In a 55 gallon tank, can a saltwater environment work without live rock and coral? Is it possible to use fake plants/rocks/etc...with a handful of compatible fish?

i think you only need live rock and coral if you are going for a reef tank not sure you may need live rock anyway. maybe just read through soem of the old posts where people want to start a marine tank. they is also a pinned thread about everything you need to start a marine tank

here it is

http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...showtopic=53922

and here is another one

http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...showtopic=49676


hope that helps you out lolafish

That's good news. The book references are going to be extremely helpful too. Thank you!

Coming in a bit late but you can definitely do a fish only tank without live rock, protein skimmers or corals. You can use dead rock and dead coral (though I don't recommend buying large pieces of dead coral as they often contribute to reef destruction) for decor, or fake stuff.

Doing a fish only system is very similar to doing a freshwater system. Check out the books and let us know if you have any questions. One of the absolute best is Marine Fishes by Scott W. Michael. Invaluable!

Thank you! I just don't think I want the responsibility of learning how to take care of a new fish on top of the responsibility of keeping the rock and coral thriving. I may change my mind, I don't know yet...but want to cover all of the possibilities.

In all honesty I prefer the live rock (LR) method because it is more natural. LR contains all the bacteria which cycles your tank, and since you don't want nitrates in saltwater, there is also denitrifying bacteria within the LR that removes most of it. Again though, LR is not a necessity in any SW tank, just desirable. I personally prefer the look of it because it really says "ocean" to me.