I am thinking of using synthetic coral as aquarium decoration....is there any downside to it in terms of balancing the closed eco-system as opposed to live coral and sand?
Dear Devil,
on top of what Dan had mentioned, perhaps u can consider keeping damsels as well as they are very hardy and more tolerant towards fluctuations in water quality. Do read up a bit on the feeding habits and behaviour of cardinalfish. in my former 3ft tank, it made a snack out of my cleaner shrimps...[]
A hydrometer is the very first thing to consider. u have an option of going for the floating type or the container type and it can range from S$1.50-S$15. If u are in Singapore, i recommend going to Petmart in Serangoon North to purchase it. I am personally using a floating type. Budget constrain lah.. Other basic items have been mentioned in the other topic, Setting up a reef tank. Over there, basic test kits have been mentioned for the initial startup.
Another point to make, remove all the filter media and replace with new ones for the conversion of the filter (Ehiem 2026) and wash the bio-balls (if any) thoroughly b4 running it in saltwater. The type of bacteria are different.
Personally, me do not use a calcium reactor.. doing similar method as DAN. Unless u have tons of $$$ (which i dun have, sigh!! [] ) then start off with the basic stuff and upgrade along the way. eg. getting a denitrator, a better protein skimmer or a chiller.
Do go for live rocks as they will provide the micro-organism and cells to start up your tank. B4 doing that, read a bit more on the 'maturing a marine tank', the breaking down of ammonia process or it is gonna be a very expensive lesson.. [] (speaking from experience!!) Be patient and expect to see an empty tank within the first 2 weeks.. []
Using synthetic corals in the tank... er.. u are the first that i heard of to want that in your tank. Having real corals does make it more natural.. however, i would like to add this, i keep only soft corals as hard corals forms the exo-skeleton of the reef..(personal conviction.. dun mind me!! ) and thus, me salute to you for your wanting to keep synthetic corals.. less trouble i presume.. hahaha.. no pun intended.. anyway, synthetic will not affect your system at all.. any more queries, do post again. we try to help.. me only offering my 2cents worth of advice.. me go by experience and some reading...
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