Anyone use ARTIFICIAL CORALS?

[lennon]

Hi all. Since I am doing FOWLR..I noticed that oceanpro aquatics has life like artificial corals. I know it is cheating but I don't want to worry about many of the things that having a reef tank involve. I think I am being responsible by starting slowly.

Does anyone use them..do they look pretty accurate?
I would love to add some just to give my LR some color too.
Any advise is truly appreciated..
thanks!!

 

[weberian]

I think it's ok if you are prepared to keep them clean. People have to clean their live rock by blowing a turkey baster at it anyway, so it's not that different in terms of maintenance. IMO the key is to have a good particulate filter that you can use when you disturb the tank to clean the stuff off. My goal for this equipment is to get a Magnum 350 Deluxe cannister filter. However, the artificial stuff will probably involve more scrubbing of algae, whereas with liverock you just blow detritus off.

 

[lennon]

thanks.
I will have lots of LR..I just wanted to add a few of these for color. Would that magnum work for my tank too? And would I only hook that up when I disturb the tank?
thanks

 

[weberian]

The Deluxe version comes with valves so you can valve it off to clean or change the filter element, etc. I don't have one yet, so you have to keep that in mind. You don't have to run it all the time, but it does have an optional chamber (comes with Deluxe) for activated carbon when you want to run that. Personally I just plan on running it when I do cleanings / simulated storms.

 

[seahorse11]

HI, I am setting up a 125 gallon tank and I also dont wanna bother with real coral. I have found MANY websites that sell fake coral. I have seen some in the tanks at my LFS and after a few months once the algae starts growing, its impossible to tell the difference.
Go to yahoo and type in "fake coral" and there is like a million pages of websites.

 

[chipmaker]

Throw some mushrooms in there..No need to clean em and they are available in all kinds of colors.....extremely easykeepers and cheap.. In my neck of the woods they go gor 4 or 5 bucks each..........No need to feed or anything.......I used to have artifical plants etc in a few FW setups, and while they looked real, they were always in need of a cleaning periodically to get rid of algae etc... Gopt rid of the artifical went all real and no more extra stuff to do.

 

[kdfrosty]

Originally Posted by Weberian
The Deluxe version comes with valves so you can valve it off to clean or change the filter element, etc. I don't have one yet, so you have to keep that in mind. You don't have to run it all the time, but it does have an optional chamber (comes with Deluxe) for activated carbon when you want to run that. Personally I just plan on running it when I do cleanings / simulated storms.
First of all, please explain "simulated storms", their purpose, and benefits to aquaria.
Next, I have a Magnum 350...the regular version. I ran it on my tank only until I had enough LR for filtration. Now I hook it up twice a month to run carbon in. Both the deluxe and standard versions have the carbon chamber. i have been thinking of selling it, because I use it so infrequently.
A lot of people will claim that canister filters are nitrate traps unless weekly maintenance is done. The maintenance includes changing media, clearing dirt/debris, and cleaning the intake/output hoses. The deluxe version is better for maintenance because it does have the valves, but you can buy these valves seperately at any hardware store. It's also not too hard to clean the canister without the valves. You just unplug it, remove the sump from the motor, and drain the lines back in to the tank. Just make sure that you open the canister outside, or someplace that can be wet.
Originally Posted by Weberian
People have to clean their live rock by blowing a turkey baster at it anyway, so it's not that different in terms of maintenance
I have never used a turkey baster to clean my LR. I do use one, though, to spot feed corals and such. I have heard of people using one to remove detritus and dust from rocks, but that's when they set their tank up.

 

[jerthunter]

One problem that comes to my mind is coraline algae, I have some fake stuff in my tank (not fake corals) that quickly became covered in coraline, so I would imagine if it grows on my fake stuff it would cover the fake corals and I would think that would not look very nice.

 

[lennon]

Originally Posted by Jerthunter
One problem that comes to my mind is coraline algae, I have some fake stuff in my tank (not fake corals) that quickly became covered in coraline, so I would imagine if it grows on my fake stuff it would cover the fake corals and I would think that would not look very nice.

Yes, that would be the only problem..but can I get clean up crews for that?
I just don't want to have to maintain real corals..too difficult.

 

[jerthunter]

I don't know if a cleaning crew will do much as far as coraline algea, atleast the cleaning crew I have doesn't do anything with it.

 

[lennon]

Originally Posted by Jerthunter
I don't know if a cleaning crew will do much as far as coraline algea, atleast the cleaning crew I have doesn't do anything with it.

thanks..I'm not sure what to do. Maybe I'll just still with FOWLR

 

[dmitry]

Personally I don't think it's a bad idea to have fake corals if you're not into real ones. Very responsible. And if you keep the fake corals in easily accessible to you areas cleaning them shouldn't be a huge problem. (Perhaps not all at once, but one at a time.) I originally was going to go with fake corals, bought a few, and then decided to go for the real thing. They look nice, but sometimes such a pain in the

I wish I still fake ones in there! The fake ones are just sitting in a box!

 

[drea]

i have live rock with dead coral coming out of it, looks really nice.... i plan to add zoo's, shrooms, anemone to add more color.... i can't wait!

 

[chipmaker]

Have I got a deal for you if your looking for somehting that is crazy over coraline algae.......On Friday I bought two supposedly safe hernit crabs........I could not find a pic of them in my book on hermit crabs, but they were a smooth legged type with olive green legs and body, with the joints outlined in a bright orange, as was both claws............Really sharp looking little critters.....From Friday evening, until Saturday night, they managed to chip off and clean a very large area of LR I had that was extremely thick in coraline and a dark purple in color. Its now a slick looking white color lacking any coraline..........Just tell me where to send their destroying little butts too and I'll oblige!........Actually first thing tomorrow they are getting returned to the LFS in exchange for some small blue legged types. Right now their spending time in a 1 quart mason jar with an air stone.

 

[weberian]

KDFrosty, when I blow jets of water (with the turkey baster) onto the live rock, I imagine that this is similar to nature when a storm kicks up on the reef - you get stronger wave action and water turbulence than normal. So this is the simulated storm. If you run a particle filter during these events, and then clean the filter later, then you have accomplished some good cleaning, in my opinion.

 

[beth]

They look pretty going in, but because they are not real and not porous, and not alive, it does not take long for them to be covered in alage. Which means major cleaning issues. I'd get LR, if you can aford it. Save yourself a lot of work in the long run....and, lets face it, you're going down that road someday, why not make it now so you can enjoy it all that much quicker!
Better for your fish too.