Artificial Reef?

[Shaymil]

I just wanted to know if artificial reefs are available, b/c i don't know if I would have the time or simply the level of expertise to take care of live coral. I'm planning on having saltwater fish though. I'm worried that if I just buy the plastic coral at any pet store, then the salt water would easily degrade the plastic. Please let me know if anything is available, thanx! :strooper:

 

[Paintbug]

the main problem with the "fake" stuff is it gets dirty, real quick. if you add live rock to the tank then the coralline algae that gives the rock the nice purple colors will encrust on to the fake stuff as well. but most of the fake stuff is fine in the tank, and will not hurt anything. by the way

[welcome]

 

[TitansFan]

They can be quite expensive.
Premium Aquatics a sponser here sells fake corals:
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=Naturesimage

Living Color makes whole reef inserts:
http://www.livingcolor.com/multi_piece_reef_inserts.cfm

 

[rustybucket145]

from my experience the fake suff is more of a pain in the *** than the real stuff. Once your tank gets 'right' corals are extremely low maintenance. You just let them grow, and if you have any that eat, just feed them from time-to-time.

 

[Shaymil]

Thank you all for the quick reply! Will take all info into consideration.