coral garden

[lilduud]

so if there was a tank that only had coral, no inverts or fish...wouldnt the water be spotless? and for longer? as in the parameters... because there wouldnt be anything producing ammonia and waste so nitrates would develop much slower. or would there not be enough waste to keep the beneficial bacteria alive...? would you therefor at least need an invert or smal fish... or can the live rock sustain itself and the water volume... anyone had experience in strictly coral tanks?

 

[Bifferwine]

Tanks like that usually have just one or two small fish, because fish poop does feed corals. It's true that they usually don't have high nitrates (unless you are using bad water or overfeeding the corals). Without fish, coral-only tanks usually need to be dosed with amino acid supplements.

 

[lilduud]

hmm ok cool... makes sense that there would be equal but different maintenance... im kinda considering an all coral tank just because it sounds like less daily work heh... no fish to feed and such. it would be a super small tank anyway.. so i didnt blast the electric bill and because i do love fish haha and the 55 already has a stocklist with fish included hahah so yeaaa :) just an idea for a pico

 

[Bifferwine]

Picos are usually coral only, or have one small fish.

 

[lilduud]

yea im thinking maybe one very small goby... like a red spotted or red striped. a catalina goby would be awesome but they like much lower temps than corals.

 

[lilduud]

anyone had any experience with a coral garden or even a single fish pico....which fish are good for 3-5 gallon

 

[Smitty]

I don't have any fish in my tank at all...it's been fishless for about 2 months now, and actually, I don't mind it that way. I do have inverts in there to help with the maintenance and cleaning.