I applaud you for your enthusiasm, its refreshing to see someone young as you, so dedicated, doing the reading, research and already have a good knowledge base and most important, a "dream".
Aww thanks dude! I HAVE A DREAM lol! Since something like this is so iffy and EXPENSIVE though, I think Id be satisfied with a 100 gallon or so reef tank Which Id do anyway so I could have experience before attempting something like what I described here.
Although... Something more reasonable I would like to attempt in the *far* future would be a stingray and arowana indoor pond with possibly a matamata and some large cichlids...
PLEASE reply someone!!! This is my second thread on this and I improved it. I'm really looking for answers! These are the only monsters I ever plan to keep and I don't want to mess it up or forget about this site 20 years from now! D:
Well, planning ahead is a good thing, you will need to do some research other than this site though, just the corals will require that as many are not compatible with other corals. Try a FOWLR tank first, and hold off on the more difficult ones until you have some experience. Forget mantis shrimp in a tank containing fish, it is (in general) as bad idea, either the shrimp will kill fish or it will be eaten.
The lionfish would be a good way to start on it's own with some mixed live rock and possibly some sessile inverts.