artificial decorations

[foxmulder]

Hello!

I'm planing to start a new FO tank to host some not reef safe fish. I don't want to use live rock as it is hard to care for (I own a 40g reef and I know what it's about).

I came across Instant Reef artificial decorations. Their website sounds good but I was wondering if anyone has actually used their products in a FO tank. How do they really look? Are they really ok for the fish?

Please, if anyone used them, let me know. The pictures look ok.

Thanks!

[foxmulder]

Or any other ideas of what I could use in the display instead of live rock?
I willput some live rock in the sump for filtration.

Thanks!

[leebca]

I couldn't help you with your first post. However, for your second question, there are many artificial decorations that will work quite well.

You can always obtain base rock -- dry rock suitable for marine tanks, of a carbonate/calcareous make up. Make sure whatever you want to use is rated safe for marine tanks. There are decorations made of resin that are safe, too.

Everything needs cleaning, even new things. See the end of this post:
Marine System Clean Up Recommendations

[foxmulder]

Thanks.
Another question, please: these guys advertise that the decorations can be cleaned by bleaching. Do you think that's ok? If yes, what's the best way to do it?

[Original Fin]

I've seen YouTube videos of service companies doing this. There's one in particular, quite a large in wall system open from both sides, where they routinely ( might have been once every couple months) relocate the fish, empty the tank, get inside of the thing and start scrubbing away with a bleach solution. When they are done with that, they rinse many times over by filling and emptying with a dechlorinator solution. It's an all day affair, and at least a two man job. They run through thousands of gallons of water to do it. I can only imagine what the bill looks like.

[Original Fin]

Im sure you're talking about much smaller pieces that can be removed though. Cleaning with bleach is fine, provided you don't overdo it with potency, and then do a thorough rinse with a dechlorinator.

I'd be careful to make sure you stay on a regular schedule though...let it go too long and you could get significant biofilm buildup. Removing it a that point could destabilize the system. You'd also have to be very careful not to disturb the substrate when doing this.

[leebca]

Resin decorations can certainly be cleaned with bleach, but I wonder why they would recommend or say such a thing? Why would such a harsh cleaning be necessary? Bleaching would be a means to remove residual copper, but it's not very well recognized as the 'sole' way to deal with residual copper. In the link I gave, I provided the procedures for cleaning anything that you would ever need to clean.

If you do clean with bleach, then just rinse well. The residual chloride will have no overall affect on water quality -- our salt water is loaded with chlorides.

[foxmulder]

Thanks a lot for your answers!

[Francois]

This might be too late of a reply, but, anyways...

Artificial coral decorations are really great. I used these in my FO tank, with no live rock, and it looks great and the fish love it.

As far as maintenance is concerned, honnestly, I take them out every week, when algae has started to grow a little, but it in my bath tub, and rinse them thoroughly with cold water, surprisingly, it's very efficient.

I did have to use bleach once though, when I treated my tank with some Preis Cryptan (terrible product, never buy it IMO), which contained some methyl violet. The corals had absorbed all of the chemical, and were all purple. After soaking them in a highly concentrated bleach solution for a couple hours, they gained their colors back.

I really find no downside to these decorations, they're light, sturdy, very nice looking...

However, just whatch out for one thing, these decorations tend to become less rigid when exposed to heat (more than 50 Celsius I'd say)

Here's a picture of my tank where you can see the corals, I'll add more later: