Artificial reef and corals?
 

Hi guys, lately I've been watching a show called "Tanked" about 2 guys in Las Vegas who install saltwater tanks throughout the U.S. They don't use LR or real corals but they use an artificial reef. So my question is, "Is they anyone out there who uses an artificial reef and coral system?" Do you prefer it over the lr etc..? Advantages /disadvantages?

That shows a joke and would be interesting to see if any of those tanks are stil up and running. Those fake corals end up looking dirty and fade out (if they're the same ones they sell in LFS). It always feels good to have people standing there looking at your tank and being able to say "No man. All that chit is real. There's no plastic at all in there. I grew it all." It's cheating bro.

The show is not a joke. Their business, ATM, did very well before the show for many years, and continues to do very well.

I have no idea how they keep the artificial reef structures clean, I would like to ask them. They do employ things such as bioballs and other biological filtration. Take breeders for example, they have very overstocked juvenile growout tanks (to reduce fighting), use no live rock, and have great success. Live rock is not needed, they are many ways to skin a cat. Look towards freshwater systems (like discus or cichlids) for filtration ideas.

Theres a 14 page thread about that show here: http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...ht=show+tanked
and another 2 page thread here:
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...ht=tanked+show

I personally don't like the fake liverock and coral look. Most look about as real as those fake plastic plants people put in their freshwater tanks. But I suppose its better for clueless and unmotivated people to use those rather than killing real wild collected pieces.

I watch Tanked and Fish Tank Kings .....I went to living colors website and looked at their coral inserts would be cheaper to have live coral
http://www.livingcolor.com/store/?sl...roducts_id=164

I'm curious about the survival rate of the fish that they add to the tank immediately and also about the maintenance of the tanks afterwards

These artificial reefs are pretty common for large displays. There's lots of challenges to doing a large real reef tank, such as fish disease management, coral chemical warfare, coral health and lighting needs, reef compatible fish etc.

This is the way to go for large displays... you see these at Rainforest Cafe, casinos, hotels, public aquarium/zoos.

I spent some time volunteering at the Florida Aquarium in Tampa as a volunteer diver. Basically, scrubbing algae off these artificial reefs and cleaning windows in their 27 foot deep main reef tank and shark tank.

manual cleaning, and pieces are plug-n-play so they can be removed and clean ones swapped in... so you can bleach the dirty ones.

most public aquariums with large displays will have banks of fluidized sand filter towers for biological filtration, each one being able to take offline to clean while the others run. The key to disease control is ozone systems with off gasing towers.

I figure it is manual cleaning, but I worry about removing paint. I sent a message to the Tanked guys to see what they say.

Very well put. And Myka I'm going to strongly disagree IMO that those guys are a joke and am surprised you of all people think different. Maybe read in to their methods cuz it's pretty much everything you say not to do. They're all about the money. Never any mention at all about the health of the fish or survival rate.