What kind of tank is harder to keep?

Question

is it harder to start and maintain a healthy salt water tank or freshwater?

Answer 1

i have both with my salt water it was 3 months before i could add any fish,
where as the fresh water tank i have i added fish after a month,
salt water tanks take a little bit longer to maintain in my case as i have live coral the levels in the tank have to be spot on i test mine every day
where as the fresh water tank i test once a week,
once established both tanks were easy to look after and now take the same amount of time to look after

Answer 2

Read all the problems that people are having with FRESHWATER on this site.LMAO
I have had both in my 35 years of fishkeeping and I will NEVER go back to Freshwater.
There is a LITTLE more to learn about saltwater but it is well worth it.
If you start a saltwater tank RIGHT, you will find that there is NOT that much more maintainance to do.
I let my hermit crabs, Snails, Shrimp, Seastars... (cleaner crew) do most of the work for me.
For my REEF tank I:
Emptying the skimmer cup once per week (2minutes)
I don't have an auto doser so every 2 days scoop 2 spoons of trace elements into tank (10 seconds) Clean the FRONT glass every 2 days (1 minute) top up evaporated water with FRESH water NOT saltwater (3 minutes) once every 2 MONTHS , YES that's what I wrote (2MONTHS) I mix 20gal SALTWATER and do a partial water change.

TANK
75gal. Drilled tank w/overflow
4x maxijet 1200 powerheads
3” live sand
about 80lbs live rock
LIGHTING
4x 48” T5 54wat each Actinics
2x 250wat each Metal halides
1x 65wat compact flo for refugeum
3x 12volt cooling fans
CLEANERS
1 sand sifter seastar
1 red seastar
About 60 small hermit crabs
About 60 assorted snails
2 skunk cleaner shrimp
1 coral banded shrimp
1 blood red shrimp
FISH
1 powder brown tang (AWSOME)
1 yellow tang
1 tomato clown
1 psycodelic manderin
1 Lawnmower blennie
CORALS
Too many to mention
Zoos, shrooms, leathers, small polyp stony corals, Large polyp stony corals, Crocea clams, feather dusters……………..
SUMP
40gal. Sump/refugium
coralife super skimmer 220 with 600gph pump
2 x 300wat heaters
1x 1200gph return pump
IN THE REFUGE (middle chamber of sump)
3” live sand
about 15lbs live rock
Tons of different Macroalgae (Looks like plants but not)
1 CRAZY KILLER CRAB

NO EXTERNAL canister or HOB or any other filter
No foam or pads or carbon or chemicals of any kind
DO NOT have to buy ANY of that stuff OR CLEAN IT.

I probably missed something but what the heck.
My NEXT tank WILL be a 180gal or 250gal REEF tank.

Answer 3

I have multiples of both types, and I will say that saltwater is harder and more expensive to set up. This is because you'll have additional water chemistry you'll need to address for saltwater (salinity, pH, possibly calcium), and some additional equipment that may be needed depending on the size of the tank and organisms you want to keep. Saltwater fish vary in their hardiness, with some being fairly easy, but others can be very intolerant of poor conditions. If you plan to keep corals, anemones, or clams, you'll also need a specialized lighting system because all these need more intense lighting than can be provided by standard fluorescent tubes for photosynthesis. You may also want to invest in a protein skimmer to help with water quality, and aragonite or crushed coral substrate to help buffer the pH. All you need to do is to look online to see the differences in the prices of the fish!

Once you have the tank set up though, there's not much difference in the maintenance other than needing to mix up the salt to the proper concentration for water changes. Getting it to this point does take some research so you get what you need to have a functional system without a lot of problems. And even if you would decide to go for freshwater right now, you could still convert to saltwater at some point in the future, and still be able to use the heater, filter, and lighting. If you don't already have the tank, it's a good idea to start with at least a 29-55 gallon for salt - this gives more volume to keep water quality and temperature from changing too quickly, and still gives you enough room for some flexibility with the number and species of fish you can keep. Saltwater fish do tend to be more aggressive/territorial than freshwater community fish - they're more like cichlids, so you shouldn't stock the tank as heavily as a freshwater one. The colors more than make up for the number of fish, though.

If you would be interested in trying saltwater, I would suggest a good book to do some research first, especially on what fish you'd want to keep, their adult size and activity levels, compatibility, and minimum tank size for each. Two that I highly recommend are The New Marine Aquarium by Michael S. Paletta. Microcosm Ltd. ISBN 1-890087-52-1 or The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert M. Fenner. Microcosm Ltd. ISBN 1-890087-02-5.

Here are a few websites as well:
http://www.peteducation.com/index.cfm?cls=16
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/

Answer 4

A freshwater is easier to maintain than saltwater when you are just starting in the aquarium hobby. With saltwater you have to monitor salinity, need to make sure you mix your water right, use the right kind of salt, need some extra equipment, etc.

Also, keep in mind that larger tanks are also easier to maintain because the water parameters are more stable. If you were to choose, I would recommend a 10 gallon tank to start with.
Also, familiarize yourself with cycling an aquarium, it is the crucial part of starting up. See the link below.

Answer 5

Saltwater Is Harder.

Answer 6

i have a freshwater tank and its really easy to maintain. saltwater, im not sure probably harder than freshwater

Answer 7

Fresh water tanks are MUCH easier to care for than salt water tanks. It also depends on tank size, kind of fish, etc.

Answer 8

Salt is harder than fresh. Keep in mind that smaller tanks are also harder to keep than larger ones because it's easier for the water to fluctuate and become inbalanced.

Answer 9

saltwater is by far more difficult to keep than freshwater.

saltwater not only is it more expensive, but more complicated and time consuming.
for salt, you need to check ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, hardness, copper, phosphate, salinity, sg, and many, many other parameters a couple times a week.
if your keeping corals, theres even more.
you also need to keep the water moving constantly, therefore more hardware.
you also need a day/night lighting cycle.

freshwater consists of ph, hardness, nitrite, ammonia, and nitrate, if not planted. copper if you have invertebrates. and co2 and specific lighting if planted.

Answer 10

Saltwater, without a doubt is, by far, the most difficult to keep. It isn't so much that there is more maintenance, but just a whole lot more knowledge and expertise.