fake corals - inserts

[snafu]

Hello everybody,:sfish:

Does anyone have experience with inserts? I know fake coral inserts dont look as good as real corals but they seem to be low maintenance and will give color to a FO tank.

• I'm wondering if they will support the bacteria needed to keep balance.
• If they need cleaning and how often.
• Where is the best place to purchase.
• What are the downfalls

 

[Bifferwine]

Hi,
They won't support the bacteria. They do not have enough surface area for the bacteria to colonize. Live rock is porous and has tons of space for the bacteria to live. Even if you use fake corals, you should still have a lot of live rock in your tank (1 to 2 lbs per gallon). You can save money by buying mostly dry rock, then add in a few pieces of live rock. The dead rock will become live over time.

Fake corals (and anything plastic) does tend to accumulate algae faster than other things in the tank. You will need to clean them because they will turn brown pretty quickly. You can clean them in a vinegar-water solution and scrub with a toothbrush, then rinse them off before putting them back.

I don't know where the best place to purchase them are. Honestly, not too many people use fake corals because they, well, they look fake (;)), they are pretty expensive, you have to clean them often, they are decorative only and don't support bacteria, and because there are a lot of very easy, low maintenance real corals you can keep.

I guess those would be the downfalls.

 

[Nonfamous]

There are other kinds of fake corals. I can't think of the name right now but they are not plastic, are porous like rock, and actually feel like rock. My LFS has these in their tanks, along with TONS of real corals and they look great. I actually thought about getting some of them for mine, but I went the live coral route instead. If I can find a link, I'll post it up.

Found it!

http://www.instantreef.com/

 

[SarahSmile]

Oh my, those are divinely hideous.

 

[d2mini]

Oh my, those are divinely hideous.

:lol:

Living Color (a.k.a. the tv show Fish Tank Kings) is one of the leaders in fake coral.
Artificial Corals - Synthetic Coral Collection - Coral Aquarium - Living Color Enterprises, Inc

But I would expect what Biff said, periodic cleaning will be needed. I have no experience with them though, so that's just an edjewmacated guess on my part. ;)