Fish only versus Reef

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This is going to be my first shot at this.

Understanding the amount of research, time and patience that must go into this, should I start with a fish only tank and progress to a reef tank when I am more experienced or should go ahead and start with a reef tank?

Thanks
 
To be honest, it made no difference to me, as long as you go for easy care corals like zoalanthids, mushrooms, leathers etc then it looks so much better than bare rock, this will however limit the species of fish you keep, many of the angels or butterlfies will eat certain corals.
 
i jumped into reef, the inverts and corals and few fish that one keeps is so much more fun
 
i jumped into reef, the inverts and corals and few fish that one keeps is so much more fun
agree! in a fish only tank satisfaction must be short lived in the sense that you put a fish in your tank and then? whereas in a reef tank you shape and grow a whole enviroment. but if you just want colourful fish to look at with minimal effort fowlr would be the way to go(must admit some of the specimens one can get are awesome!)
 
well a angel tank will be one of next tank on my list, and then a predator tank.


Rkieser, go for reef like mike said, soft coral tank
 
At the end of the day the choice is yours.
Personally i would love to have a FOWLR tank (It must be 2.5m or larger). That way I can fill it up with tangs, angels and butterflies (mainly local fish).
The idea of the large FOWLR tank idea came to mind when i viewed the old Northlands Pets FOWLR system.
 
I would agree to go for a mixed with some of the easier corals. Dont fool yourself into thinking that fish are easier than corals there are some fish that are far more finicky than easier corals.
 
Although reef tanks are all the rage, apparently the ultimate tank to have is a predator tank, cause most of these creatures are just never seen in our normal run of the mill tanks.

Imagine seen a fully grown Green Bird Wrasse swimming across a 2 metre wide tank in under a second, or having a Snowflake Eel that hides in the rockwork and attacks food when floating by, or imagine the cool or ugly (depending on your taste) Paper Fish, slowly cruising around, with no worry in the world.
 
i had a tank with a frog fish and lion fish :) just couldnt handle feeding it live fish, so i gave them away
 
in a fish only tank satisfaction must be short lived in the sense that you put a fish in your tank and then? whereas in a reef tank you shape and grow a whole enviroment.
I agree, when I removed all of my corals from my tank and went fish only I found myself terribly bored with the tank, it is so much better to look at each and every coral and see how much it has grown and getting new branches or polyps etc.
 
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