Can a FOWLR tank look beautiful

[SDguy]

Thanks. There is a powder blue tang and a fowleri tang in there.

That's actually a meredithi angel, not a blueface. A blueface would be too large and aggressive for my system.

 

[alton]

do softies really help clean water?

wow !..my fowlr had ridiculously high nitrates ... serves me right for not doing partial water changes for years :celeb3:

Most of my old 200 had Xenia along with mushrooms and GSP and the Nitrates stayed below 5ppm. I did very few water changes and ran a Urchin Pro for skimming purposes

 

[MacWilliams]

SDguy seems to have a butterfly addiction. Very nice tank.

 

[SDguy]

Guilty

 

[plantastic]

I know they are not everyones "cup of tea", but I am a fan of the Living Color brand of artificial corals for fish only tanks.

 

[HumbleFish]

I would love to have a tank like SDguy's someday. I've even shown my wife pics of it.

 

[dominic]

this is my 400 gal

 

[K916]

I would love to have a tank like SDguy's someday. I've even shown my wife pics of it.

true

his avatar isn't bad either :crazy1::bdaysmile:

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

I know they are not everyones "cup of tea", but I am a fan of the Living Color brand of artificial corals for fish only tanks.

Do those ever get covered with algae, or do the colors fade over time?

 

[SDguy]

I like some of the fake corals, but couldn't ever quite figure out hot to mount them to my rocks and still make them look natural.

 

[NovaSS]

just my thoughts, I like fowlr better. I think it is hard enough to find fish that will co exist in a fowlr. Im also a big fan of the different kinds of coralline algae. In my largest fowlr tank I have purple, red, and yellow.

 

[K916]

just my thoughts, I like fowlr better. I think it is hard enough to find fish that will co exist in a fowlr. Im also a big fan of the different kinds of coralline algae. In my largest fowlr tank I have purple, red, and yellow.

do you mean macro algae or coralline?

any pics?

 

[K916]

I like some of the fake corals, but couldn't ever quite figure out hot to mount them to my rocks and still make them look natural.

I've read that fake corals need to be cleaned regularly to keep them looking attractive

too much of work IMO

 

[plantastic]

Do those ever get covered with algae, or do the colors fade over time?

They do. I bleach them once a month, when I do a 50% w/c. I let them bleach for about an hour, while I am changing the filters, algae wiping, cleaning the sand, etc. I rinse them with the hose and let them dry before putting them back in. Because they are a dense, non-porous consistency, they don't have the risk that dead coral skeletons do regarding the introduction of residual bleach to the system.

They do lose the "vibrancy" they have when brand new. However, the pieces in the picture are all 8 yrs. old, or longer.

 

[plantastic]

I like some of the fake corals, but couldn't ever quite figure out hot to mount them to my rocks and still make them look natural.

This is the most "work" with using them, IMO. I use the existing live rock, and TLF coral glue (super thick Super Glue) to mount them. If I don't get a good adhesion, the larger fish will dismantle them.

 

[griseum]

Wow. All of you guys have gorgeous tanks!

A good blend of Softies, Macro and Fish may be the best combination! The corals depend entirely on what types of fish you end up keeping.

Humblefish- That tank is gorgeous !! Especially for low maintenance.

SDguy- Your FOWLR always makes me Jealous! Such a beautiful arrangement of vibrantly colored and healthy fish! I love that tank!

So many choices...
Will you have a refugium, sump or wet/dry? Protein Skimmer?
A Skimmer will help keep the Water quality up for a longer period of time. So in that way, it decreases maintenance. But then you have to maintain the Protein Skimmer. So its a catch-22 i guess. Algaes and softies help keep the water quality up as well. But if let on their own, especially Caluerpa spp., theyll overtake everything. And vice versa for corals like Xenia, GSP...

 

[SDguy]

I think some of those fake corals, depending on what they are trying to imitate, can look just fine with no cleaning.

 

[NTP66]

pics please !!!:bounce1:

This is the most recent picture that I have - and it's hilariously ironic, given that only my triggerfish is visible, while the others hide behid the rock work.

 

[Mynx]

In my opinion, a FOWLR is supposed to have a focus on fish, with the rock as homing and background, my father many years ago had a FOWLR with agressive and predatory fish, and I loved the look, the rocks were set to home some fish but mostly an eel. I'd do FOWLR in an instant, with beautiful fish that are not safe for reef. :3

 

[sowildpaul]

How about natural dead corals? They look great, even though almost all of them are white.

http://www.saltwaterobsession.com/coral/natural-decorative-coral.html