Reef safe decorations

[don.ald]

is it a lot of work to keep them clean?
dont they get covered in algae?

Originally Posted by daniella3d

Honestly though, it does not look very "reefy". How about something that is really meant to be in a saltwater tank? I have put some artificial sponges in my reef that look quite real and understanding how difficult it is to maintain non-photosynthetic sponges (nearly impossible) in a reef, I went with artificial ones from here:

http://www.oceanaquaria.com/Corals.php

and here is a pic of my tank with the artificial sponges in it, as the oranges sponges:

[Maverick00]

^ i was about to ask the same question

[daniella3d]

Not that much no. I had quite a few bubble algae on one and the foxface cleaned that in one day.

I had to remove a barnacle shell that was all green from algae and dip it in javel water for a day in order to regain its colors but I don't have to do that with the sponges.

They seem to be a little less vibrant in color or less saturated than before but that in my taste is better anyway, looks more natural. So far I have them for 8 months and I have not clean those sponges yet. It seem that algae don't have much hold in that type of material.

I would suggest oxyclean to clean them and a little brush or dipping it for about a day and of course a very throughout rinse.

Here is a video done recently and you can see the sponges. As you can see I have lots of algae on my back glass but none on the sponges. I have since added 2 blue sponges on the left.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv2G0...yer_detailpage

Originally Posted by don.ald

is it a lot of work to keep them clean?
dont they get covered in algae?

[DisneyCoralReef]

No no, not wanting to put anything artificial in my tank. Im going to have everything grow on its own, I just thought of this Disney Castle as an option, since its well....Disney. But since a chat I had with a reefer last night, I've decided that you know what, I also think that it will be better to keep this displayed outside the tank it's to gorgeous to put inside a salty tank I think. We will display it on the wall instead

[Madreefer]

Good idea. We are trying to create a little peice of the ocean fro ourselves to enjoy looking at. I could never understand why people put in little decorations or toys. Looks really cheesy. Same as the fake ocean tank background. It feels better saying to people "no no, theres nothing fake in there, it's all real" And yes those fake corals look do look fake to a reefers eye. Good luck with your build.

[daniella3d]

YOu would be surprised how many people came to my place and saw these sponges and they had no clue they were fake until I told them. MOst people who saw my aquarium are mostly impressed with the sponges, go figure Not the beautiful SPS, not the frogspawn...not the many gorgonians I have, not even my large montipora cap...but the sponges.

It's easy to say they look fake once you know they are fake! Problem is that it is impossible to keep non-photosynthetic sponges, so unless you simply go with easy coral, artificial sponges are a good alternative to killing coral or buying short living ones.

Originally Posted by Madreefer

Good idea. We are trying to create a little peice of the ocean fro ourselves to enjoy looking at. I could never understand why people put in little decorations or toys. Looks really cheesy. Same as the fake ocean tank background. It feels better saying to people "no no, theres nothing fake in there, it's all real" And yes those fake corals look do look fake to a reefers eye. Good luck with your build.

[reefwars]

daniella your reef video is beautiful one of the nicer tanks ive seen love the diversity stunning for sure