What do yall think of fake coral decorations? I'm thinking I might put some in a tank that would have fish that would destory real coral and that would eat any "critters" in the tank hanging out on live rock. I would have base rock in there also and seashells. Anyone know a LFS or somewhere online that sells pretty realiistic looking fake corals?
Fake corals
- Thread starter NewLuv4Fish
- Start date
I went the fake coral route when I set up my tank and I ended removing them.
The main problem is that they get dirty in a way that real coral does not. So any algae, dirt, detritus that ends up on your live rock will end up on your fake coral too. That kind of stuff looks natural on live rock but just looks odd on the fake coral.
Unless you are going to clean them on a regular basis, I wouldn't recommend it.
The main problem is that they get dirty in a way that real coral does not. So any algae, dirt, detritus that ends up on your live rock will end up on your fake coral too. That kind of stuff looks natural on live rock but just looks odd on the fake coral.
Unless you are going to clean them on a regular basis, I wouldn't recommend it.
I think that fake ones do detract away a little of the beauty from a marine tank....And yes, they do need cleaning quite often really..one of the trouble with fakes is because they are mainly hollow ( dont know if yours are ), the water that usually inside them is permanently gonna be still if not contantly taken out, drained and cleaned....i personaly dont like the idea of having water that does not move in a marine system....
Just a thought
Niko
Just a thought
Niko
I don't have any right now, just was thinking about it in the future as an alternative to live rock and real coral (for the tank that I want to have that would have fish in it that would destroy real coral and the critters on the LR).What about fake silk plants for SW like seaweed, etc.? Or real (dried?) sea fans and seashells...just something to give it some color.
not too keen on fakes myself.....better just with your live rock than anything fake.....how about leathers?....they might not be so attractive to your fish.....just my opinion 
Seed the base rock with some live rock to get corraline growing... Rocks covered in corraline will be more colourfull than any fake decorations, etc...
And actually, as far as having silk plants that look like seaweed... you could probably get real "seaweed" (macroalgae) growing in the display, though it might need some time to build up and establish itself if your planning on adding tangs etc..
And actually, as far as having silk plants that look like seaweed... you could probably get real "seaweed" (macroalgae) growing in the display, though it might need some time to build up and establish itself if your planning on adding tangs etc..
Thats a good idea to seed the base rock that way it would look pretty but not have any critters on it that might tag along on LR. But does the corraline or seaweed need special lighting? Because for this tank since its going to be a 75 I'd want to have just regular stock lighting, nothing expensive.
How do you seed base rock anyway?
You will probably get a decent amount of coraline with the stock lighting... I have no idea about the seaweed though.
You "seed" base rock by simply dropping in some live rock wich "seeds" the tank with coraline spores, various critters, etc.
You "seed" base rock by simply dropping in some live rock wich "seeds" the tank with coraline spores, various critters, etc.