How to make a fish only tank beautiful without coral?

[dedragon]

Lots of sea stars, urchins, etc. take advantage of NOT having corals to get all of the cool “non reef safe” species that most reefers wish they could pull off.

I think puffers eat both urchins and sea stars, but would probably depend on the species. Any non reef safe fish that eats corals usually goes for a lot of other inverts

 

[LPS Bum]

I have a 240 gal FOWLR. Without corals or inverts the fish are the stars, so get a lot of them and make ‘em very colorful. A FOWLR can support a much higher stocking density than a typical mixed reef.

I have a bunch of Angels, a bunch of Tangs, a puffer and a Harlequin Tusk. Lots of color and activity.

Also, get the tank clean and low on algae. Lots of flow. Lots of skimming. Stir the sand frequently, etc. That’ll make the fish’s colors pop.

 

[Sump Crab]

I’ve always had a soft spot for FOWLR tanks that are full of real ocean liverock! All the sponges, feather dusters, algaes, tunicates, etc. are beautiful and interesting! KP aquatics or Tampa bay saltwater seem to be good bets.

 

[salty150]

 

[bsagea]

Lots of rock (I'm a big fan of alot of rock) and branching pieces to create a stunning aquascape. Gorgonians will add some depth and don't require much care. Depending on fish might nip at them a bit. Some red macro algae will give some added color as well.
bsa

 

[monica HHF]

Does anyone have any recommendations for how to "beautify" a fish only tank? I have a number of fish that don't play well with coral, and so I've been limited to live rock on a white sand substrate. The fish can be quite pretty to look at, but that only gets me so far when the tank is comprised of a mix of whites and browns, with the occasional green from algae buildup. For reference, I have a dog face puffer, a princess parrot, an angelfish, a tomato clown, and a blue tang. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

[JC1977]

If you’re running a FOWLR you really need to invest in a good ro/di unit tap water is a lot of your issues. I know because I tried it for awhile in my FOWLR and it was a headache the final straw was my beloved emperor angel getting pale and stressed out. I went back to ro/di and within several weeks he was back to normal. As others have said watch your lighting period and intensity especially with tap water it’s a dangerous combo. Assuming you get that sorted out you could try some softies like Kenya tree or colt coral. I like the gsp idea somebody else mentioned as well!

 

[dstockwell]

Second gorgonians

 

[Phlynamjax]

I run FOWLR as well and I think my aquarium is pretty . I think most important part is finding a right balance of fish density, aquascape, and keeping it really clean. My tank is about 4 years old in this tank and 7 years old including previous tank (some of these fish are 7 years under my care). Let me share my FOWLR for reference.

 

[Keko21]

Id say get creative with the rock scape, get a school of something colorful- bimac anthias? Maybe a school of flasher wrasse of some type?
With a FOWLR you are obviously relying on the inhabitants to give it the wow factor, (Assuming no nems). Eels are fun, i love big fat puffers too- they bring the personality lol

the idea for growing macro was great too!

 

[JC1977]

I run FOWLR as well and I think my aquarium is pretty . I think most important part is finding a right balance of fish density, aquascape, and keeping it really clean. My tank is about 4 years old in this tank and 7 years old including previous tank (some of these fish are 7 years under my care). Let me share my FOWLR for reference.

Wow very nice collection of angels! Beautiful tank!

 

[Jmp998]

I'm not really familiar with those fish-but are there any of the soft corals (leathers etc) that they won't eat? You can often get frags of softies cheap or free locally, if you find one that no one likes the taste of it could fill in some space quickly and cheaply as well as providing some swaying movement etc.

 

[Reef Quest]

I run FOWLR as well and I think my aquarium is pretty . I think most important part is finding a right balance of fish density, aquascape, and keeping it really clean. My tank is about 4 years old in this tank and 7 years old including previous tank (some of these fish are 7 years under my care). Let me share my FOWLR for reference.

Three Regal Angels, so cool
I just wouldn't of thought you'd have got away with that.
Did they all go in at the same time ?

 

[Bucs20fan]

I have a 210 Fowlr and I’ve only ever used tap water. I have an rodi unit for my 90g reef but I don’t have algae issues and my lights are on 12 hours a day. My nitrates hover around 40-50, who knows what phos is, I don’t test for it in the Fowlr.

 

[Homey D. Clownfish]

Start using rodi like someone said and improve water flow will help get your tank clean. Also, try not to overfeed your fish. I think a FOWLR system would look really nice if you get some nice, quality live rock. Coralline algae will add a nice pop of color, too. It‘s usually already on nice live rock (I used KP Aquatics), but if you go with dry rock they sell bottled coralline algae to seed your system.

 

[HankstankXXL750]

I was going to suggest GSP. I have some in my FOWLR tanks and it really adds a pop.

 

[Fish Think Pink]

I was going to suggest GSP. I have some in my FOWLR tanks and it really adds a pop.

LOL - add GSP and other live corals to FOWLR makes me laugh...

Instead, sharing photos of my FOWLR using high quality fake plants and fake corals

This is my Hector's Goby in front of fake plant

About 2 months ago added PetSmart fake coral on rock so here is my tank this morning March 30 2023... dirty glass but I don't feel like getting wet to clean it right now (probable water change tonight) .. I've also got a bit of an algae problem, but I'm not keeping nitrates and phosphates low enough to starve algae and my bitty hector's goby can't keep up with all that algae lol... Yes a diamond goby contributes to tank's inner sand shifting - every day bottom is different...

So this is a true FOWLR without sneaking rock flower anemones or GSP or acros or LOL...

 

[BobT]

Both GSP and Xenia will eventually cover every inch of your rocks, which could be cool if that's your jam!

 

[nuxx]

As stated a clean tank will go a long way.

Also tons of rock could liven things up a bit as well

 

[HankstankXXL750]

LOL - add GSP and other live corals to FOWLR makes me laugh...

Instead, sharing photos of my FOWLR using high quality fake plants and fake corals

This is my Hector's Goby in front of fake plant

About 2 months ago added PetSmart fake coral on rock so here is my tank this morning March 30 2023... dirty glass but I don't feel like getting wet to clean it right now (probable water change tonight) .. I've also got a bit of an algae problem, but I'm not keeping nitrates and phosphates low enough to starve algae and my bitty hector's goby can't keep up with all that algae lol... Yes a diamond goby contributes to tank's inner sand shifting - every day bottom is different...

So this is a true FOWLR without sneaking rock flower anemones or GSP or acros or LOL...

While that is true, I don’t consider the GSP to be “coral” in the sense that it lives in an extremely wide range of parameters. In regards to FOWLR the term Live rock has changed much over the last 20 years. What is referred to as live rock today was considered base rock when I started. Actually base rock then was still acuacultured or harvested but wasn’t encrusted with the diverse fauna of the “Live Rock”. So I too hesitate to refer to these as FOWLR, yet way different from my “true reef” tanks. As far as anemones, I would still call a tank a FOWLR with a pair of clowns hosting an anemone as I consider anemones to be a different category of invertebrates just as stars, feather dusters etc would be.
When I first got into the hobby in the 80’s fish only tanks were decorated with large pieces of coral skeletons. These had to be regularly removed from the tank and bleached to remain white and clean. This is why I am not fond of faux decorations. Without an exceptional CUC and very tightly controlled parameters they tend to become grungy.
Your tank looks nice and what you chose to do with it, as with all of us, is entirely driven by your tastes. You might consider a lawnmower blenny as I think they are awesome at Algea control.

Another part of the FOWLR setup is too house fish that are prone to eating corals so they don’t work out in reef tanks. So far I haven’t had any problem with my fish eating GSP. My Puffer likes my Cespitularia and seems to be doing a decent job of keeping it in check.