Fish or Reef (only tank)

[pminister]

Now I haven't read much yet about SALTY setups, as my main focus is FW setup at the moment though one day I would love to have a SALTY.

Though I was watching few SW videos on youtube, and some of these people suggested that upon getting into a SW setup you need to decide ahead of time whether it be FISH only or a REEF only setup.

One thing that was common in most of these videos is that they stated, say you have a mixed FISH+REEF setup where in the event should the fish get sick you can't treat it in the same tank with medication. Or unless you pull the fish out, and treat them separately in a QT setup.


What are peoples take on this ? I mean do you have a FISH or REEF only setup ? Or is it more of a mix, and how do you deal with these random mishaps?

[mikerobart]

IMO reef is the only way to go. For many people fish are actually not even the focus eventually. Some peoples reefs do not even have fish but this is too extreme for my tastes - I love watching the fish and fish poo is generally great coral food ! Can always take a fish out to treat if necessary. QT'ing the fish before putting in tank is always reccomended but not always practiced. I think it was FocusFin who said a Fowlr is just a  reef that does not yet hold coral.

[beertech]

I think if you plan on having large predatory fish, then fish only is the way to go. Most of those aren't compatible with a reef setup anyway.
In my opinion a reef without fish of some type would be boring.
Most people who start out thinking they only want fish and live rock end up adding "just one or 2" nice corals to brighten things up.  Then they are hooked. 
I think you should plan on having a full reef with fish, then if you change your mind either way it will be an easier transition. 
Good luck with the addiction! 

[Rybren]

A fish only tank (FO) or fish only with live rock (FOWLR) is basically a salt-water tank without corals.  Often these tanks are dedicated to fish that aren't considered to be reef safe (reef safe = fish that leave corals alone) or highly aggresive fish that make a mess and create a lot of waste.

There is nothing to prevent you from starting off this way and then upgrading later on.  (I did) One of the biggest upgrades is usually lighting - fish don't need much, but corals, due to their symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic aglae, require high intensity lights.

The other significant issue is medication.  Certain meds (copper and others) that are safe for fish are highly toxic to corals and other inverts.  If you have a FO or FOWLR tank and treat it with these meds, you would likely be unable to add corals later on.


The term Mixed Reef generally refers to a reef tank that mixes various types of corals - soft, LPS, and SPS.  Most of these tanks also include fish.

Hope this helps.

[pminister]

Thanks everyone of the information. I was just a little confused after watching some vids, then I started to think then how are other people doing it. lol.

I need to start saving....some chedda'h (i.e $$$)

[pminister]

When its mentioned that Corals need a specific amount of light, are there examples or a suggested rule for corals.

Like from a low-light to med-light to high-light setup? I judging it based on my experience from a planted tank, meaning that some plants will grow well under such n such conditions.

[Rybren]

Generally speaking, soft corals like zoanthids, mushrooms and leathers prefer lower light levels; LPS corals such as hammers or frogspawn are more medium light; and SPS corals need intense lighting.

Lighting options range from Power Compact (PC) Flourescent, to T5HO to Metal Halide.  The newest rage is high intensity LED lighting.

I have a 192W PC fixture on my 36" long 30 gal tank and keep a mixture of softies, LPS, and some "easy" SPS.  The SPS need to be high in the tank because the light from my fixture doesn't penetrate very deep into the tank.

[pminister]

Aside from the type of light. How do you judge the amount of light, for example in your case for a 30G tank. I mean 192W comes up 6.5 watts/ gallon

[JetJumper]

Aside from the type of light. How do you judge the amount of light, for example in your case for a 30G tank. I mean 192W comes up 6.5 watts/ gallon

PAR Value is key. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthetically_active_radiation

[mikerobart]

JetJumper is right. Now for many access to a PAR meter is not always possible, you can look what others are using on the tank size you're interested in.

Watts per gallon is an outdated and not so useful metric. You have to consider how the light is delivered, the efficiency, types of bulbs, spectrum, reflectors used etc. In reality though you can just go with what other people are having success with.

I think the generally accepted consensus is that in terms of efficiency:

LED > t5ho > MH > PC

Then consider only LED and MH will produce shimmer on their own ( if you care about shimmer effect.) Also keep in mind that in very deep tanks the penetrating power of point sources may be important.

The progression in the hobby seems to be to want to keep more demanding corals as time goes on both in terms of light requirements and water quality required etc. I'm sure both FO and reef tanks could be equally rewarding but just like you can have a planted FW tank with fish or a fish only non-planted tank... there is something about watching those plants grow, running your CO2 etc etc... For me corals are about 1000000x more exciting to watch grow than plants  (no offense intended to plant people) and as such lighting is very important.

[beertech]

Another factor to consider is choosing between a prefab fixture and DIY or mix and match assemblies.  It depends on whether you have a hood or open top or inwall tank.  For my inwall I don't care what the hardware looks like, so I have a mix of different lights. 250 W MH, T-5's and VHO actinic.  Once you know what type of corals you may like in the future and what type of fixture would suit your tank the best, it becomes easier and you can start shopping around for price.