Nothing wrong with having a little fun with your tank!

it was actually me that pointed out mrhasan's tank.

Now I feel bad. Sorry for dragging you into this. Was just pointing out the novelty of it.

Let's just agree to disagree, and let it go. Very few people have any energy left to care about such an inconsequential issue.

Oh, and I like bacon cheese burgers and they are full of artificial stuff too. There is my good and helpful post for the day!

Don't worry about it. I am kinda enjoying it too since my tank is kinda like the center of attention :D Mine should be the tank of the month (version: that brought in many words) :mrgreen:

It was more meant as a joke/teasing way, not in an insulting way.

But most of the time people like to see it as insulting rather than the other way around. I also notice that French people are way harder to offend thqan English people so there must be a good part of the culture behind this.

I guess we are not offended so easily, generally speaking.

Thought I'd drop in to see how this thread has been going. Now Daniella, we put up with a lot from you, but insulting coffee is going too far. If I wasn't enjoying coffee right now, I'd have to ban you for that. Don't do it again.

(I know that since you're French, you can take the joke :))

P.S. That ruin is damn ugly -lol

Ruins are suppose to be ugly isinit? ;)

Wouldn't be a ruin if it was pretty :)

I was gonna say the same thing, insulting coffee??? How dare ya...:mrgreen:

Coffee is the best thing since sliced bread :lol:

Those ruins are very ugly and at the same time very pretty...:lol:

I am at the end of this forum... what was it about anyways?

This got seriously hi-jacked.


Myka.... I am interested in hearing if you found anything out from the staff about how they clean the artificial corals.


I personally think it would be a hassle to maintain... however, after the massive loss of coral I experienced this year.... it is growing on me.


They usually look so fake though.

I remember seeing the tank at the rainforest cafe and mandalay bay years ago in Vegas. This was before we had our tanks set up and I can honestly say I could not tell they were fake. Most people have no clue what real corals look like or how they behave, their real colors, movements etc and at that time neither did I. I was truly amazed at what I saw and experienced. I've never snorkeled or been scuba diving. I would admit now having reef tanks and corals I'd be a lot more critical but to the general public it does look natural. I think these fake corals have a place in larger settings like public aquariums. Would I put these in my own tanks?? Not likely but to each their own.

I like mrhasan's tank, it's unique. I've seen some with skulls or sunken ships incorporated into them. It's a vision to the reefer it belongs to.

I'm shocked at all the negative feedback from you guys :question:I get too each there own but there are times too keep mouth shut and give a guy a pat on the back nope some stupid ignorant Daniel or whatever your user name is gotta bash and critize a man's Labour of love...Mr Hasan has started that tank while in school I see on Kijiji other sites student selling tanks cause no time...we should be applauding him not picking apart his tank...WHO care if there is a fake ruin give it a year and it will be soo covered in palys,zoas..:twised:
GREAT job mr Hasan that wasn't hard was it..also did you say srry there you ignorant frenchy??that would be a great start not comparing coffee..your lucky Mr Hasan is a good man didn't take that the wrong way...and you got my vote for tank of the month mr Hasan :biggrin:

Ruins, damn ruins I blame the Greeks for this modern day fiasco. If they would have just knocked those damn pillars down instead of having them stand as eye sores for centuries the French could stop picking on the middle eastern people and the rest of us WASP's could enjoy our nice Central American bean beverages.

I was just thinking that very thing!

:mrgreen:

It's a pain to maintain but maybe since they only have artificial corals they can use products for controlling algae that are not detrimental to fish but are going to kill the algae. I know such product exist but not sure about using those in a reef with live corals.

The main problem is the build up of algae or coraline.

To clean the artificial sponges, I sometimes have to dip them in bleach. I have also notice that they tend to lose their bright color with time and be more dull. Especially the blue.

Also if anyone is going to buy some artificial sponges, it is a good practice to let them dip in water for a few days since I have notice that it can affect the skimmer for a few days. To be safe I dip them for a week now to remove what ever chimical or oil that could be left on it. It never affected the corals or fish but I don't take any chance.

Someone had mentioned they worked a public aquarium with a large display with fake corals. The corals were all on plugs and were removed and replaced immediatly with an alternate while the others were taken out and manually cleaned. Then when the in tank coral needed cleaning again the now clean coral went in and the dirty stuff comes back out to repeat the process.

Only a few weeks ago, I was on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Tampa Bay Aquarium. The guide was explaining how they removed the coral and sponges for cleaning in order to keep things looking nice.

She left it at that. I overheard some of the other attendees talking and had to interrupt..."Ummm...you know that the corals and sponges she referred to are fake....plastic...right?" They hadn't realized that part...

NEVER underestimate how little people understand about nature. My assumption is that 99% of the people who view those tanks think they are looking at real, living coral and sponges.

Well I think it looks nice.

I remember a thread on RC many years ago, when a lady was taking some flack for all the fake things in here reef, including the bubbly things. She finally said something like, [I dont recall it all], she was a nurse in a childrens cancer ward and when she came home at night she just liked to sit and look at her little tank with the bubbly things to help her cope after a day there, or something to that effect.

I have never forgotten that. So to each their own. Everyone has to make their little or big world what they wish or perceive to be their creation.

The OP asked for ideas on the tank he wants to place in the Stollery and artificial coral was brought up. So not too badly hijacked as it is a legitimate idea if someone is willing to clean it.

The problem is that not all artificial corals are created equal. Some lose their colors after a few cleaups. And they are really really expensive for the most part.

Sponges are not so bad but I have seen some of the artificial corals go for 500$ and more for a not so big display. There are quite a bit of them on ebay.

Those used in the Tanked program are really expensive so they must be of good quality. I still think they look fake though.

Can't help to think that I would rather pay for a few frags and watch them grow, than pay 374$ for that piece:

http://www.instantreef.com/aquarium-...ish-r032s.aspx

or 779$ for that one:

http://www.instantreef.com/aquarium-...ish-r032s.aspx

Oh, I agree not all fake coral is created equal. I guess it would have to be decided before hand for a long term public display which would cost the most (up front cost versus on going maintenance cost to keep the tank at reef levels) long term. As a hobbiest I would get no satisfaction from an artificial reef but maybe for a public display were I could use cheap low-power lighting (to prevent algae), cheap salt, no dosing, able to use chemicals for treatment and algae control, etc., it may be a worthwhile option to explore. That being said AI has a few public reef tanks around town that use real coral that is easy to take care of and the they look just fine as well. The vast majority of the people who will be seeing the tank probably aren't hobbiests and won't care if the coral is real or not as long as it is a colorful display with lots of bright marine fish swimming around. I would recommend using the fish species from "Finding Nemo" in the tank as the kids would love it and be more able to relate to it.

I would like to buy this one but unfortunately they don't ship to Canada...

http://www.livingcolor.com/store/?sl...products_id=70

Living color is the company that produces the artificial corals for the program "Tanked".

They have some cool props in their shark tank like the cut off arm and leg with blood that I am sure some nonoreefer would love and that would suit him just right! lol! vraiment ti counne le gars! :wink:

I thought ATM builds their own inserts for tanked. I believe living color is from fish tank kings

I can't stand these shows because they just feel so nauseatingly fake. There always has to been some sort of manufactured "problem" in every episode. That goes for most of the reality shows these days. I'd love for it to just be an honest show.

I'm not a fan of artificial stuff in reef tanks, but I can understand doing it for large commercial displays. I can think of a few semi natural decorations that might be cool but generally I think it's just tacky when you've got so many beautiful and natural options with saltwater tanks.