I think the salient point to these fake reefs is that they are typically displays is that are built for people that aren't really hobbyists. These are folks or businesses that want a large display for the sake of having the display, and want a cost effective maintenance contract.

I have a hard time dealing with the script these guys blab out. I think they actually feel there funny and doing a good job but it is kind of amusing watching them turn there face before something is turned on or putting there heads in the spray when it misses them. Also im sorry but if I ever got my wife wet in a water fight at work looking like his wife does id be picking my stuff up off the lawn. Some of there ideas are rediculous as well but it is kind of neat to see some of the acrylic manufacturing. I also wonder how much some of these tanks cost when they talk about single panels of tanks being 10k$ and also with them flying to LA to hand pick the fish. I know they probably do multiple orders and dont fly as often as they portray but still that cant be a cheap buisness expense. Also I just watched an episode where they were flown in a private jet to visit a buisness to quote and plan a job. That must of been an expensive build. Itll be around simply because there really isnt anything better on tv. (only reason id watch it) Wow totally off topic there when I re-read the original post. Haha. I dont like the plastic look as well. I wouldnt be concerned of cleaning as all the paints and materials they use seem to be reef safe. Also if its only a little more for the real rock why not get the real thing and get the benifits from it. Coral on the other hand if I could find one that looked a little close to real I may be able to overlook it as they can be a real pain to upkeep and deal with nipping and pests.

They are bringing attention to the hobby, and that is a good thing. They are bringing in new people, and new money. The bigger and stronger the marine economy is the better for us hobbyists. I met them briefly at MACNA, and know several people that have spent some time with them (dinners and such) and I think they are quite humble people. They are certainly very friendly, and willing to talk about their business and show. I don't think they are "all about the money". They have families, they are real people too.

There is more than one way to skin a cat, and what they do works or they wouldn't be in business. If all their fish died and the setups failed they wouldn't be in business. People pay a small fortune for the tanks ATM sets up, and the owners would not put up with a bunch of dead fish. Think about it.

Is it my taste? If money wasn't a factor, I would LOVE an ATM FO tank! I wouldn't put so many fish in though simply because I wouldn't want to do the maintenance involved with such high bioload. I think the artificial reef structures are often distracting from the fish because the structures are so colorful and busy, but something simpler would look quite nice I think. FOWLR tanks with bare live rock aren't overly attractive imo.

I do have a few artificial sponges because it is nearly impossible to keep those alive in the aquarium, so I get them fake.

They will need regular cleaning and brushing, like once a month or more if your system does not generate too much algae and if they are in a shaded area.

I think that fake corals look very fake, but artificial sponges look quite convincing. Everybody who come to my place, every single person, have always thought they were real.

Both orange sponges here are artificial. It is easy to get them for quite cheap on ebay, just do a search for artificial sponge coral.


http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/y...s/_MG_0507.jpg

As I'm sure mrhasan can tell you, those real miniature ruins are pretty near impossible to grow as well, that's why he goes with a fake one :lol:

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...-11-131430.jpg

One of my main concerns with watching these shows is it gives the unrealistic expecation to people that watch the show that you can set up a tank and put in 20 large fish or more and they will survive and be healthy. Also the types of fish they add in the tanks is ridiculous!! I'd say they are a joke aswell as they don't seem to care about the health of their livestock after the fact. My favorite part was when they were building the large reef tank and trying to convince the guy to go fish only because it was going to be soooo difficult to maintain!! The guy lived in Miami and already had a 150gal full reef tank and they thought he didn't know anything. I guarantee he knew more about coral and reefs then the guys on the show!! It was pretty pathetic to be honest. These guys just want to build big fish only tanks and have no idea what a full reef tank should look like!! Also them trying to place corals on top of the rocks with tongs was really funny to watch. We all know how well corals just stay once placed somewhere without using putty or something like that!!

I like to grow Easter island heads and fabric plants

http://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...84842888_n.jpg

I have lots of bright fake corals in my son's fresh water tank. He absolutely loves them because they look cool to him and in the end that's all that really matters. :biggrin:

There are people who have way too much money and want something which looks awesome but with least maintenance. And for them, FOWLR with fake corals exists along with ATM. And if they ripoffs and have bad reputation (like overstocking leading to dead fishes), people wouldn't be going back to them for business; as simple as that. These are millionaires and billionaires and if ATM messed with them, they would have more lawsuits than apple-samsung patent war.

There's also what's feasible.

This is a photo of the 27 foot deep main display at the Florida Aquarium in Tampa, where I used to volunteer as a diver/algae scrubber.

http://www.visitflorida.com/images/p...2_aquarium.jpg

There's no feasible way to have a real reef. Think of the lighting, skimming, and labour intensity required, as well as fish disease management... if it were real corals. Just not feasible. Public zoo and aquarium standard practices is to use fabricated displays. There are a few large live coral reefs as well, but those are very ambitious and rare exceptions. I saw this one at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta (the one with whale sharks), kudos for accomplishing this display, but it's rare to see the really big tanks go with live corals.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-0...age037_jpg.jpg

more details on what's involved in this live reef display: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-03/feature/index.php