Freshwater or salt water fish dilema
@HeresTheScoop (748)
United States
March 25, 2012 3:01am CST
We are getting an aquarium but can't decide if we want fresh water or salt water fish. We've had fresh water fish before and we liked them. They are easy to take care of. Now we are thinking about getting salt water fish. Salt water fish are so much cuter than fresh water fish and we like all the accessories for salt water. Some people have told us not to get salt water fish because the fish are very expensive and die too easily and the tank is hard to clean. Other people have told us the fish are worth the money and they aren't anymore work than fresh water. So I thought we should get some more opinions, and of course I thought of my mylot friends! Can you help us out?
3 responses
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
28 Mar 12
I used to have a saltwater tank and they do take a bit more work and consideration. There are some fish that are strong but there are some that are very sensitive to things like water temp and bacteria levels. Research them and make sure you are getting what you want. There are also fish that look little and sweet and then the next thing you know, they are kind of big and have eaten every other fish in the tank..lol. You really have to think about that and see who can live together nicely.
As far as the cleaning...well...your not really supposed to clean the tank fully. 25% of the water is all you should change. You can change the whole environment if you do and that can kill the fish. Testing the tank is very important with saltwater too. You have to keep things like ammonia and PH within a certain range.
They are beautiful tanks though. I could watch mine for hours..lol.
1 person likes this
@oscarbartoni (2581)
• United States
5 Apr 12
There are some freshwater fish that should not be kept except by very experienced aquarist if ever because most do not do well in captivity and there are several marine fish that are being bred in captivity and are realtively hardy and will do well in aquariums with less maitience than some freslh water aquarium. Before you decide, do more researce (ask here if you want) about the types of fish that yo like and we can help you to make an informed decission about what other fish can be put in with them. No matter if it is a fresh water or marine aquarium you need to remember that all tanks start out with out any bacteria that convert amonia to nitrIte and nitrIte to nitrAte.Once a fish is put into an aquarium they give off ammonia as a byproduct which is dangerous in even small amounts so you need to get the good bacterai to start converting the ammonia to nitrIte. This takes time to get enough bacteria to convert all of the ammonia to nitrIte but once there is enough of that bacteria then another bacteria will start to convert the Nitrite to nitrate. This is why you need to have ammonia, nitrite and nitrate test kits and also to not put too many fish in the tank at any time. There is a "fishless" cycling where you wil add enough ammonia (pure ammonia with any additives to it) so that you get a reading of 4 to 5 parts per million of ammonia in your tank. Each day when yu test, make sure to add enough ammonia to put the reading back up to betyween 4 and 5 ppm.When the test show zero overnight, it is time to start checking for nitrite and still keep adding enough each day to get between 4 and 6 ppm of ammonia. Once that is done and the level over ight is zero the tank is cycled and you need ot do a water change and then you can add you fish (as long as the pH, salinity temp and other things are right.
@HeresTheScoop (748)
• United States
7 Apr 12
JenInTen - I had a similar experience. The last time we had a freshwater tank we bought angelfish, goldfish and tiger stripe fish. The angelfish were mean! They chased the others and even ate some of them! We even told the salesperson that we wanted angelfish and specifically asked him what other fish they got along with.
dazzledlady - Yeah, I think freshwater will be easier to take care of also.
oscarbartoni - thanks for the info.
@dazzledlady (1618)
• Philippines
30 Mar 12
Fish that look cute and the next thing they have eaten the other fish in the tank, hahaha! I also have that experience. I also think that freshwater fish is easier to take care compare to the saltwater fish. And there are colorful varieties too.
1 person likes this
@asdomencil (4265)
• Philippines
27 Mar 12
I think it is better to have the freshwater. Like what you said, salt water needs lot of accessories in order to made the environment of fishes like their natural habitat. There are some freshwater fishes that are good-looking and looks like the salt water fishes.
You said that you have already freshwater fshes before and you liked them, perhaps this shows that you will also like the new one if you are going to have the same one.
@HeresTheScoop (748)
• United States
7 Apr 12
Yeah, I think I will just stay with the freshwater fish. I'm always up for 'change' but at this time I guess I really don't want to have to put a lot of work into the fish tank.
@oscarbartoni (2581)
• United States
27 Mar 12
There are freashwater tropical fish that are just as colorful as saltwater fishes. The African cichlids are just one example and another is the Discus. You do not say how llarge of a tank that you have in mind for keeping the fish in. If you do decide to go with marine then there are more equipment to get including more test kits, things such as skimmers amd also you will need to mix salt mixes correctley and if you have hard water, you might even have to mix it with distilled or RO water for the fish to live correctly. If you have high evaporation, you will need to repalace it with distiled or RO water. Let us know what you do decide to do and how it turnd out for you.
1 person likes this
@HeresTheScoop (748)
• United States
7 Apr 12
Ok, I think you just made up my mind! I'm not good with mixing and putting that much time into it. I think I'll just stick to freshwater :)
