FOWLR Help

[wardworld]

This is a real newbie question, but then again, that's what I am. Could someone please detail the specific difference between a reef tank and a FOWLR. I know what FOWLR stands for (the acronym, that is), but I'm curious if there are other specific differences.
Thanks,

 

[boydx6]

FOWLR

FOWLR

Good question. I would like to know the difference as well.

 

[Don Lino]

Reef tank has corals and it mimics the reef and a fowlr is only fish and rocks it can contain all the fish that are not reef safe, all aggressive fish.

 

[AJ69]

Well said Joey!

 

[wardworld]

So essentially, the corals are the "cut-off" creature? Or I guess you could have corals in a FOWLR as along as the fish aren't the kind that eat them.

 

[Don Lino]

LOL wardworld, yea but then I gues that'll make it a Reef.

 

[mflamb]

Joey, you can have a FOWLR with just reef safe fish. Lots of people do that in preparation for a reef tank, allowing their bacteria colonies to mature up to the bioload of the fish before adding their corals.
Mike

 

[Don Lino]

Mike, very true I guess thats kinda what I meant, fish and rocks, I just used the aggressive fish example because thats what I would love to have...Thanks.

 

[mflamb]

Cool, we had a reef tank and an aggressive tank before we moved here. We had a red lion, golden puffer, snowflake eel, bamboo shark, picasso trigger, huma huma trigger. When I started it, we lived less than 10 miles from the shrimp boat docks near Houma Louisiana. I would buy a 5 gallon bucket of fresh caught "cast off". It was stuff the shrimpers didn't want as they unloaded their boats...squid, crabs, clams, fish, and ugly shrimp. The 5 gallon bucket cost $5.00 plus an empty bucket. I would put some in the fridge for that week and throw some in the tank. Everybody in the tank went nuts over the fresh stuff. A 5 gallon bucket would last a week. Then I moved me and the tanks to northern Alabama, and it would cost me a fortune to feed. When I left Alabama, I sold it all and moved here.

 

[mrferrit]

so what happens when you have a FOWLR and inverts do you get a FIWLR

 

[Gimplar]

As joey, don lino, said, reef tanks have corals and mimic the natural reef, where as FOWLR, Fish only with Live Rock, is exactly as it says. It's more common to have a FOWLR with fish that arn't particularly reef safe, but having a FOWLR tank with reef safe fish is fine too.