Critters to start out with..

[maimz]

..decided to go for a tank that is live rock and critters for now that will eventually be a FOWLR...but i have some questions like usual..

1. can all you guys make suggestions on the best clean up crew critters that will be fish compatible down the road and provide some nice atmosphere in the early stages of my tank....
2. what lighting is needed through this early stage in the tank?...im going to work my way up with lighting as my tank needs grow..
3. will i need a skimmer running in the early stages of my setup?
4. are sea anenomes considered a type of coral?

thanks again!

[Kenzy]

1) personally I like a variety of snails: astrea, turbo, nassarious(sp), cerwith, etc. At the moment I'm kinda off of crabs since sometimes they're more destructive than what they're worth, but that's more personal opinion.

Your fish choice will be more dependant on your clean up crew. meaning will they eat them or not. Triggers for example may pick at and kill some small crabs, snails and shrimp, so you may need to do some research on which ones will be compatible with your tank.

2) If it's a FOWLR any Canadian Tire type shop light will work. If your handy, build a canopy to put them in, also you can add more (if space allows) later. I use to run 1/2 03 NO (from LFS or MO)and half cheapo cool whites (CTC $5 roughly).
Later if you want to add corals then you will need to really look into the higher end lighting such as VHO, PC or MH.

3) I think a good skimmer should be a top priority, along with a source for quality water (RO is preferred). Easier to start now than trouble shoot problems later due to lack of quality water.

4) Anemones I believe are considered invertebrates. Also require large amounts of light and have a poor track record in aquariums. Generally recommended for experienced hobbyists.

[Dman]

Kenzy has pretty nuch hit the hammer on the head of the nail on this one. I do have a problem with Turbo snails, if you have a sandbed and they fall off the glass, they're toast. Blue legged hermits will seek and destroy most snails and themselves, so there are other choices, scarlet are suppposed to be better. I don't have any and don't plan on adding any crabs whatsoever, like Kenzy pointed out destructive little buggers, knock over everything. :uzi:
Skimmer, don't skimp, buy the best and biggest and most expensive skimmer you can barely afford, hunt around though, don't go to Big Al's, there are lots of fellow reefers out there upgrading.
Lighting, what you plan on doing is exactly what I did. Add light as you need it, actually you add light just before you need it, if you know what I mean. :wink:
Water, I recommend that unless you plan on never adding live rock, and you said off the hop that you are, a Reverse Osmosis water purifier is absolutely paramount to your success. The metals and other garbage in your drinking water will kill most if not all, invertabrae. Copper is really evil and once it's in your tank it's almost impossible to remove, and chances are that your tap water goes through copper somewhere on it's journey.
Compatability, almost all critters are fish compatable, the exception being the dreaded Mantis Shrimp. It's usually the other way around, what fish are compatable with my critters? As there are many more fish out there that eat critters than critters that eat live, healthy fish.
Sea anemones are inverts, and are starting to live longer in captivity, mostly through the advances in water qualilty managemnet practices. I would suggest leaving them out of your plans for now, possibly revisiting the idea in a year or so, this will also allow the neccessary length of time for your tank to mature. (12-18 months)
HTH
Dman