What are the differences between a marine reef and saltwater fish-only aquarium?
Saltwater fish-only aquariums use decorative or artificial coral for decorations and may contain larger fish compared to reef aquaria. Reef aquariums contain live rock (rock collected from the ocean encrusted with life) as the base of the reef, onto which corals are affixed which grow and spread to cover the rock. Reef aquariums will have smaller fish but also may have many other types of invertebrate life such as shrimp, crabs, anemones and urchins. It is extremely difficult to combine the two types of habitats as the larger fish will prey on corals and invertebrates.
