Dr. Thompson wrote on 6/27/2007 1:02 PM:
anemone ... singular, not plural, and you might want to reconsider
even putting that many in there if this is your first SW tank. They
can be can be problematic and difficult to keep in the long term,
exceedingly so when you mix them with other cnidarians (eg. corals or
even other anemone species/genera). Too many people give up on this
hobby due to early catastrophic failures, and I'd hate to see another
one - I'm sure most other hobbyists would agree.

Anemone are not what a person should start out with,
but the main reason most people fail with them, is
because they don't give them enough light. Often
Aquarium stores will mislead customers into thinking
that they don't need much light in order to make
more sales.

Honestly, since this is your first SW tank, a clownfish or lesser
aggressive damsel is an excellent choice. Down the road when your tank
is matured and you're ready for a new challenge you can always swap
the clownfish out for something more exotic

People setting up a reef tank, don't swap clown fish
out for something more exotic. About the only time
people swap clown fish out, is if they get one of
the more aggressive clowns, like tomato, or maroon.
About the only time people swap an ocellaris out is
if they are going with bigger fish, but such bigger
fish don't fit well in a reef tank.

Also be aware that many benthic
dwelling (sand-dwelling) fish have specific substrate needs and can
also topple rocks that aren't secured properly by digging the sand out
from under them.

Yep, so many people don't think about this when they
set up a reef tank. Before you stack rock, you
should always put base rock on the glass with the
sand around it, and then stack the rock on top of
the base rock, because many fish and things will dig
the sand out of under the rock, and it's not a
matter of if, but a matter of when.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets