It’s a wonderful type of set up, if it’s done with fore thought. I think the biggest factor is selecting appropriate fish for the reef tank. I prefer “gulping type fish” such as groupers, lions , wolf eels. This means they feed on small fish and the like, not coral polyps… one problem solved. But this presents another, no small REEF FISH,
lol. Not a big trade off in my opinion. I did not have any love loss with the absence of the little guys. The affect of a 14” green would eel poking through a colony of orange and green zoes is killer. Selection of coral is also a key issue. The specimens must be able to thrive in a tank with less than pristine water conditions. Some species such as mushrooms, zoes and sanya will in fact thrive in a high nutrient environment. I have had great success with my predator reef set ups. I just recently decided to convert to a full blown reef, because the predators were outgrowing my 55g. I would suggest as large a tank as possible, minimum 75 ideally a 90. I would also suggest an algae refuge be added to the system with a large protein
skimmer. Good luck. I may post pics of my setup later as I’m at a friends house.
I hade:
14” woulf eel
Large Lion
Medium grouper
Large yellow stripe clown/with LT anemone
Tang
Mushrooms
Zoes
Florida stony coral of some type
Zanya
Macro of all types
