Fish less reef?

R

RoryM

New member
are fish neccessary for a reef tank? Im interested in starting the salt hobby with a tall 20g reef with cuc only. I just have yet to see many reef tanks without fish or is this just personal preference...
 
RoryM said:
are fish neccessary for a reef tank? Im interested in starting the salt hobby with a tall 20g reef with cuc only. I just have yet to see many reef tanks without fish or is this just personal preference...
Click to expand...

This is actually the easiest way.Much less of a Nutrient issue . I have seen some small invert Coral only tanks. They are Kewl...
 
I own a fishless tank, justs cuc and softies.

6 months after i started i think it's not simply easier, there is much less information on the internet than standard reef tanks.

I have been fighting against cyano because my no3 were absolute zero, then began to add kno3 and now it seems to be stabilized, no algae, lots of copepods, worms, little snails.

At this time the problem for me is coral growth... only my sarcophiton seems to grow so im trying with grotech abcm... we'll see..

Its fun for me, i do not need fish. Little critters are really interesting too, if not more interesenting than fishes.

I'd like there were more people sharing info about fishless tanks...

(sorry, my english is not good...)
 
Fish offer a tank personality. They also provide colors, patterns and movement within a tank that corals and inverts often can't provide. Less demand is placed on filtration and the overall parameters of your tank with a fish less bio load. Fish are not necessary for a reef aquarium!
 
Fishless is doable. Just make sure to feed your corals appropriate foods. Contrary to old beliefs, corals need more than light to grow. Fish poop is best but you can make it happen with the right foods. (oyster feast for example)
 
I agree with you, plus you can run your tank without skimmer because the low bioload... (i just run carbon)

Believe me, the first words you'll hear when ANYBODY visit your home will be: "and fishes? where are the fishes?" [emoji38] are you ready for that?

Aproppiate foods... that's the point, too many options available...
 
I agree fishless is a good idea. With corals of different types it'll look like a deep part of the ocean where even fish don't venture.
 
I don't have any fish in my tanks and its been that way for many months. I will put some in but I really just like the corals. When I find the right fish for the right price I will buy them. I do think its a better ecosystem to have fish in your reef.
 
Fish are not necessary. I run one tank without them. I like them in most of my tanks for a variety of reasons. The corals need food though less feeding is necessary overall than when fish are present.
 
So what kind of food do you use to feed your fishless tanks?

I understand corals that have a "mouth" can be fed with mysis or other kind of live/frozen food but what about a fishless softies tank? I had ( not now) big problems with absence of no3 when i was only doing water changes.

Now i add kno3 carefully to mantain 5ppm NO3 and algae problems dissapeared but my softies don't grow (only a sarcophyton seems to grow) green star polyps, zoas, kenya tree... they don' grow...

Thats the reason i started with grotech abcm but I'm not sure about it....

Thanks!
 
Phytoplankton is generally considered to be food for soft corals whereas zooplankton is good for stony corals. I think a combination of both will work well.
 
Just drop a little flake fish food in: worm poo, crab poo and fish poo are similar enough.
 
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