Freshwater vs Saltwater fish, which one do you like better?

[Joshuakahan]

I can see that being the case. Sharks are active, but it is just a mindless cruising.
I think that for a shark setup, you need to have other small fish in there to compliment it.

I can’t remember the type of shark, but it was a bottom dwelling type with a brown n tan marble pattern. It just cruised the bottom, feeding it was fun, raw fish from forceps, but I ended up adding a porcupine puffer to add some personality

 

[Deadeye]

Epaulette?
Puffers are awesome! Did it harass the shark? I’ve read triggers are known to bite out shark eyes, not sure if they are worse than a puffer though.

 

[Joshuakahan]

I agree. Salt takes a lot more work to get things perfect and ready, but it isn’t too hard. Coral is complicated, but even then, if you just let the tank do it’s thing, it is very easy. No sense in throwing money at the tank for chemicals that don’t do anything long term. Mine has been doing great, and things only go wrong if I do something stupid, otherwise it isn’t much more maintenance than my freshwater setups.

I think salt can be as easy or as hard as you make it. I hate doing maintenance on salt so I bought established live rock, lots of it, only added “dirty water” corals, and kept the fish stocking lights, but lots of critters. I also had lots of macro algae for nitrates. No sump, or crazy filter or skimmer, just a small hob and wave makers.

 

[Chefken]

My opinion is that with unlimited resources and the proper conditions nothing beats SW. The fish are like jewels.....so many incredible options. However. In my case I cannot do salt. Too much phospherous and iron in my well. i would need to reverse osmosis water which would likely deplete my well supporting a large tank. I wish i could afford to run a 120 -180 gallon trigger and angel tank ......tried it once 30 years ago and lost 1500 worth of fish overnight. i would say the SW fish are more fragile but then i had a panther grouper and a wrasse survive 6 months in an unfilterd 30 gallon for 5 months with no food or water changes. The tank was under my big freshwater tank and I had no idea they survived. 6 months later I found the grouper dead in front of the tank.....checked and the wrasse still looked pristine.

 

[Joshuakahan]

Epaulette?
Puffers are awesome! Did it harass the shark? I’ve read triggers are known to bite out shark eyes, not sure if they are worse than a puffer though.

Yes, that’s the shark, when it got about 20” I donated it to a restaurant with a 20 foot tank, so I could grab a snack and still see my shark. I’ve read that puffers do that, but mine were fine together

 

[Joshuakahan]

My opinion is that with unlimited resources and the proper conditions nothing beats SW. The fish are like jewels.....so many incredible options. However. In my case I cannot do salt. Too much phospherous and iron in my well. i would need to reverse osmosis water which would likely deplete my well supporting a large tank. I wish i could afford to run a 120 -180 gallon trigger and angel tank ......tried it once 30 years ago and lost 1500 worth of fish overnight. i would say the SW fish are more fragile but then i had a panther grouper and a wrasse survive 6 months in an unfilterd 30 gallon for 5 months with no food or water changes. The tank was under my big freshwater tank and I had no idea they survived. 6 months later I found the grouper dead in front of the tank.....checked and the wrasse still looked pristine.

I’ll concede that with unlimited resources, salt would be better, a school of look down fish is hard to beat

 

[Deadeye]

With unlimited resources, a deep sea setup would be awesome.
It would be crazy expensive just to get the equipment for high pressure water and a way to make it dark enough inside the tank, but it would be awesome.
All the bioluminescent fish and crazy oddballs and predators...
Maybe not a showpiece fish tank, most of them are either ugly or downright scary, but it would be amazing to reproduce the most unseen and unknown ecosystem on the planet.

 

[Joshuakahan]

With unlimited resources, a deep sea setup would be awesome.
It would be crazy expensive just to get the equipment for high pressure water and a way to make it dark enough inside the tank, but it would be awesome.
All the bioluminescent fish and crazy oddballs and predators...
Maybe not a showpiece fish tank, most of them are either ugly or downright scary, but it would be amazing to reproduce the most unseen and unknown ecosystem on the planet.

I think in that scenario, squid would be cool, at some point I’m gonna attempt a cuttlefish tank. I’ve been fascinated by them since I took marine biology in high school

 

[esoxlucius]

The cost of going marine, coupled with my non existent knowledge on that side of the hobby means the closest i'll ever get to those stunning fish is watching them on documentaries on tele. And i'm happy with that.

 

[tlindsey]

I think in that scenario, squid would be cool, at some point I’m gonna attempt a cuttlefish tank. I’ve been fascinated by them since I took marine biology in high school

Go for it! I believe you can buy the dwarf cuttlefish. I thought about it but don't have the time to care for one.