How to make a fish only tank beautiful without coral?

[ctopherl]

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

Uh oh interesting! What kind of puffer? I have a small valentini and was planning on some bubble tips...

 

[HankstankXXXL750]

Uh oh interesting! What kind of puffer? I have a small valentini and was planning on some bubble tips...

I can’t guarantee safety, but I have a blue spotted in with my BTA and clown pair and have had no issue with him doing any harm. However I have a Thinlined Puffer who does eat soft corals.

 

[damsels are not mean]

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

Look up what you can find on online stores. I've had a good experience (I think two orders actually) with mosaic macros on etsy. Good info and selection. Algae palatability to fishes is variable. Some are too hard or taste bad to fish. Most of the info sheets they have on their store will mention that. Generally if it looks hard it's less likely to be eaten because well it's hard.

 

[HankstankXXXL750]

You might try aquaculturenurseryfarms.com they have a great selection most of the time. I have gotten good service from them in the past on live shrimp. Haven’t bought any macro from them but I think they have it.

 

[Flame2hawk]

Make it beautiful by getting colorful fish and let them be the stars of the tank!

 

[AydenLincoln]

I think puffers eat both urchins and sea stars, but would probably depend on the species. Any non reef safe fish that eats corals usually goes for a lot of other inverts

This is true!

 

[AydenLincoln]

Fake coral or dried out real coral! You can also use shapes, arches, branches, etc. from CaribSea or Real Reef Rock to aquascape! And you can get different substrate or black sand. Colorful fish will help as well as the right lighting.

 

[HankstankXXXL750]

This is true!

Reef Cleaners said I could try a pin cushion urchin with my puffers but it would be a risk.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Reef Cleaners said I could try a pin cushion urchin with my puffers but it would be a risk.

A pufferfish’s natural diet includes crustaceans, mollusks, sea stars, and urchins so it seems like a terrible idea and a yummy snack for the puffer!

 

[GT3000XX]

I have always decorated my aquariums with a wall of rock. This gives the fish plenty of places to hide and establish an area they can go to feel safe. I also put a power head behind the rock toward the bottom that kicks on several times a day to keep waste from building up behind the rock.

 

[HankstankXXXL750]

A pufferfish’s natural diet includes crustaceans, mollusks, sea stars, and urchins so it seems like a terrible idea and a yummy snack for the puffer!

Yes, I believe their thought was that the pin cushion with its sharp barns may keep the puffer at bay vs like a pencil urchin. That being said I did think it was too high if a risk for me. I’m trying copepods to see if they will help with Algea removal in tanks with invertebrate risky fish.

 

[Devaji]

I have been thinking of this ever since I decided to go FOLWR on the new tank. here is my plan.
amazing aqua scape using branch ,arches and other shapes. it's not going to be cheap ,but the scape and the fish are all we have so i decided to splurge on the rock.

also going to try to keep it as clean as I can and will add marco and gorgs from the seahorse tank we will see of they survive .