work load on a FOWLR vs a reef sps tank

[sm fragman]

looking for advice here from you good people. i have a 65 gallon reef tank right now not much in it though but will fill it up with sps. i am a family man who is back in school getting a degree in nursing. the tank is taking up time and was wondering if i just set up a 180 FOWLR would it be less work, you know not having to check everything. i know there is work involved in the fish only but less then the reef right,,,,would like to stay in the hobbie thanks for any advice you can give
thanks shawn

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

day vs. night

day vs. night

apples and oranges, Shawn.
No comparison. FOWLR you might want to monitor nitrates or (depending on livestock choices) maybe not. FOWLR can be "easy".

 

[aww_419]

Definitely with Gary on this one. I had FOWLR Tanks for years before I switched over to reef last year. You can go crazy with both types. But Fish only can be easier and less costly but if your talking between a moderately kept 65 reef and a moderately kept 180 FOWLR I think it would be close to the same. Thats 3 times the amount of water which means three times the amount of salt ($) per whatever % water changes you do.

 

[sm fragman]

i see what you guys are saying it is not the money for me it is making things more simple. i gave up my 120 sps system at the start of going to school a few years ago, but my wife new how much i loved my tank so after i gave her a kidney this summer she got me the 65 gallon. the salt i have tons of i think about 10 buckets. sounds like the fish only might be a little more enjoyable for now...thanks for your time guys

 

[jfl14609]

its easier in a daily sense I wold say as there wouldnt be a eed for daily dosing or really expensive bulbs changes but you also have to remember lest say it takes you 20 mins to do a water change a 30 gallons on your system not its going to tale an hour to do 90. And most people I know get huge fish and go crazy and end up with algae issues and do water changes more often

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Be careful. I switched to a planted FW tank when I tore down my 125 reef a few years ago with the hope that it would be "easier" and take less time. I got sucked in. It wasn't really any easier and didn't take much time - it was just different. My wife had my brother come over and tear it down one week while I was out of town traveling for work. :lol:

You can get sucked in to any tank being tough and taking too much time, or you can make any tank simple and require less maintenance. IMHO a tank full of corals can be "easy" if you automate alk/ca dosing and topoff, and keep the fish load light enough that you don't have to feed much (and do the water changes, skimming, etc. that go along with lots of food.) Similarly, a fish-only tank can be a ton of work if you get lots of big messy eaters - you'll be doing water changes and filter maintenance more often.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

FW planted aquarium is a horse of another color
Planted freshwater can be as difficult as a reef aquarium or moreso.

I'm under the impression we're comparing a reef aquarium with a FOWLR (marine) aquarium.
IME a fowlr *with the right bioload* (read: not overstocked!) and good LR and a good skimmer you might even be able to get away with never doing a water change again.

 

[5380]

Have you considered doing a smaller tank? Or do you really like the large tangs - what is driving the size of the tank?

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I'm under the impression we're comparing a reef aquarium with a FOWLR (marine) aquarium.
IME a fowlr *with the right bioload* (read: not overstocked!) and good LR and a good skimmer you might even be able to get away with never doing a water change again.

Totally agreed - though I think it's fair to argue that if you stocked a coral tank correctly, it could be almost as easy. In other words, don't count on a certain type of tank being easier or harder, just pick the type you want and PLAN it to be as easy as you want, understanding the restrictions on stock level, livestock choice, etc.

 

[ggdowski]

Having fish in some ways is like buying a car.
If you are successful, you are going to have them for a long, long time.

I have a ton of freshwater fish.... they rarely ever die.
Sometimes it seems as if I am conducting an aging study to determine how long fish live....

Spend the money up front and get the fish you like.
Once you consider that...
The decision to go reef vs fish only becomes easy... because there are some fish that are simply not reef safe.

Dont be tempted to buy a fish because it is cheap... like I did four years ago when I bought convicts for a freshwater tank in my office.

I am now sitting here thinking about how nice a reef tank would be...
BTW... there is not much difference in overall maintenance with the exception that a reef tank has inherent "fun" aspects that a fish only tank lacks...

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

we're entering the subjective

I've seen FOWLR's that are called reef aquariums by their owners.
I've also seen (what I would consider) reef aquariums that are referred to as FOWLR's by their owner.

It's all a matter of opinion.

IME/IMO
It's easy to make a FOWLR as challenging as a reef aquarium.
It's difficult to make a reef aquarium as easy as a FOWLR- unless you let the Kenya Trees take over (just an example).
Even with automation critical things (calcium uptake rates for example) change in a reef aquarium.
Not so in a FOWLR.

Put it this way: if I wanted to make any one aquarium as good as it could possibly be there would be a whole lot more work involved with a reef aquarium vs. FOWLR.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Having fish in some ways is like buying a car.
there is not much difference in overall maintenance with the exception that a reef tank has inherent "fun" aspects that a fish only tank lacks...

nothing could be further from the truth IMO/IME

unless

you let entropy rule your reef aquarium

 

[tmz]

In my opinion,there is no easy sps tank that lasts for very long. Ran a fish only marine tank with little effort for years. I also run a 65 g with fish, leather corals, mushrooms,xenia and a few heads of euphylia which is relatively easy.

 

[ggdowski]

I think I said that slightly tongue in cheek...
Of course there are differences...

But the main pain in the a$$ is lugging water (something you eliminated in your system Gary)... ;-)

That pain is the same for both systems.
The other stuff seems to bother me far less.

My biggest problem right now is maintain Ca levels... something you dont have to worry so much about in a FOWLR system.

 

[Capt_Cully]

I'd vote for doing a softie/ euphyllia tank. But I lean more towards corals vs fish keeping. More tolerant corals such as corallimorpharians, leathers, euphyllia, gorgs etc can be very low maintenance IMO. Do a quick cleaning here and there. Do a waterchange once a month. Change carbon, check params occaisionally. You may run into algae blooms but the corals will do fine and look better than an FO to my eye.

These are merely options. Really depends on what you like and what you're going for. Sounds like you've got a lot on your plate. Why invite more headaches than you need.

 

[block head]

doesn't really get any easier than fowlr. i think there are some great non reef safe fish options. do a water change once a semester, and life should be easy. i've been kicking around the idea of a 80's retro tank.

 

[sm fragman]

thanks everyone for your input,, my 65 gallon sps system is animated but just tired of loosing things and having to deal wiht problems that is why the simple fish tank would be much more enjoyable,,,,,thanks
shawn

 

[tmz]

You are welcome.

 

[thriceanangel]

Yeah I'd vote for an octocoral tank with fish... I can't seem to find the TOTM that was mostly all softies that was AMAZING. DOn't have to be as diligent on the Ca, Mg, NO3 witha softie tank, and lighting and flow requirements are a bit more lax too... Far more forgiving IMO, and you can have some amazing fish, and not be watching it night and day. I think that if you have the LR, you might just as well have something growing on it besides Algae.

 

[tmz]

Yeah I'd vote for an octocoral tank with fish... I can't seem to find the TOTM that was mostly all softies that was AMAZING. DOn't have to be as diligent on the Ca, Mg, NO3 witha softie tank, and lighting and flow requirements are a bit more lax too... Far more forgiving IMO, and you can have some amazing fish, and not be watching it night and day. I think that if you have the LR, you might just as well have something growing on it besides Algae.

That's a very good point. Adding some octorals and leathers to a fish only with live rock can benefit the tank as these corals will help manage excess nitrogen levels as they take it up in many forms.