What can I put in a FO so it isn't just rock?

[Anonymous]

With the new baby and the total tear down of my reef after it sprung a leak, I think I've decided to go fish only for a while with my main tank. I will still have my nano where I can grow Z&Ps, but I have become increasingly frustrated over the year with my inability to keep and grow the corals that I really like (colorful SPS). Anyways, once I get my tank repaired and move everything back up (BTW it is a 92 gal cube, so 30"x30"x24"), I plan to add a couple more fish to my group that are not so reef safe. Understanding that, what do folks add to FO tanks to make it at least somewhat interesting? Macro-algae? Fake coral? I understand that in this setup the fish themselves are the "main attraction", but I still feel like the environment needs SOMETHING!

 

[Len]

No fake corals

Macro is about the only thing I can think of. Non-photosynthetic inverts (sponges, scallops, etc.) will probably be meals for whatever non-reef-safe fish you plan to add. There's really nothing else :?

 

[Anonymous]

Macro would be my bet, but the problem is lighting, if you're going to have strong lighting to grow macro algae why not do corals? At the very least with lower lighting go for the "weed" corals, who cares about anything else since they'll grow like crazy

If possible I would just make the rockwork as interesting as possible, now what that means is up to interpretation.

Oh yeah and a kickass sunken pirate ship would rock!

 

[Anonymous]

I used to use fake plants, and way back, when it was de rigueur, dead bleached coral skeletons.

 

[Anonymous]

I used to use fake plants, and way back, when it was de rigueur, dead bleached coral skeletons.

AWESOME!

Sounds like macro it is.

 

[trido]

How about xenia? I grow it in my sump with low flow and only a 64W 4' shop light.

 

[Anonymous]

 

[Microcosmos]

What kind of fish do you have in your FO? I have a little toby puffer in my FOWLR (and others, but the rest are all reef safe). I agree with the above, strong lighting and macroalgae, and maybe a few nice, choice pieces of LR too. You can collect them with macroalgae attached if you have a good LFS. Also, with good lighting and okay-to-good circulation and healthy, choice LR you'll be surprised what pops out of it and encrusts it and habitates it (well, maybe you won't, but visitors and kids might)! I've found that over time my LR has become encrusted with naturally occurring macroalgae, feather dusters, coralline algae, tiny sponges, and the like. My puffer seems to be healthy and eating but he does not seem to be able to get at everything that's growing on the LR. My guess is that if you sprang for some choice LR you'd be wondering why you didn't do it sooner after a few months of good conditions when it starts turning pretty and interesting to look at from a distance and up close!

 

[Anonymous]

There are some really gorgeous, colorful algae spp available. I have lime greens, dark greens, bright and dark reds, and a purple. My planted tank is much more colorful than my common reef tank!

But, quite a few fish think they are candy so options of fish are limited....

If this is a short term tank, you could consider getter a cephalopod! They have short lifespans. A octopus tank would be fun.

 

[Anonymous]

I have purple and yellow sponges that carpet the live rock in a low light tank (see my avatar). I don't have any angels in there, but if I did I'd bet it'd still outpace their appetite. A little squirt of PhytoFeast every day will make them grow like mad...

The picture below is some of it. The blue stuff is sponge, the orange is Montipora digitata of course. We had to harvest this stuff on a regular basis in our coral culture tanks to keep it at bay.

 

[fishfarmer]

I have green striped mushrooms that thrive in my 120 gallon FOWLR under 100 watts of light. Also some brown button polyps are doing good higher up in the tank. I just added a knobby sea rod that seems to be doing well.