Top 11 Reasons you Should Get a Reef Tank
- Feb 11, 2022
- Anshika Mishra
- 429 0 0
Keeping a marine aquarium is a fantastic hobby, and it's growing all the time. But, there are still some people out there who don't have a reef tank. If that's you, here are eleven reasons why you should get one.
Research
Half the fun of buying something new is the research. Right? Well, the opportunities for research ith marine aquariums are never-ending.
You can buy magazines, read books, look at articles online, ask questions on forums, drop spreadsheets, and watch videos.
Diversity of Appearance
The saltwater aquarium hobby is filled with some of the most spectacular water creatures in the world. You have Butterflyfish, Tangs, Angels that are laterally compressed, presumably escaping from prison cells. Stumpy spikey Pufferfish will inflate to a perfect sphere if they are in danger. Tube-shaped fish like lobbies and Blennies often live in caves that match their body shape. And, of course, the traditional fish shape fish.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. The variety is endless, and aside from being cool, it is one of those things that will make your aquarium look so fascinating.
There's Always Something New
Every time you go to your local fish shop, you will see something different. You will see rare corals and fish all the time.
We 100% guarantee there will be something inspiring on every visit to your local fish shop.
Community
Reef keeping is a real people hobby, and there will always be someone willing to help you out. It might be your local shop owner, another hobbyist you get talking to, Facebook groups, or forums.
You will fish frag shops aquarium shows, and there always be someone else who will want to see your tank.
Photography
The animals we keep in our tank just so happen to be pretty damn photogenic. Suppose you fancy yourself as a bit of an amateur photographer. In that case, a marine aquarium is a perfect subject to practice on because everything in your tank will be beautiful in a photo.
So, you can snap your water ecosystem's life on Facebook groups and forums.
Furthermore, investing in a DSLR camera and an evening class on how to use it will add another dimension to your enjoyment of the hobby.
You Get to Play Scientist
Testing your parameters is the key part of running a successful reef tank. You can get various test kits, some digital and some analog, and you will need to get used to the precision measurement of different liquids and powders.
You can also take it one step further and send your water to a lab in Germany where actual scientists will test for everything you can imagine.
Freaky Critters
This hobby isn't just about fishing corals, and it is also about all of the other interesting animals you can get. It includes Starfish, Hermit crabs, filter-feeding crabs, snails, shrimps, Urchins, and more.
The list is endless, and some are as entertaining as your fish. They also form part of your aquarium workforce; they sweep up dirt from your sandbed, clean out work of rock work and keep your sand turning over to stop detritus settling.
So, even the animals you buy do a job in a reef tank are great!
Bioluminescence
The fluorescent pigments in corals are proteins. So when they are illuminated with blue lights from IR LEDs, they give backlight of a longer wavelength.
From daytime to nighttime, the same coral looks like totally different animals. Many reefers have only blue lights over their tanks which means they get the beautiful bioluminescence to examine all the time.
Beautiful Fish
The animals we keep are some of the most striking in the world. They have stunning vibrant colors, mesmerizing patterns, and even smiling faces. On the most basic level, these vivid creatures are remarkable to look at.
They will draw you to your tank as soon as you get home from work, and you can while away relaxing evenings just watching them do their things.
Your friends and family will flock to the tank to see the bright colors and won't even notice the beautiful corals you have until they've spent a good period of time waking at your spectacular fish.
Marine Fish Have Personality
Your tank inhabitants have quirky, interesting behaviors. You will see smaller, cleaner fish hitching a lift on bigger fish and nipping parasites off them. You will see symbiotic relationships like Clownfish making a home of protection in an Anemone or even certain corals.
You will see clams rooting into their shells when they things the light has been shocked to buy an overhead predator.
You will see that saltwater fish don't swim back and forth all day. They make homes in caves, and they perch on rock frag racks on anything else they can fit on, they dig themselves borrows to live in that they then guard all day long, they hover in the same spot as still as they can presumably to avoid detection by a t-rex and they pick algae in the tank.
Ultimately, they are animals brought up on coral reefs in the wild. One of the most competitive habitats in the world. So, they all have to carve out a niche in life to help themselves survive.
It is Impossible to Get Bored
The reef aquarium is a constantly evolving project, and each stage can take months or even years to master. With other hobbies, you get to a point where you have achieved everything you can, and then you repeat the same thing.
There is always something new with this hobby, something to progress to. At the start, it can be getting your fish coral, then progressive to harder to keep corals like LPS, SPS, Clams, and so on.
Beyond that, it will be about keeping more tricky species of fish with specific requirements or learning to provide an environment where your corals can thrive, not just survive.
This will lead to beautiful colors, rapid growth, and mega polyp extension.
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