

 

[dacia]

I skipped the tang today since they didn't have the blue hippo in stock. I did get a coral beauty though. There was one that was absolutely stunning, and I couldn't pass him up. So, no flame angel for me, but I'm OK with that. I also bought a black and white clownfish...he's pretty big, about 2 inches or so. I liked him better than the other black and white ones because he's got a yellow face and a yellow tipped fins.
So I've got a good start with those 2 fish, I believe.
I also bought 2 Turbo snails, and they are already going to town on the rocks. I saw some nice corals (huge rock of zoos, GSP's, and yellow polyps) but I decided not to get them right now. I decided to wait at least a month or so before buying corals. Perhaps sometime in that month I will get some sponges so I can have some nice color in the tank before I get corals.
And hopefully my coral beauty will stop being so camera shy. Everytime I get near the tank, he ducks under the rocks. I'll get a picture sooner or later, lol!

 

[flower]

I am surprised you didn't get two clowns at once, did they only have the one?
I tried a flame angel twice. The first time I paid $119.00 it died that same night when I put it in the tank. The next time I got the fish from SWF.com for $99.00...well the day I put it in the tank it disappeared, never to be seen again, no body nothing. The fame and coral beauty are indeed beautiful.
I have better luck with lemonpeels. This last one is doing great. The yellow just pops and that baby blue around the eyes and gills...

Too bad only one angel per tank.

 

[dacia]

I thought about getting another clownfish, but the others were small orange percs. She said they were getting more fish tonight or tomorrow, so I might just go back and get another. I will call first to see if they have one comparable in size (and the same color) as the one I got.
My coral beauty is gorgeous...and if you look hard enough between the rocks, you just might see him. I sure hope he gets over his shyness! But the clownfish is happy swimming out in front for everyone to see.

Any idea what happened to the fish that just disappeared? I wouldn't have accused my cats if I hadn't seen what I saw last week with my 7 year old tomato clown.