Are fish necessary in reef tank???

[hexcolor reef]

I currently have no fish in my lagoon tank and possibly might prefer no fish.

I know ammonia is a major thing which feeds corals which fish produce.

I top off my tank with tap water only treating chlorine and not the ammonia in the water. Has anyone kept an all reef tank with no fish successfully. I notice all frag tanks usually have some fish swimming in the tank.

Reason for not wanting fish:
The fish I want are very expensive and I would not want to come home to ich on my fish and possibly throwing money away.

Clown fish are very hardy so I thought about that but I would prefer tangs, copper bands etc

What’s the ups and downs of not having fish?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Here is a link to an older thread that discusses this same topic! Hopefully this gives you some answers!

 

[SPS2020]

Fish poo is one of the best coral foods. I had a tank for years without fish, only LPS and softies. Once I went to acropora, it was a no brainer...you need fish.

 

[Someguyfromsc]

I only use 3 fish in my tanks a pink spot goby my preference a lawnmower blenny my preference and a tang dealers choice . All are contributing members of the reef . I like pretty fish but if they Dont work I Dont keep them . I’ve had fish less frag tanks and everything was just as good as in the main tank .

 

[flashsmith]

My advice if you want nice coral start by getting a cheap rodi setup. Tap water won't cut it long term. Best money you can spend in this hobby. As far as fish there are plenty of cheap options. I know it sounds barbaric but things are gonna die in this hobby. That's just part of it. You could spend less than $100 and fill that tank up. When you say lagoon what size? A lagoon won't house tangs. Too small

 

[hexcolor reef]

Here is a link to an older thread that discusses this same topic! Hopefully this gives you some answer

Fish poo is one of the best coral foods. I had a tank for years without fish, only LPS and softies. Once I went to acropora, it was a no brainer...you need fish.

Only corals doing below ok are my mushrooms, Yuma and Florida riccordia. I was thinking of adding a St Thomas but since current mushrooms aren’t expanding and fluffy I don’t want to add any other softies.
I mainly have LPS and chalice in my tank. Which are all doing fine

Torches, Acantho, scoly, acans, frogspawn, mummy eye, stylo

The thread that was shared has the same issue with softies so I guess no softies or add fish

 

[hexcolor reef]

My advice if you want nice coral start by getting a cheap rodi setup. Tap water won't cut it long term. Best money you can spend in this hobby. As far as fish there are plenty of cheap options. I know it sounds barbaric but things are gonna die in this hobby. That's just part of it. You could spend less than $100 and fill that tank up. When you say lagoon what size? A lagoon won't house tangs. Too small

My lagoon is 6’ long , 4’ wide 16” h

Designer clowns would be what I would go after and maybe a algae goby

 

[bobnicaragua]

Reefing is throwing money away, might as well do it right!

 

[hexcolor reef]

Reefing is throwing money away, might as well do it right!

The straight forward truth lol

 

[i cant think]

I currently have no fish in my lagoon tank and possibly might prefer no fish.

I know ammonia is a major thing which feeds corals which fish produce.

I top off my tank with tap water only treating chlorine and not the ammonia in the water. Has anyone kept an all reef tank with no fish successfully. I notice all frag tanks usually have some fish swimming in the tank.

Reason for not wanting fish:
The fish I want are very expensive and I would not want to come home to ich on my fish and possibly throwing money away.

Clown fish are very hardy so I thought about that but I would prefer tangs, copper bands etc

What’s the ups and downs of not having fish?

Fish are going to die, it’s a part of the hobby. The same with ich, and it sounds bad but the fish diseases aren’t generally as bad as coral issues - Fish disease is generally curable but coral issues can be anything and a lot of the time it wipes out coral before people can cure it.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Reefing is throwing money away, might as well do it right!

throw it away in style!!

 

[Lebowski_]

I know ammonia is a major thing which feeds corals which fish produce.

Here's a thread by @Randy Holmes-Farley about Ammonia Dosing.

You can always also go heavy on clean up crew as they will serve a utilitarian purpose - lots of Astrea and Cerith's especially.

 

[The_Paradox]

I have a 60g with just two Maroons. They are over feed and the system is still ULN and requires quite a bit of dosing. I think currently it’s dosed around 0.2ppm nitrate and 0.003 phosphorous per hour but all the corals are doing well and have been for years. I’m not really a fan of fish so I get your thought process. It is doable but be prepared to fuss with dosing.