What Is Your Definition Of A Reef Aquarium?

[mhhauser321]

So I here a lot of people saying they have a reef aquarium setup, but when I ask them what type of corals they have, most of them say they have mushrooms, candy canes, or zoa's.

IN your opinion what defines having a reef aquarium. Does having just one type of coral define a reef setup.

What do you think?

matt hauser

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Fish Only: Marine fish and possibly invertebrates with only faux decorations.

Fish Only With Live Rock: Marine fish and possibly invertebrates with live rock in the tank.

Reef: Marine tank with corals. Any corals. Any amount. As soon as a coral is placed in the tank, the care requirements for the tank change completely and are tailored more towards the corals requirements of light, flow, and Ca/Alk demands.

 

[papagimp]

mushrooms, candy canes, and zoa's are corals.

what defines having a reeftank as far as i'm concerned is saying that I have a reef tank and having at least one coral in the tank.

 

[zotzer]

Add another vote for any sort of coral in the tank.
Tracy

 

[CruzinKim]

As long as you have one piece of coral in the tank, it is now a mixed reef tank.

 

[ahullsb]

agreed. Once a coral is in the tank, you have a piece of a coral reef...

 

[acrodave]

I think a reef tank should have over 50% reef building corals in it

 

[virginiadiver69]

What if I only have 49%? What is it then?

 

[acrodave]

then no:bum:

 

[JamesJR]

I would say a reef tank has reef building stony corals. I have a tank with a few leathers, zoo's, mushrooms, sun corals and a turbinaria and I don't consider it to be a reef. This tank is totally focused on showcasing the fish.

 

[boiler_2000]

If I have an aquarium with just one fish or one type of fish is not a fish tank then? Is it just a water tank, or is it a rock tank, or maybe its a sand tank?:rolleye1:

I say if you have a coral in the tank it is a reef tank. Most likely people with only one coral are in the process of building the tank up.

Me for example, I have a 75 gallon with 3 fish, inverts, a xenia, GSP, and 1 mushroom. So thats 3 coral and three fish, I would classify that as a reef that has an owner with not enough spare change

 

[Jocephus]

I sank a navy destroyer in my tank. It's an artificial reef. (yes, there is a mushroom growing on it)

 

[tinmanny]

reef

reef

its a reef if you have a coral in it it may be a realy weak reef but it is a reef maby in its infancy
Good Luck
Manny:smokin:

 

[crumbletop]

Any coral amount = reef.

 

[Scoobaman17]

Reef= fish only tank +$ squared

 

[GoingPostal]

I consider a reef tank a tank with proper lighting and effort into making any corals thrive, be it mushrooms or whatever. I don't consider a tank with rock and dying coral to be a reef. I do notice Craigslist has a ton a great "reef" tanks for sale with no corals or other inverts but lots of free anemones and algea for filtration. :rollface:

 

[Mavrk]

I agree, reef = coral of some sort

What is a mixed reef? Is the mix referring to having fish and corals, or soft and hard corals, or just different kinds of coral?

 

[ACBlinky]

The first reply said it best - once you add coral to the tank, the focus shifts and you start tailoring parameters to meet that coral's needs - therefore, when you add coral, you have the beginnings of a reef. One does not have to keep a certain percentage of stony corals to have a reef, that makes no sense to me. What would you call a tank filled to the brim with zoas, ricordia and leathers, if not a reef? A stand of Sarcophyton leathers in the wild would be considered a reef area, even if there were no hard corals in sight.

IMO:
Fishless reef: rock (live, base or both), coral (any type/number) and SW. Possibly also snails, crabs, shrimp, hermits, reef lobsters, anemones, other inverts
Reef: rock (live, base or both), coral (any type/number), fish and SW. May also contain any of the above inverts.
FOWLR: rock (live), fish and SW. No corals, but may have inverts like shrimp, snails etc. though many don't (FOWLRs are often predator tanks)
FO: fish, SW, possibly artificial decorations or bleached coral skeletons a la 1980's. No corals, no live rock.

 

[uscharalph]

Who cares? LOL!!!!!

 

[Vinnie71975]

Re: What Is Your Definition Of A Reef Aquarium?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10895731#post10895731 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mhhauser321
So I here a lot of people saying they have a reef aquarium setup, but when I ask them what type of corals they have, most of them say they have mushrooms, candy canes, or zoa's.

IN your opinion what defines having a reef aquarium. Does having just one type of coral define a reef setup.

What do you think?

matt hauser

One lil half inch Mushroom Frag makes it a reef tank thats all it takes!