Anyone got a take on those Plasticy Rubbery Fake Coral things they sell at Petsmart??

[steri]

I haven't bought any of them or anything, but I was reading up on them. They (the maker's advertisers) say they are great for Saltwater tanks. These peices supposedly move a little in tanks (like with the current of the water) and are somewhat poseable or whatever. Personally, I don't think I would buy them just because they have a lot of color and I would worry about dyes and chemicals used to create that color. I don't plan on having any corals in my tank or anything, but I will have Liverock.

If I here good things, maybe I'll consider buying a couple of these fake plasticy rubbery coral like peices just to add more color, but if the consencous is how I think it will be, I'll just stay away.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Better yet, has anyone bought any of these peices? If they have, I'd be real curious to see how you like them in your tank, and if it's affecting anything negatively.

[steri]

If anyone needs a link. This is the type of thing I'm talking about.

http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441814297&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302030107&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023693&bmUID=1166818121273&itemNo=4&In=Fish&N=2030107&Ne=2

[BadOleRoss]

I bought several(10) from Fosters and Smith and have them in my 220 FOWLR tank to add a litte color. They look great in the tank but I have only had them in there a couple weeks. I do have to remove them every week to 10 days and clean them with a little toothbrush. Takes about 10 minutes total....... I like em'

[steri]

Thanks BadOleRoss.

Anyone else with any thoughts?

[reefshadow]

I don't know... there's no comparison between them and real corals. But if you aren't planning on a reef tank then do whatever you like.

They should be inert and safe for your tank, and cause no problems.

[Andrew]

I think they look tacky and are a complete waste of money.

[strendo]

I bought 15 of them for my 150 office tank. They look great, everyone that comes by thinks they're real. They're kind of a pain to clean, get as many critters as you can to eat the algae off and be prepaired to take them all out once a week, soak in a light bleach solution, and scrub off all the algae. Once you leave it on it's a real pain to clean.
Also learn from my mistake-Don't put them right into your tank! all the oils will stop your protein skimmer from working. I just took all mine out, and put them in the dishwasher, with heated dry/no soap. Now everything's working again.
hope this helps

[bllfish]

Sounds like a lot of trouble for rubber?

[jacmyoung]

If you look at my gallery, I have a tank full of faux coral, a few on the top are similar to what Petsmart sells, but the large pieces are ordered only through Ebay stores. I have never had to clean them since my tank is reef ready and I do my filtration as if the tank is a reef tank even though it is FO, no nuisance algae growth on corals, only macroalgae which my fish love to pick on.

One of these days I may start to add real coral, but for now the faux coral look as real as I think they can be.