Are Freshwater Aquariums Easier Than Saltwater Aquariums?

Are Freshwater Aquariums Easier Than Saltwater Aquariums?

[cameron]

Great Informative video. I think freshwater and saltwater are about the same in difficulty as far as the fish go. It's when you start adding corals is when saltwater gets hard.

[RogueAquariums]

You make some great points Scott. I started out on the freshwater side and I agree with you that the costs involved with saltwater far exceed most freshwater set ups. Buying good equipment from the start is important for both

[iatranger]

I keep both and trust me growing red plants successfully is not easy . There's definitely more test parameters with salt but it's just as hard to get freshwater right for the plants and fish you're keeping .

[kacywatson]

i had both a saltwater tank and a freshwater tank, i had to give up 1 due to money struggles, so i gave up my freshwater, i found it harder to keep clean & expensive to feed.
i find saltwater easier, much easier & cheaper to feed, & i know more about the ocean than what i go about a river.

[afijohanutama]

Explaination is on point, i decided to invest on salt water because i love corals they're beautiful compared to high maintenance fresh water landscapes

[jamessuess]

Great video. Here is where I think I disagree a little. I think what makes saltwater much harder is DISEASE. In my experience saltwater fish are much harder to acclimate. I have lost so many saltwater fish to uronema, ich, velvet, black ich. HLLE, flukes and worms have also plagued me. Never really had these issues with freshwater. Not even close. But maybe I am just in over my head.

[jonathansimpson]

You're right! Once you've experienced both fresh and saltwater you see that it all comes down to the animals and plants that you're keeping that makes both hobbies have the same difficulties. Fish only systems are cheaper in both hobbies.
I was told that saltwater was hard 20 years ago and now a year into the hobby it's about the same as freshwater. Saltwater have more animals to buy than freshwater but they cost more.
I can go to a nearby lake and bring home some good hardy fish to keep as pets, going to the ocean would take more effort and diving to bring home some fish.
I like both hobbies and saltwater is something new for me, I've been keeping different species of freshwater fish for 30 years since I was 7. There's more freshwater fish that get along with their own kind than saltwater fish in an aquarium. I'm still sorting out saltwater fish till I find a way to have a nice community tank that play different roles in different levels of my tank.
Both hobbies are beautiful whether you have a freshwater aquarium with nice driftwood and plants to resemble a natural body of freshwater to having colorful corals just like the ocean.
I say both are easy, it all depends on how technical you go with it.
I have all of the hi tech equipment for saltwater but I still prefer my lo tech freshwater equipment and I use tap water.

[randleman]

If saltwater was that hard, you wouldn't find anything saltwater related in places like Petco.

[atfinthehouse]

Also depending on the types of corals makes it harder. Also cleanup crews affect what you can choose in the tank as fish and makes the complexity higher. Choices of fish are more complicated.

[b.g.]

Many more of the fish in the freshwater hobby are captive bred and much easier to keep. I have been in salt for a year and a half and am tired of it. Prices are going up, stock is limited, disease is much more of a pain. Going back to fresh.

[matspets]

Great! One thing that crossed my mind: the approach of supplying good quality freshwater (in case your tap water is bad) is basically the same as with saltwater. You use an RODI unit and than add minerals (not a salt mix but for instance shrimp mineral mix of discus mineral mix or plain KH+).

[TenorCantusFirmus]

Freshwater aquarist here which never have tried saltwater - All what I can tell, is that you can build a freshwater aquarium just by putting water from your tap, straight into the tank just with an addition of a conditioner to get rid of the Chlorine: this make things far easier, you don't even have to bother about getting your salt quantity right; just, you have to select fish which can live in the type of water you get.

I myself actually run my tank on a mixture of 50% osmosis and 50% tap water because there's a wider range of fish living in "soft" waters, and still it isn't nearly as costly as a system as it would be for a marine (expecially a reef) aquarium. Still, I previously ran it on pure tap water and even have bred platys, so I still think things are easier on the freshwater side. But if someone has time and money, choice is up to him/her.

I'd say it actually isn't always easier with freshwater, but it's... easier to keep it easy.

[jesterscorner]

I definitely agree on mortality rate for fish. I've been in saltwater for a year longer than fresh (I started salty) and I have lost way more freshwater fish than saltwater fish. My saltwater fish have also lasted much longer than my freshwater fish have. I've also had a much easier time keeping an LPS reef tank than I have keeping plants.

[jmsat]

Another difference is that a lot of the most hardcore freshwater fishkeepers focus on breeding fish can focus on just a few species to keep and master the care of.

[NicoleEivissa]

I loved the video! Thanks so much! Been a passionate fresh water aquarist since 6th grade, year 2003 or so but then stopped for some years. Now thinking of getting the salt water stuff. Searching for info before making a decision, this helps A LOT! You're awesome at explaining and I have much clearer vision now of what salt water aquarium is about - it used to be such a mystery for me. There wasn't much info when I was a kid so thank you:)

[ReefandDive]

Amazing video again Scott. I agree with most of the ideas and you nailed it. I’m in no position to argue with someone as experient as you but I’ll give my impressions anyway.

I would say keeping a FO is very close to keeping a fresh water. Keeping a soft coral tank is kindda close to keeping a planted. Keeping a hardcore SPS tank IMO is much harder, because there are so many parameters to keep, the corals are incredibly unforgiving, it requires a big amount of study and experience and such an incredible amount of high end and expensive equipment to help succeed, for that reasons I think in this case it would be impossible to compare...

There’s another small thing about fish: among the most devastating diseases I believe ich is on top, they are completely different diseases for FW and SW, but have in mind the treatment:
- for FW you raise the tank temperature;
- for a reef tank you remove every fish, treat with copper, monitor it’s levels, monitor ammonia on the new tank, what many times leads to a lot if not daily WC, wich involves all the water preparation work, and then go fallow 8-12 weeks, creating more problems because you just removed all the fish that were creating the nutrients, and after (many times) about 40 water changes you can have the tank back... man, I do not know fresh water problems with near that complexity to manage...

[muhhjordy]

Great vid this has helped a lot. When I get a house we are going saltwater baby.

[shaikhbakhas]

*When the gill says his dialogue I will be like*
What ? Aquarium is made for caring for YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I

[jeffjackson]

I'd have to somewhat disagree with your statement about adjusting pH for different freshwater fish. Unless you are buying wild caught fish, most of the fish you buy at stores (even Discus) are raised in farms with a fairly high pH and hardness. I've bought Discus from a store near me in the past, and they would tell me to be sure my pH is in the 7.5-8.2 range when I purchased the fish for example.

[YohanM]

I think fresh water is harded due to the different ph and water requirement. I can run out to any fish store and get any saltwater fish and mix and match as long as they eat and qt is fine they live. I started both fresh and saltwater at the same time 5 years ago. I have a reef tank now because i couldn't keep freshwater alive. But i am planing on make a 40gallon planted tank because of everything the reef tank tought me lol.