Starting a Saltwater Aquarium – FOWLR – Fish Only With Living Rock

Live rock only (FOWLR) fish aquariums can be an amazing and beautiful addition to your home. Besides watching it on TV, how else can you see such colorful and amazing marine life? Saltwater aquariums (FOWLR) contain saltwater fish and live rocks. Other creatures that can live in this type of tank are snails, crabs, and urchins. The best thing about a FOWLR tank is that the rock naturally filters the water. These aquariums are also much easier to set up and maintain compared to a coral reef aquarium. Basically, there are two types of FOWLR aquariums that you can set up: one for aggressive fish or one for peaceful fish. We suggest not mixing the two.

aggressive fish

These creatures are beautiful, but they are actually the bullies in a coral aquarium. However, they live peacefully in a FOWLR aquarium. These are some of the most popular:

big angel fish

The large angelfish is a very unique and striking fish. They dart all over the aquarium and help keep the tank clean by eating algae on the rocks.

Surgeonfish (Tangs)

Surgeonfish have scalpel-shaped spines on either side of their tail. This is a defense mechanism. They like to hide and prefer a large tank.

crossbow

Triggerfish have a rectangular shape and are stocked in several different colors. They are called a triggerfish because their dorsal fun has a strong bone that is used to help maintain their position on rocks.

Blowfish

Pufferfish seem to have very strong beaks and jaws that they use to eat crustaceans. It is common for puffer fish to even eat out of someone’s hands!

peaceful fish

dart fish

Dartfish are small, colorful fish. They have a long and graceful appearance. They are active fish and even like to jump so be sure to keep a lid on your tank.

cardinal fish

Cardinalfish are also very graceful. They have very interesting color patterns. They like to live in groups and are not too difficult to breed in your tank.

squirrel fish

Squirrel fish do not like acorns and have fluffy tails. They are red and add some color to your FOWLR aquarium. They are also a very social fish.