Fresh or Salt?
- Thread starter puffcrusader696
- Start date
I've never done salt, but isn't it a bit harder to set up a salt tank. I mean to set up a 55 FS tank. You buy a heater, filter, and that's it. For large cichlids, Oscars and etc. a bare tank is totally fine and other than a good filter and a heater, that's it.
packer43064;2731987; said:
a salt tank needs a filter, a heater, a skimmer and salt... not much more complicated. just takes a bit more knowledge
i have never tried a saltwater tank....but i will soon.
one other thing, i have to disagree with the notion that saltwater fish are more colorful than freshwater. Don't get me wrong they are colorful, but i have seen some African cichlids that were like swimming rainbows.
one other thing, i have to disagree with the notion that saltwater fish are more colorful than freshwater. Don't get me wrong they are colorful, but i have seen some African cichlids that were like swimming rainbows.
I have both and they are both great. Freshwater is cheaper and easier to maintain because you don't have to mix the salt for water changes. Otherwise the maintenance is about the same (10% per week except the ray tanks, 30% every second day). If I factor in the cost of market shrimp and bloodworm, the cost starts to get closer.
As for personality, they are about the same. The bigger the fish, the more they seem to interact with the owner. My rays, aro, pbass and oscars all seem to come to the front when they see me coming but so does my mexican dragon eel and lionfish. It is much easier to maintane a small freshwater tank than a small saltwater one, though.
As for personality, they are about the same. The bigger the fish, the more they seem to interact with the owner. My rays, aro, pbass and oscars all seem to come to the front when they see me coming but so does my mexican dragon eel and lionfish. It is much easier to maintane a small freshwater tank than a small saltwater one, though.
i only have freshwater right now, but i think both are awesome
freshwater has some huge species that are relatively easy to keep, whereas saltwater species of the same size would need a bigger tank and much more care
plants & driftwood make for a very nice tank layout, and freshwater is rather easy to maintain, quick to set up/cycle and also cheap
saltwater is pretty awesome in terms of variety of life even in small tanks...so many invertebrates
in a tank with 25l, you can have a few shrimps, snails and maybe 1 or 2 fish species, that's more or less it in freshwater if you don't count the plants
in saltwater, there's anemones, mantis shrimps, sea stars, crabs, fire worms, clownfish, 2-3 corals, not to mention tons of smaller inverts
and many of these come with live rock...the concept of live rock is just so awesome
forrest gump's mother would say: "live rock is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you get"
i definitely want a nano reef or, even better, a normal reef tank, one day
freshwater has some huge species that are relatively easy to keep, whereas saltwater species of the same size would need a bigger tank and much more care
plants & driftwood make for a very nice tank layout, and freshwater is rather easy to maintain, quick to set up/cycle and also cheap
saltwater is pretty awesome in terms of variety of life even in small tanks...so many invertebrates
in a tank with 25l, you can have a few shrimps, snails and maybe 1 or 2 fish species, that's more or less it in freshwater if you don't count the plants
in saltwater, there's anemones, mantis shrimps, sea stars, crabs, fire worms, clownfish, 2-3 corals, not to mention tons of smaller inverts
and many of these come with live rock...the concept of live rock is just so awesome
forrest gump's mother would say: "live rock is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you get"
i definitely want a nano reef or, even better, a normal reef tank, one day
i did that [more or less]... but i voted salt's better.puffcrusader696;2731563; said:
had a 75gal FW community for a while, but i was a kid and it was basically my dad's tank. then set up the salt, my first own tank, then i took over my dad's FW pond. and there's an FRT in that one so i pretend it's salt/he's a sea turtle. still thinking of "fake SW" fish to stock the pond with
one reason i prefer salt compared to fresh that wasnt mentioned is salt tanks as a whole usually look much better/natural than FW tanks. [live]rocky crags and pure white sand [not to mention SW inverts] > slate/flowerpots/driftwood.
Pyramid_Party;2731530; said:
This must depend on setup and filtration. I find my salt tank easier than any fresh i've owned, just had to be more patient setting up.
My fresh tanks with oscars and with africans were filthy one week after a full water change, whereas my salt hasnt had water change since Oct 08 and water is perfect (sorry for being lazy).
Colours cant be topped for salt either!!!
