Artifical Corals

[heath]

Has anyone had any experience putting artificial corals in their tanks? I have a fowlr tank and I'm finding that its looking a bit bland and want to add some colour. some of my fish are not compatible with live corals.any suggestions are appreciated..thanks

 

[NateR]

I've had some in my tanks in the past but found that I was getting algae build up on them over time. Now that was before I had my reactor but that would be my biggest concern with having artificial.

 

[heath]

thanks for your input and were did you buy them ? I can't use live coral, I have a fox face and he would do an awful job on them..

 

[yveterinarian]

I had the same problem as Nate and eventually pulled mine out of the tank. They didn't stay looking as colorful in the tank as they started out and I was always having to pull them out and bleach them to get them clean again. However they might if you used some form of algaecide in the tank that was considered safe for fish - if one exists.

 

[yveterinarian]

thanks for your input and were did you buy them ? I can't use live coral, I have a fox face and he would do an awful job on them..

Petsmart has a good selection and I've seen some nice ones at Big Al's as well.

 

[heath]

thanks for the info. I need to brighten up the tank, its looking blah and boring..

 

[TORX]

They are a maintenance nightmare indeed. But such is this hobby right?

Some aquarium services actually replace them during a service then bring the dirty ones back the next time Street cleaning them.

Side note, I have 2 foxface's in my reef tank.

 

[EricTMah]

They're not that bad to keep clean. I service three tanks with artificial coral inserts.

If it's a fowler. You can dose small amounts of hydrogen peroxide to keep them looking cleaner for longer.

Then while you're doing maintenance, you use a scrub brush and give them a scrubbing before your wc.

Then once they get to the point of being really dirty. Pull them out, and spray them with bleach in your laundry tub. Let them soak in bleach for about 15mins. Rinse them in HOT water about 3-4 times. Then soak them in a bath of hot water with lots of water conditioner (about 5-10X more than you'd normally use). Soak them for about 15mins. Rinse again and they're ready to go back into the tank.

Done and done

Sent from my Z30 using Tapatalk 2

 

[EricTMah]

BTW Aquariums By Design can order in Living Color Coral inserts. Definitely more expensive than the rest, but IMO they look the nicest and they are good quality pieces that will last you a long time. And no decline in color when bleaching as they dye the materials rather than just painting them.

http://www.livingcolor.com/aquariums/corals-reefs/synthetic-coral-reef-inserts/

 

[Poseidon]

I've thought about this too for my future 300 gallon, I will have to dig deep as well,

I can't see them getting to crazy dirty if you run low wattage lighting and have a few snails / lawn mower blenny

 

[EricTMah]

Brandon, they actually do get pretty dirty with a clean up crew. They're really textured like real corals and its hard to keep them spotless. But IMO they look much better with a bit of algae growth on them. Dulls them downs a bit and not so "artificial" looking.

This is a picture of a 300gal I maintenance with coral inserts. It's the first photo in out gallery section
http://www.aquariumsbydesign.ca/salt-water-gallery.php

 

[NateR]

Brandon, they actually do get pretty dirty with a clean up crew. They're really textured like real corals and its hard to keep them spotless. But IMO they look much better with a bit of algae growth on them. Dulls them downs a bit and not so "artificial" looking.

This is a picture of a 300gal I maintenance with coral inserts. It's the first photo in out gallery section
http://www.aquariumsbydesign.ca/salt-water-gallery.php

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