How to make a fish only tank beautiful without coral?

[Seno2k]

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.

 

[Bucs20fan]

Rock flower nems, carpet nems would be my go to. Provided you have the lighting to support them.

 

[Bucs20fan]

Sometimes you can get away with bta, but my puffer eats them so there’s that.

 

[trixter227]

Macro algea?? Like a planted reef

 

[Miami Reef]

The tank overall looks dirty. I would increase the flow, filtration, and water change schedule. Stirring the sandbed before the water change can yield great results.

I would also run activated carbon to adsorb tannis, the yellowing pigments which make the tank look overall dingy.

Adding a few more pieces of rocks would make the tank look more interesting.

Also, don‘t run the lights too long. Are using dechlorinated tap?

 

[Seno2k]

Macro algea?? Like a planted reef

Cool idea! Do you have any thoughts about a particular kind of macro algae?

 

[Seno2k]

The tank overall looks dirty. I would increase the flow, filtration, and water change schedule. Stirring the sandbed before the water change can yield great results.
I would also run activated carbon to adsorb tannis, the yellowing pigments which make the tank look overall dingy.

Ahh yes. Great points. I've been struggling to figure out why things look so dirty all the time. I'll give this a try.

Adding a few more pieces of rocks would make the tank look more interesting.

Also, don‘t run the lights too long. Are using dechlorinated tap?

Thank you! Yes, I've been using dechlorinated tap water. I'll pick up a few more rocks. Were you thinking of creating additional rock islands? Building on top of the existing ones? Both?

 

[Seno2k]

Rock flower nems, carpet nems would be my go to. Provided you have the lighting to support them.

Do you think these would be safe with a dog face puffer, a princess parrot, an angelfish, a tomato clown, and a blue tang?

 

[trixter227]

Cool idea! Do you have any thoughts about a particular kind of macro algae?

Not personally. Im just interested in the idea, currently trying to incorporate macro into my reef.
Check out this build, maybe somthing you find pretty.

Build Thread - Tigahboy's Macroalgae Tank(s)

This is a love story. About a [tigah]boy who fell in love with macroalgae... So I became totally enamored with macroalgae when I added them to a couple of my prior reef tanks (you can find them here in this thread), and I've always been drawn to the freshwater planted tank/scape aesthetic, so...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Goaway]

Do you think these would be safe with a dog face puffer, a princess parrot, an angelfish, a tomato clown, and a blue tang?

The dog face, and angelfish would love to munch on anemones. Not safe at all....

 

[bushdoc]

Underwater Castle, shipwreck, pineapple under the sea…….

 

[Nman]

You could try more rock and fake corals this a picture of fake corals nano tank just something else’s to consider

 

[Miami Reef]

I've been using dechlorinated tap water.

This can explain the ugly browns you are seeing. The browns are most likely diatoms. They require silica, which tap water supplies in abundance. Tap water also contains phosphates, nitrates, and trace elements. Since don’t have any other photosynthetic organism to outcompete the algae, it only makes sense why you’re having them.

You should probably dramatically reduce your photoperiod if you continue using tap water. That will limit all photosynthetic pests.

 

[Bucs20fan]

Do you think these would be safe with a dog face puffer, a princess parrot, an angelfish, a tomato clown, and a blue tang?

I dont have the angel or the parrot, but I have a clown tang, puffers and triggers, I added rock flowers at night and they seem to leave them alone now. Hell I have turbos in there that they dont even bother. But yes they CAN eat them if they choose to.

 

[Seno2k]

I dont have the angel or the parrot, but I have a clown tang, puffers and triggers, I added rock flowers at night and they seem to leave them alone now. Hell I have turbos in there that they dont even bother. But yes they CAN eat them if they choose to.

Wow, they don't bother your turbos?! How the heck did you manage that?! I can't keep anything with a shell in my tank. They go right for them!

 

[Spare time]

I'd consider adding a light in the style of a kessil or a COB light (dense matrix style light). Hang one up relatively high above the tank. This will create wide bands of shimmers to add some visual flare to the tank. You could even grab one of the current USA lights on clearance (the cheaper ones are fine for this) to add a rolling cloud effect (their cloud effects are the best I've seen). This with the dense matrix style light or by itself would be very pretty. You could also try to add some sponges and dose silica and phytoplankton (or bacterioplankton via carbon dosing), as well as adding multiple colors of coralline algae and maintaining the water parameters for them.

 

[Bucs20fan]

Wow, they don't bother your turbos?! How the heck did you manage that?! I can't keep anything with a shell in my tank. They go right for them!

Just luck I guess. I added 10 at once and theyve only killed one so far.

 

[Diastro]

If you don't have any fish that like to munch on macroalgae I highly recommend it.

Even if you do, you can try caulerpa ( any species) they tend to grow super fast, and calcified macroalgae which most fish won't touch.

 

[vtecintegra]

GSP or Xenia. Grows like weeds and doesn't take any effort. Would consume nutrients and help water quality. I like the macro algae idea, too.

 

[MantisShrimpMan]

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. For instance- LiveAquaria divers den has Indonesian pillow sea stars right now. Very cool looking, but I think they eat coral? But you could keep one without having to risk it eating the stuff you like!