dorkfish said:IMHO, getting a hermit to "pre-cycle" a tank is a BAD idea, as inverts tend to be really sensitive to ammonia/nitrites.
Very few corals will sting you, actually I can't think of any that do. I have read about some SPS corals readcting badly to the oil on your fingers, though. Rubber gloves should prevent any reactions between you and the corals.
Anemonies will though, however, only some people actualy feel the sting and it would take a VERY large amount of work and time establishing the tank to keep them alive, not to mention that most anem's will almost completely cover the bottom of a 10g.
A lot of the corals sold at my LFS go for about $5 actualy, yet 10-15 really isn't that expensive compared to certain corals. The cheaper corals usually comes to you smaller, however, I've read larger corals tend to be less tolerant of change in water pram's.
Seems as though you didn't read th link I posted... Not trying to be rude, but when somone posts a link, there's usually a reason for it...
Hermit crabs are the best thing to start out with.. they are actually pretty resiliant...