Which 1st?

[Astalie]

Hello all! I'm new here to 3 reef and so far have found you guys all very informative. Thank you for being such an awesome forum. I have a (silly?) question though. I've just set up my first saltwater tank -- it's 5 days old now -- and after it's done cycling, should I add fish or some soft corals first? It's a 50 gallon and I want a reef tank w/ a few fish in it, eventually. One thing I still need to learn is patience. Thank you all again.

[Birdlady]

Patience is a virtue that is painfully instilled into all reef keepers. We have probably all made at least "that one dumb impulse purchase" we were sorry for later!

You can add either first, whichever strikes your fancy. Just remember, corals are somewhat unlimited in how many you can have...they don't add much bioload.

However, fish will be quite limited.....think about them and choose wisely!

Welcome to 3 Reef! Enjoy the ride!

[Matt Rogers]

Good point BL.
I kinda prefer the hardy soft coral (mushrooms, leathers, zoos, etc) route first so that the tank has more time to settle down before fish.
Thanks for joining.

[Astalie]

Thank you both! I think my first purchase will be purple colt coral i've found @ Aquacon. It's absolutly gorgeous. :-*I'll probably get a clean up crew as well before I start w/ any fishies. My first fish will probably be a Foxface Lo. Although I've heard several different theories on wether they can or cannot be kept in pairs. Anybody have more than one in the same tank? Although it would probably be easier to avoid one fish w/ spines than two