Stocking Your First Reef Aquarium for Success

by J. Charles Delbeek M.Sc.

Determining what organisms to purchase for any aquarium is always a 
difficult and, all too often, frustrating task. This is predominantly 
due to the fact that one knows very little about the organisms and you 
often end up purchasing totally unsuitable specimens. This leads to 
frustration as they never do well and eventually waste away. What I 
would like to do in this brief article is recommend how to stock your 
first reef tank, so that your losses are minimized and you end up with 
a pleasing and healthy display. Of course this is only my own opinion 
and as such, is not written as "law". Furthermore, I am assuming that 
you have set up the proper filtration and lighting systems for the 
animals you want to keep. Failure to take into account what you want 
to keep BEFORE you install filtration and lighting, is in my opinion, 
one of the major problems that beginners make. You must have some idea 
of what you want to keep, and then design the system to suit them. If 
you don't do this, then you will have problems right from the start 
and you will have a tough time knowing if the problem lies with the 
system or the selection of animals. Finally, I am designing this 
system as I would want it, that is very little Caulerpa; 
properly selected, cured and arranged live rock; an emphasis on 
calcareous algae such as coralline and Halimeda; regular 
additions of a calcium hydroxide solution as top-off water, to 
maintain the calcium ion level between 420 and 480 mg/L; periodic 
additions of a 10% solution of strontium chloride (see Sprung and 
Delbeek 1990, for instructions on making these solutions); intensive 
protein skimming; no trickle filter; efficient mechanical prefilter; 
and no liquid invertebrate foods, vitamins or "additives".

The selection and preparation of live rock is the first step. My 
opinions on this can be found in various articles I have written 
previously in AFM (Delbeek 1990b;1990c). In short, I prefer to use 
"reef rock", that is rock of large size and broad flat shape that is 
encrusted with coralline algae with few macroalgae. The systems I have 
seen with this type of rock are superb and don't worry, they will 
develop copious amounts of macroalgae later, if that is what you want. 
Cure the rock (keep in a filtered aquarium, in the dark for a couple 
of weeks, see Sprung and Delbeek, 1990, for a detailed description of 
this technique) either in the tank or a separate container and then 
place it in the tank in a loose arrangement with lots of overhangs and 
caves. A loose arrangement will facilitate cleaning and water movement 
(Delbeek, 1990c).

Once the tank has cycled and the rock looks clean and fresh i.e. no 
white slime on it, then you can turn on the lights and start adding 
organisms. The key during the whole start-up process though is 
PATIENCE! Don't rush at this point and add all sorts of specimens or 
else you will be disappointed later!

The first things to add should be your "maintenance crew" that is the 
scavengers: algae and detritus eaters. These organisms are especially 
important if you use a substrate, i.e. they will help to keep it clean 
and turned over. Under this category are brittlestar starfish, pistol 
shrimps and detrital feeding sea cucumbers (not Sea Apples!) which can 
be easily recognized as they have oral tentacles designed for sweeping 
over the rocks and substrate. They can be seen crawling over the 
substrate, using their tentacles as sweepers. Herbivorous snails 
should also be among the first additions. Species such as Astrea 
tecta and the well known Turbo Grazers are especially desirable. 
Start off with as many as one snail per 2-4 gallons of water. I would 
also recommend that at this point you add your first fish which should 
be one of the tang species, preferably the Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma 
flavescens), or the Kole Tang, Ctenochaetus striatus, to 
help control the growth of undesirable algae.

You may have noticed that I have not recommended adding any sea 
urchins. There are a couple of reasons for this. First of all urchins 
tend to be bulldozers and can tear down a reef tank faster than you 
can set it up again! Furthermore, some species of urchins actually 
grind away at rock and burrow into it during the day. This tends to 
diminish your live rock supply and creates quite a bit of detritus in 
the process. Many species will attempt to camouflage themselves with 
whatever is lying around the tank, including your, previously, well-
attached soft corals. Finally, urchins tend to scrape live rock right 
down to the limestone which means they will remove all those nice 
coralline algae you paid for and have been lovingly cultivating for 
months.

At this point you can begin to add corals. A tank filled with soft 
corals is probably amongst the easiest to keep for a beginner. What 
usually happens, however, is that the beginner falls victim to impulse 
buying and ends up buying every hard coral in sight. Try to avoid this 
impulse and do not be swayed by a retailer who carries mainly hard 
corals. Hard corals should be among the last additions to your tank, 
if at all.

What follows is a brief listing of soft corals that would make good 
first additions:

Mushroom Anemones (Actinodisciidae)
Various species are available in a variety of colours and forms. Some 
forms do well in lower light areas of the tank (i.e. brown varieties) 
while others require more light (blue varieties). In general, they 
require gentle current flows, not strong and do not need to be fed. 
Keep them away from hard corals as they tend to damage them quite 
easily. See Delbeek (1987) for more detailed information on keeping 
mushroom anemones.

Star Polyps (Clavulariidae)
These soft corals come in a variety of colours ranging from brown to 
iridescent green. They do well in medium to strong light and if given 
a strong current, will rapidly spread over rocks and glass. No feeding 
is required. These corals can be easily propagated by cutting off 
small pieces and placing them in other areas of the tank. If you have 
no substrate try placing some sections of star polyp on the bottom of 
the tank. They should spread out over the glass making a nice "lawn"
of soft coral.

Leather Corals 
There are many different species of corals that fall under the 
category of "Leather" corals. Most belong to the genus 
Sarcophyton, Lobophytum and Sinularia. Generally 
speaking they do well in moderate to strong lighting, and require a 
good current with frequent strong bursts. No feeding is required. Be 
careful when placing them in the tank as some varieties can sting 
other corals badly. These corals can be easily propagated by cutting 
off small sections with a razor blade and fastening the cuttings to a 
rock.

Cladiella  spp. 
These soft corals include the common Colt Coral as well as a number 
of other varieties. They do quite well in medium to strong lighting 
with a moderate current. No feeding required.

Other soft corals
There are a variety of other soft corals, most of which are very easy 
to keep such as zoanthids which come in numerous colours and shapes. 
They form colonies on live rock and spread as an encrusting growth. 
They require moderate to strong light and some genera such as certain 
Palythoa spp. will feed. Another common soft coral is Anthelia spp. These
have large polyps with long stalks (6 inches). They grow as an encrusting
mat and require moderate to strong lighting and moderate current. Closely
related to Anthelia is the genus Xenia. There are many species of Xenia
available some which rhythmically pulsate their polyps. Xenia
tend to be rather delicate and are not recommended for the beginner. 
Sometimes seen for sale is Clavularia spp., commonly called 
Glove Polyps. These are large polyps some iridescent green in colour, 
that have a feathery appearance to them. They require a moderate, to 
and fro current and do not need to be fed.

Photosynthetic Gorgonians
The majority of Caribbean gorgonians are photosynthetic and are 
therefore easy to keep without direct feeding unlike their Pacific 
cousins that are not photosynthetic. Most have brown, blue or purple 
stems, some are yellow, and all have brown polyps. The thicker 
branched varieties are the easiest to keep. Some forms will grow very 
quickly (inches per month) while others grow more slowly. They can be 
easily propagated through cuttings and can be given supplementary 
feedings with live baby brine or adult brine shrimp. I have also fed 
them successfully with live black worms. Not all species will feed and 
it is not mandatory to feed photosynthetic gorgonians. Specimens 
belonging to the genera Pseudoplexaura, Pterogorgia, 
Pseudopterogorgia, Eunicea and Muricea are all easily maintained. 
Gorgonians require moderate current with the occasional strong burst 
and medium to strong lighting. Many photosynthetic gorgonians are 
sensitive ultraviolet light. If your specimens do not open after a period
of time try placing a piece of  U.V. absorbing material under your light
source such as glass or Plexiglas; the recovery is often dramatic. If there
are bare portions of the skeleton showing, these can regrow very quickly
provided the specimen is healthy and no microalgae is growing on it. Sometimes 
there are numerous bare spots, especially at the tips. If you take a 
pair of scissors and cut these bare areas off, as close to the living 
tissue as possible, the ends will quickly (within a day) seal over and 
no algae can invade the colony.

If, after 6-12 months, your tank is doing well and you have no 
microalgae problems then you can try some hard corals. However, I 
hesitate to recommend them to beginners and you can have a very nice 
and interesting tank without them. If you can concentrate on soft 
corals you should have a very stable tank that will grow quite nicely. 
Eventually you can propagate many of the soft corals from cuttings and 
trade them for other species you may not have.

If you would like to try keeping some hard corals, the following is a 
listing of the common hard corals offered for sale. First, however, 
there are a few points you should make note of before you purchase a 
specimen. Number one is to make sure that there are no bare areas on 
the coral skeleton. These areas may recover but more often than not, 
they only become substrate for microalgae. Once microalgae takes hold 
you can pretty well say goodbye to that particular piece; eventually 
the algae will spread and destroy the rest of the coral. It is 
possible for such a piece to heal but this requires that no microalgae 
be present in your tank and that none has begun to grow on the damaged 
areas in the dealer's tank. Secondly, check to see that the tissue of 
the coral extends well over the edges and down the sides of the 
skeleton. This is not always easy to see, as the polyp(s) may be so 
large that they obscure the skeleton underneath e.g. Euphyllia 
and Catalaphyllia corals. Usually, if all other conditions are 
optimum (i.e. calcium levels are over 420 mg/L and adequate lighting) 
the coral should regrow these areas without too much difficulty. The 
exception is when microalgae has impregnated the skeleton already. Ask 
the salesperson to gently agitate the piece so that the polyp begins 
to retract, this will give you a good view of the skeleton and the 
associated tissue.

Hard Corals
The easiest to keep hard corals are the Bubble Corals, Plerogyra 
sinuosa and the Euphyllia spp. corals (i.e. Hammer Coral, 
Octobubble Coral, etc.). Several of the so called open brain corals 
(Trachyphyllia) are quite hardy as are the Turbinaria 
(Chalice/Plate Coral) corals and Cynarina corals (Meat Polyp). 
Most require only moderate lighting to do well while Turbinaria 
does best under stronger lighting. They will also accept feedings but 
these should be kept to a minimum if at all. For hard corals to do 
well you should maintain a calcium ion level of at least 420 mg/L, 
there should be NO microalgae present in the aquarium and a strontium 
chloride solution should be added weekly. These corals do well in 
gentle to medium currents. The Euphyllia and Catalaphyllia do enjoy the
occassional strong burst of current. Plerogyra, Euphyllia and Catalaphyllia
corals are capable of stronlgy stinging other corals. Make sure they are placed 
far enough away from other corals such that their long "sweeper" 
tentacles can not touch them (see Ates 1989, Delbeek 1990a and Paletta 
1990 for detailed discussions on coral aggression).

I definitely recommend that you DO NOT PURCHASE Goniopora 
(Flower Pot coral, Sunflower Coral etc.). This coral has RARELY been 
kept alive for extended times ( > one year) in hobbyist aquariums. The 
only reason that stores still sell this species is because it DOES 
sell. If we all stop buying them then they will not be imported and 
these beautiful corals can remain in the ocean where they belong. Your 
goal should be to keep hard corals for years. To simply keep replacing 
corals just because they look "pretty" is not acceptable. Hobbyists 
must get away from the attitude that losses are acceptable and can be 
easily replaced. When it comes to marine organisms, losses are NOT 
acceptable because these are not domestically grown species, they are 
taken directly from coral reefs. We must demonstrate that we are 
responsible or else the radical environmentalist factions will apply 
pressure to ban imports of these animals and then you and I will loose 
our hobby.

When adding hard corals to an aquarium it is often best to place them 
lower in the tank. This will avoid adverse reactions to strong light. 
Over a period of a few weeks you can begin to move the piece higher, 
until it reaches a point where it looks the best. The same applies to 
soft corals but sometimes, if you leave the piece too long in one 
spot, it will begin to attach to the rock and you will have a tough 
time removing it.

Adding Fish
My feelings on adding fish can be found in Delbeek (1990b, c and d) 
but I feel that the longer you can hold off the addition of fish 
(other than herbivores) the better the tank will develop. What follows 
is a list of fish families that do well.

Damsels
Most damsels do well in a reef tank but I tend to stay away from them 
since, in my opinion, they are too aggressive and most lose their 
colours as they grow. When I look at an aquarium I want to get a 
feeling of peace and serenity. Watching a bunch of damsels zip around 
the tank, chasing and nipping each other does not meet that goal .
One or two damsels of different species can be manageable as 
long as they are varieties which stay relatively small and hold their 
colour into adulthood such as Chrysiptera spp. and 
Chromis spp.. There are a few genera of damsels that eat only 
corals and these should be avoided e.g. Paraglyphidodon spp., 
especially P. melas which feeds on soft corals and is commonly 
seen for sale, and Plectroglyphidodon spp. (Carlson, 1987). 

Clownfish
Again, in my opinion, many clown species are not suited to reef tanks 
because, if they feel at home and setup residence in an anemone, they 
will be come territorial, especially if they start egg laying. 
However, the Common Clown, Amphiprion ocellaris, is one of the 
more docile species and does quite well. Mixing several species of 
clowns in one tank often leads to territorial squabbles and should be 
watched closely.

Blennies
Although there are many different species of blennies only a few of 
them are commonly seen for sale. The Red Lipped Blenny 
(Ophioblennius atlanticus) is often imported from the Caribbean 
but I find them much too aggressive in reef tanks, in nature it has 
been shown that they are extremely territorial too. The Bicolour 
blenny (Ecsenius bicolor) is the other common blenny seen in 
stores. As with most blennies, they are microalgae feeders but they 
are not adverse to nipping at coral polyps and Tridacna clams. 
This may be a reflection of a lack of other suitable food stuffs in 
the tank but nevertheless, they will nip off polyps.

Dottybacks (Pseudochromidae)
Dottybacks are quite common in retail outlets and most are suitable 
for reef tanks. One per tank is the usual rule, unless you are 
prepared to lose several before you get a stable population of them. 
Some of them can become very aggressive as they get larger (max. 10 
cm). These should be amongst the last fish added so that they will not 
pick on new additions to the tank. For further information on suitable 
types see Delbeek (1991) and Michael (1990a and b).

Angels and Pygmy Angels
Most pygmy angel species are suitable but there is a great deal of 
individuality within a species and some may bother corals and 
macroalgae and some won't. The Coral Beauty, Centropyge 
bispinosus, is a hardy and commonly available Pygmy Angel that does 
quite well with corals.

Larger angelfishes are similar to pygmy angels in that they tend to be 
individualistic. This basically means you take your coral's lives into 
your own hands when you add one! I have seen Regal Angels 
Pygoplites diacanthus, Blue-Faced Angels, Pomacanthus 
xanthoetapon and Navarchus Angels, P. navarchus do quite 
well in reef tanks but I have also heard reports of them decimating 
coral populations. Large angels are best left to those with more 
experience.

Gobies
Just about ALL gobies are suitable and will do very well. Particularly 
desirable are the so-called Watchman Gobies belonging to the genus 
Amblyeleotris spp. and Cryptocentrus spp., and the 
Sleeper Gobies, Valenciennea spp. These fish will help keep 
your substrate clean and will keep detritus in suspension for easy 
removal by your overflow.

Butterfly Fish
The common belief is that butterfly fish cannot be put in reef tanks. 
This is true for most species but there are some exceptions and both 
Longnose, Forcipiger flavissimus and Copperband (Chelmon 
rostratus, butterflys have been kept successfully with corals. The 
only losses were with small fanworms that one usually finds growing in 
perfusion in older tanks. The Banner fish, Heniochus 
acuminatus, may also be suitable but they should be watched closely 
(Carlson, 1987). The Pyramid Butterfly, Hemitaurichthys 
polylepis, is a planktivore and can also be safely kept in reef 
tanks.

Tangs
There are a wide variety of tangs and surgeons that can be easily kept 
in reef tanks as long as they are not larger growing species. 
Desirable species include any from the Zebrasoma and 
Ctenochaetus genera. Those of the Acanthurus genus tend 
to be more difficult to keep, grow fairly large and can be very 
aggressive.

Dragonettes
The Mandarin, Psychedelic Fish and Scooter Fish are amongst the 
common dragonets available. They either do very well or waste away. 
This seems to be a reflection of collecting practices and lack of 
nutrition. They rarely accept prepared foods and seem to do well 
enough feeding on the organisms found on live rock. Buy only those 
specimens that have nice full, round bellies.

For further suitable fish types for reef tanks see Delbeek (1991) and 
Debelius (1986).

Fish to Avoid
Most triggerfish have no place in a reef tank because they tend to be 
rather destructive. They like to rearrange and crush rocks and corals 
with their teeth. Large puffers such as the Arothron genus feed 
exclusively on live corals. The majority of the lionfish family grow 
too large and their mouth is always hungry! Any of the coral eating 
butterfly fish family are definitely no-nos such as the Raccoon 
Butterfly (Chaetodon lunula). [1996: Raccoon butterfly
fish can be kept in small polyped stony coral tanks, but will eat
large polyped stony corals such as Euphyllia and Catalaphyllia.

Before buying any fish check with your retailer as to their 
suitability in a reef tank AND check as many reference books as you 
can and find out what they say about the natural diet of the fish in 
question. Finally, a good source of objective information is your 
local fish club. There are many saltwater clubs in North America now 
and most freshwater clubs have members who are also saltwater 
hobbyists.

Even with all I have said, if you don't purchase healthy specimens to 
begin with, you will have problems. Check to make sure that corals 
have no damaged areas and are fully extended. Also check for any 
hitchhikers on the rock, like nudibranchs, crabs, snails, bristleworms 
and flatworms that may damage other specimens in the tank. 

In summary, stick with soft corals in the beginning, do not buy hard 
corals until you have no microalgae growing in your tank and the soft 
corals are growing and spreading. Add fish slowly and add herbivores 
first.

References
Ates, R. 1989. Aggressive behaviour in corals. Freshwater and 
Marine Aquarium 12(8):104-105,107,110,112.

Carlson, B.A. 1987. Aquarium systems for living corals. Int. Zoo. 
Yb. 26:1-9.

Debelius, H. 1986. Fishes for the Invertebrate Aquarium. 
Aquarium Systems, Mentor, OH.

Delbeek, J.C. 1987. The care and feeding of mushroom anemones 
(Corallimorpharia). Freshwater and Marine Aquarium 10(10):4-6.                     

------------- 1990a. Reef Aquariums Part 6: Coral Aggression. 
Aquarium Fish Magazine 2(7):26-32.

------------- 1990b. Reef Aquariums Part 7: Examples of the best. 
Aquarium Fish Magazine 2(8):20-31.

------------- 1990c. Reef Aquariums Part 8: More Representative Reef 
Systems. Aquarium Fish Magazine 2(9):20-31.

------------- 1990d. Live rock algal succession in a reef system. 
Freshwater and Marine Aquarium 13(10):120-135,179.

------------- 1991. Fishes for the Marine Invertebrate Aquarium. 
Aquarium Fish Magazine 3(11):18-31.

Michael, S. 1990a. An aquarist's guide to Dottybacks: Part 1. 
Freshwater and Marine Aquarium 13(10):8-15.

----------- 1990b. An aquarist's guide to Dottybacks: Part 2. 
Freshwater and Marine Aquarium 13(11).

Paletta, M. 1990. Coral aggression in reef aquaria. SeaScope 7 
(Winter):1-2.

Sprung, J. and J.C. Delbeek 1990. New trends in reef keeping: Is it 
time for another change? Freshwater and Marine Aquarium 
13(12):8-22, 180-184.