I really enjoyed having saltwater tanks. Lost a reef while a friend was taking care of it while on vacation. Took me out of the hobby for a while. Now large heavily planted freshwater is what I’m intro these days. Large schools of fish are awesome.
Yeah ive come to learn with a reef that if your going to be gone for a week max its beat to just have your auto top off container filled up and dont even worry about feeding the fish. Anything longer like 2 weeks a reliable auto feeder is good and someone to come by and just top off the ato container if needed.
Always go fresh first. You have to make sure you’re able to do the maintenance and fresh is much more forgiving. I tried SW back in the day and it was too much and ended up losing $300 in livestock. Did FW for a while and now moving onto my first reef. Finally feel educated enough.
You are lucky you only lost 300 for a saltwater crash. Some corals cost more than that for a single polyp. And some corals would just decide to die without any apparent reason. 😂
I setup a freshwater tank 1 year ago. I use to sit and stare at it for literally hours. That being said, I’ve recently setup a reef tank and I find myself much more drawn to it. If you’re thinking about switching to saltwater, I 100% recommend it. Newcomers don’t be afraid! Maintaining a reef tank is kinda like raising your first child, initially it can be hard and definitely requires attention to detail, but over time you really get use to it and it becomes much easier.
@@Yofuggindaddybich A lot of it has to do with how much time you can devote to a saltwater aquarium. In most cases freshwater tanks require less time to take care of, not the case with saltwater, especially a reef tank.
As somebody who keeps both, fresh is SOO MUCH EASIER. My fresh tank it’s self contained and I haven’t done anything aside from add water in over a year, my reef tank takes weekly maintenance, but I love both of them equally.
I keep freshwater fish (200 liter aquarium) but still change water weekly just in case and want my fish to be as healthy as possible. But is that not really needed?
@@zakosist it depends, my fresh system is beyond heavily planted and is only guppies. They are omnivores so they eat the plants and roots encouraging growth, which creates a really nice ecosystem that is forever changing
I've been recently getting into the fresh water, hobby what got me into it was I saw it as an extension of plant care: I saw all these really cool planted aquariums and I needed to build one. Salt water looks amazing and I'm always really impressed, but for me nothing beats a green aquarium.
@@huum4430 Corals are animals not plants tho. So in a saltwater tank, y’all are just taking care are the animal inhabitants while freshwater tanks have both the fauna and the flora
In Scotland. Salt water peeps are the nicest folk. No snobs here. All great to go to for issues, problems and general advice. I found them a great community and great help when I was dipping into salt water....... but due to health I opted back for severums.
Whenever I have the urge to have a salt water tank, I go to our favorite seafood restaurant where they have a huge salt water aquarium on display. Clown fish, blue tang, puffer fish, an angel or two, parrot fish, squirrel fish, sea urchin, and more are cruising in and out of a reef. The whole thing is magnificent and professionally maintained. Then I go home to my fresh water aquariums that make me happy in Pennsylvania.
Was freshwater for 5 years now Saltwater for 5. I'd NEVER go back to freshwater. It's all about the coral for me, grow and sell my own coral which is a great little money earner on the side. Saltwater people aren't really into the fish side of things. It's coral.
I have a nano reef with 2 clowns one cardinal and one puffer. No corals at all. Just a anemone. Too scared that my corals die off lol. It runs with a canister filter and a surface skimmer.
Did you just assume that all freshwater enthusiast are just fish enthusiast? 🤪 I’m a high-tech planted tank enthusiast and I’m more fascinated to aquatic plants than the animal inhabitants. Don’t even get me started on how diverse the looks of freshwater tanks while all saltwater tanks just look the same: Corals and saltwater fishes. While freshwater tanks has nature style planted tank, dutch-style planted tanks, iwagumi planted tanks, paludarium etc.
My local fish store has had their coral frag tank quarantined for like 6 months because there's a bit of hair algae and the owner is terrified of the reef snobs who will freak out if they see a single filament in their precious tanks... Personally, I like having a bit of algae as long as it doesn't overgrow my corals. I'm trying to create a realistic aquatic environment, not a sterile show piece.
I agree with the points made in this video. I'm almost 70, and have kept freshwater since my teens. In the 80's I dove into saltwater. Even kept an octopus. However, I lost $1000 worth of fish over a couple of days due to ich. Devastated, I dropped out of the hobby for 30 years. Last year I returned to the hobby doing a freshwater planted nano tank. I'm enjoying fishkeeping again. I will never do saltwater again.
I say this every time: the most-competent aquarists in the world keep both. They don't argue one is "better" than the other. Too bad for whoever can't accept this.
I'm just starting my first marine tank. I've always wanted to do so, but finally decided to go for it. I'm not going the sump and protein skimmer route though at some point I may add a HOB skimmer. I'm running an Aquaclear HOB and have a power head for additional flow. It's a very low tech 20 gallon nano reef. Since my focus is on corals I only plan on having a few small fish and a invert clean up crew. My first fish is actually a gold dust molly who is clearly the queen of the tank. The aquarium is only two months old so livestock is sparse but so far so good. There's more parameters to test and I'm a bit neurotic when it comes to making sure I'm doing weekly water changes, otherwise it hasn't been that different from keeping my planted 38 gallon freshwater. I've even added some macro algae (seaweed) to my reef because I'm a plant geek. I have my aquariums flanking my TV and I love the contrast between the fresh and saltwater environments. I'll probably always lean more towards freshwater because of cost and ease, but I'm loving the idea of my colorful saltwater garden.
I’ve recently got myself a reeftank after being in the saltwater hobby for a while. A freshwater setup is much easier to keep and maintain for sure. And there are many cool freshwater fish aswell. That being said, there is something special about keeping a reef in your own home.
I live in FL and I like keeping native fish. I’d love to do a FL saltwater marsh grass tank, but it seems like unless you want to do reefs there aren’t resources.
Before I watch I'm going to comment through experience to compare, I have had a 90-gallon reef with a 30 sump for years now. It is extremely expensive! Not to mention how fast you can mess up an established reef with one addition. Every fish was $80 and up, each coral was $20 and up(this is an addiction) not to mention the 100 pounds of live rock at $15 a pound. $350 light, wave makers, heaters etc. I spend $55 a month on a bucket of salt, I have a science kit just to make water changes, and all these socks, stones, carbon, I'm getting exhausted. There's a reason I'm changing over. I will be setting up the 180 for my Oscars, they are still very very small and will move accordingly.
There are a lot of fish being aquaculture now. There are no longer any wild caught Clown Fish (Nemo) or Yellow Tangs in the hobby any more. Also many more and a lot of us have decided to buy only aquacultured fish for in our aquariums.
I remember reading last year that even some Butterflyfish are beginning to be aquacultured. Shows you how far things have come. Double good too, since once they become more common, you will get fish used to eating a diet that can can be more easily provided.
I noticed that part, too. He mentioned most salt water fish being wild caught, while showing clown fish. These are being bred to the point that color variations and “designer” patterns are now available. Another fish prominently featured in the video are lion fish, which are invasive and destructive in many areas. You might even get a bounty for removing them. And many fresh water fish are mostly wild caught as well. For example otocinclus and kuhli loaches are all wild caught to my knowledge (and many die before they even reach your LFS). To me, it’s neither a point for/against fresh or salt water, but to be aware and research what species you get. Personally, I don’t like to buy fish that do not readily reproduce in captivity. Because if we cannot produce conditions for breeding, then we probably don’t keep them adequately.
We are currently attending Macna Aquatic Expo which traditionally was a saltwater only event. This is the first year freshwater was invited and we gave the only booth! Getting to talk to the reef folks this weekend has been great! There are going to be quite a few shows this year from what we heard that are going to now incorporate freshwater, so I think this may be the start of something beautiful!
I liked your video. I had a 30 gallon saltwater tank in the 1980’s. This was before all the high technical things that are in the tanks today. My tank was crystal clear all the time. In my tank I had 2 Cowries, 1 Pacific Giant Green Anemone, 1 Pistol Shrimp, several Peppermint Shrimp, 2 Cleaner Shrimp, 1 Arrow Crab, 4 Mollies, several Guppies, 2 Clown Fish, one oyster, and 2 clams. The oyster and the clams came from the grocery store…honestly! I dipped some tank water out into a container to put them into so their temperatures could equalize. I put them back into the tank where they thrived! I will stop at this point however if you would like more information on the filters and so on just leave a comment to this one. Thanks LAM
I keep both fresh & salt; I went into this video honestly expecting to roll my eyes, but these are very valid points, and I have had each of these thoughts myself
I’ve had both fresh and saltwater, and I like both. Two things that are also nice about freshwater fish and where not listed in the video is you can keep bigger fish relative to the tank size. The other thing, particularly with cichlids, you can find fish with significant personality.
Freshwater still has a ton of colours, while leaving you more margins with money, time and effort you have to put into, a plus if you have to still worry about job, family etc. . Also, I love planted tanks, so freshwater has this plus, too; and I very like the delicate, softened tone palette of freshwater aquarium organisms: the awe-factor of marine/reef tanks works for some time, then you kinda end up appreciating both, at which point by a pragmatic point of view you can understand all of the advantages of a freshwater aquarium. My tap water is unfortunately quite weird (relatively low °gH, but with very high °kH) and finding matching fish is extremely tricky (even platys struggle in such water...), so I've had to start making osmotic water again, but still if you want to make the best possible synthetic marine water you have to mix the salts in osmotic water, thus the 110€ / ca. 120 $ you'd have to spend for an osmotic system still are a cost you should consider into the budget for both kind of aquarium.
@@dinosaurpro6592 Sincerely, I have Congo Tetras, which alongside with Melanotaenias are the closest thing there could be to a swimming rainbow... You can have it in freshwater too.
@@TenorCantusFirmus what about a mandarin goby? A tailspot wrasse? A emperor angelfish? A flame hawk? Freshwater can be cool, but saltwater fish just can't be ignored. You just have to keep them if you have the money. I'm really tempted.
@@dinosaurpro6592 I don't ignore saltwater fish. It's just that I don't find the little bit of extra color to justify the cost. The captive-bred vs. collected in nature issue is still the most important one - Maybe, if saltwater captive breeding will start becoming more regular and involve a wider variety of fish, there I might start thinking about them.
hello love your videos ..somethin caught my eye at 8:06 what the heck is in the middle of that thing is that a eye? honestly i dont know what im seeing
i'm now a both freshwater and saltwater aquarium hobbyist. Its hard but just seeing them both makes feel at ease. I'm now trying to have an aquarium brackish you know where the river meets the sea
I've been keeping freshwater tanks for years, and this video was one of many that inspired me to try out saltwater...and now that I've had my salt tank up for nearly 8 months, I can surely say that freshwater is way better, at least in terms of costs and payoffs. A good sized freshwater planted tank can cost under $100 to set up, can run for months without any maintenance aside from feeding fish, and can even pay for itself through the plants grown and livestock bred within. My tiny 20 gallon salt tank is by far the most expensive I've ever set up, and needs constant maintenance and water changes. Corals and macroalgae don't grow quickly enough for me to even consider selling them, and there aren't many types of fish or inverts that readily breed in a home aquarium. I'm probably gonna dismantle the tank in a few weeks to relieve the mental and financial burden it causes me, and will likley stick with freshwater from now on
I been doing fresh for over 25 years and saltwater for 10 years with about 15 tanks ranging from 10 to 150 gallons. Since I started a family, 2 dogs, and still working 2 jobs, I only 1 saltwater tank left. But really thinking of converting it to fresh due to the less maintenance. No more caring big jugs of water
I am a fish keeper since I was a kid, had them on and off throughout my life. Got fresh fish tanks I got my first reef tank about a year ago, no way you can compare them, if you like challenges, salt water is a endless path of constant battles, all and everything said in this video is truth but he fail to mention, it's so rewarding the fact you can keep a very complex ecosystem clean and going is like symphony master piece orchestrated by yourself, that feeling can't be achieved by fresh water and I repeat I have them both
I totally agree one of my clients asked me to build a 200 gallon saltwater and I ask him y he said it’s gorgeous I told him u know how much work u going to put on it ? He said work?? I was like yeah work and love to have a salt water reacquainted a lot of experience He was like never mind then I was like if u do want a tank I can do it for u but u got to show me how much interested u have to keep one otherwise I can give u better option he was like better option? Yeas we look at salt water tank because of color and beauty they are they look much more fun to have them But if u see a planted fresh water with discus u might change your mind of fresh water Then I showed him one of my discus that a keep for my self he was totally amazed by the art and landscape he told me he never thought the a fresh water could be so beautiful I told him I love fish fresh salt don’t matter but if u a beginner on fish u should go for fresh first so u see how much work u have to put into it he agreed and now he got a tank tha looks better then my over a few days ago I asked him once you tank die let’s do a saltwater tank ? He was like man I kind felt in love with fresh I will one they but I do want to keep my discus for ever they are so gorgeous I know I told him most of u guys go on pet shop and see raw tank with a few fish for sell But u guys don’t know how many species are out there and how much plates are beautiful Everything on saltwater and fresh water are beautiful u just have to know how to deal with it to getter better read about understand first before u buy any fish don’t try without read our u going to learn in the hard way and we fish sellers that love what we do we not going let u buy a fish tha u think it breathe water when it don’t understand it’s the key and the gas it’s read and the engine is the work Love is the path and your eyes is the pleasure Stay fish and keep the nitrate low Your tank is the reflection of you hart How u see things but remember do not over stock or tank if u like big go for extra large if u like small go for large I think 10 gallons tank should be prohibited 🚫 maybe for a single betta fish but still I put my on a 20 minimum Give you fish a happy life because if u think it don’t deserve it u don’t deserve to be in the robin love you videos makes me Poetize my love for what I do thank you for talking about fresh and salt salt it’s hard but beautiful then fresh fresh is gorgeous and easy the salt big msg for big love love I love what I do
My roommate has salt water tanks. I have freshwater. Whenever I go to do something for my tank, like cleaning the filter, putting in plants, rinsing something off, whatever, he always has to “give me advice” then proceed to mansplain how to do stuff I already know how to do. He thinks because “saltwater” is harder that means he knows more than me about how tanks work. Obviously not everyone who is into saltwater is like that, but man, he’s a snob about it.
Got to 2:56 and had heard enough. In a tank with a good amount; 2/3+, of cured live rock all you need is a circulation pump, use that air pump to run an internal protean skimmer and you're set to go. Reef tanks aren't that different then a planted tank, it just takes a bigger tank to achieve the same balance. You can run a micro reef or a tiny blenny and shrimp tank, it's just real easy to max a salt tanks bioload.
I have both. My planted is so low maintenance I barely even feed the fish at this point and they are thriving. But even that one, I never had a moment were it was change the water immediately or have a crash and everything dies. Salt, that does happen, and yes, I am one who buys the premixed water cus if you gotta get the RO anyways than you might as well just get the salt too. This happened last week on Monday actually and I thought I had enough saltwater to fill it back up, nope. And apparently all the stores (which are pretty far already) were all closed! I ended up driving 2 hours just to go find salt water! Plus the drive back. And I live in Florida where there are a bunch of fish hobby stores. Salt tanks are def when you have more time and disposable income. But I always will have fresh tanks. One for every room! lol I also watched the other salt vs fresh vid. :)
I have a reef tank and an African cichlid tank too and In general the reef tank is easier to maintain once everything is stable and not very labour intensive
I just got into a fish keep hobby a year ago with a betta. Now I have a 20 gallon community tank, 5 gallon betta tank, and 1 gallon shrimp jar. I really enjoy my fishes and enjoy learning more about them. I want to set up a 10 gallon saltwater tank and keep a single baby clownfish and then eventually upgrading to a 20 gallon when space becomes available.
Agreed 100% I have a 250 gallon tank set up for saltwater for the last 23 years. I just recently toured all down and in the process of switching to freshwater, it is very expensive all the additives vitamins for the fish to iodine, calcium, different types of food, magnesium so much to keep everything alive. Keep the corals alive. Something went wrong and some of the easiest corals to keep alive stary polyps, all started dying, and I couldn’t figure out why I’m gonna what I did. I had a huge colony of them on one side of the tank all of them down the walls the rocks really pretty, and it all started dying and green and purple all over dying I couldn’t stop, I had a bunch of fish I had for a while could’ve been old age. I don’t know. I always lose it. All happened quickly in about three or four months and I just got burnt out. I’m eventually going to set it up for freshwater. It’s been a process Tank up and getting it ready if you’re getting a new tank, just freshwater unless you got a lot of time and money and I don’t
I started in Freshwater, then I went to a reef tank. I had it for about 3 years, then I had to move from WI to ND. I did not think it wise to move the whole thing, so I sold it. I then bought a bigger tank and went into Discus. I miss Saltwater, but not sure I will ever go back.
I have kept a few freshwater tanks and currently have a CO2 planted freshwater. Reef tanks have completely changed the hobby for me and I will never go back. So many different animals fill specific niches and they all look unique and incredible. Coral adds such an amazing variety as well. The industry is also going towards captive bred as well. This was mentioned but the most popular fish, clown fish, are all captive bred. You can search many seller by captive bred but in general at this point yes, freshwater still has a lot more captive breeding. My lfs also only sells aquacultured coral aka they grow their own and don't buy any wild caught.
The two main barriers for me are money and maintenance. Don't get me wrong, I'm neither poor nor lazy. I spend quite a bit on my freshwater tanks and I love to fiddle around with them whenever I have the time. But this all just lets me know that I'd spend way more on saltwater and spend a lot more time being anxious about my fish. Planted tanks just take care of themselves.
@@cesarsalazar8618 That would be best yes, especially if you're dosing fertilizer :) If you still want something like it, then Seachem Purigen would be good, though I personally don't use it and do not think it's necessary. Let me know if you have any more questions!
I used to run a 20 gallon nano reef in 2020 as a Junior in high school. Spent more than I’d admit. With SW there’s just way more you have to worry about in a delicate ecosystem - way more testing, dosing, tuning your dose, coral disease, coral pest, pest algae, pest hitch hikers, stability, quality lighting. Taking your eyes off is not an option. That said, I freaking LOVE the saltwater hobby. I’ve been debating to set up a tank, honestly I’ve been feeling impulsive. My issue is I get too anxious, and too caught into trying to learn everything it affects my schedule. I’m just not built for it, especially as a young adult looking to grow in other areas. I truly believe it has to be a lifestyle I have a 55 gallon freshwater I enjoy maintains however, it’s almost plug and play
Cool video. Just started fresh, wanted salt, eventually. You made excellent points. Does not deter from wanting salt, but it will probably take me a decade to build the confidence to attempt such a feat. FYI, if your ever near Charleston, SC, there's an amazing shop called Ocean Realms in Goose Creek. Small, but incredible tanks. She even has seahorses! I've got all my fish there because they are so happy and healthy. Your videos have helped so much! Thanks for all you've devoted to these creatures!
Yeah I know that feeling I have a big reef that’s cost me close to 10k on 1 tank but it’s worth every penny and the satisfaction from it is so worth it
I think you will love North Carolina. I lived there 3 yrs. and I loved it in Jacksonville. But Im from Northern NY and really love the snow. Snow won! Congratulations on your and Lisa's new Journey!
the cool thing John is that the hobby grows as your knowledge and experience grows, and exploring the saltwater is in my humble experience just a-natural progression. This started by getting my son an Oscar , and it grew as we learned about water changes, ph, acclimation, nitrogen cycle and tank husbandry. For us its been a natural progression to quench this curiosity and love that comes once you get involved in the life aquatic. There is no better or worse, but if you study fish, you see that there’s just ones that are living in freshwater there’s ones to live in brackish water the rest in the sea. There’s no way that you can get involved in this hobby, and be any kind of a thinker without pondering the fact that we may just be a fish tank for some alien creature
Im a reef keeper and I agree with most of your points . for example my saltwater fish valued about at $1200 . its not a cheap hobby. I have to say most reef keepers are type A personalities . if u only keep saltwater fish u can get away with less cost . on the nano tanks u can keep Catalina gobies without a heater .just a example . I have gotten back into freshwater heavily planted nano tanks I currently have a 1.2 gallon cube housing 5 neon tetras and 4 albino corys . I love the challenge of a small ecosystem. btw we are not snobs .
I never had freshwater or aquariums at all growing up. My first experience with fish at all was jumping right into a 35 gallon reef tank. Our local fish store gave us guidance for coral and fish and we never looked back. 8 months later and now we have a 125 gallon and the 35 gallon reef tanks. Everybody talks about how much the saltwater side is about coral, but to me it’s just as much about the awesome, colorful, exotic fish. Nothing on the freshwater side can even catch my interest for more than a second once you start exploring the vast world of colors and shapes and sizes of fish. Coral is a world of its own and it can all coexist beautifully inside your home. It’s the salt life for me.
I agree with most of the points. Saltwater has the wow factor, but I have a job and family which means freshwater fits me. I figure if I had the income to go saltwater, I am hiring a company to maintain it. I also looked at my freshwater tanks and saw the algae the eaters can’t keep up with. Where did I put that scrapper.
Yeah, but IMO... paying someone to maintain your tank takes the fun out of it! Half the fun (for me) is doing the maintance, cleaning stuff up, helping my fish thrive. It's so rewarding. I understand alot of people don't love the hobby enough to do the maintance but want a tank in their house for decoration etc... So for them yes that's the way too go, but most of us love the maintance part! 😁👍
@@DirtNassty for me I have enough work to do. Taking care of a thousands of dollars of fragile environment is why I would do it. I don’t enjoy cleaning anything, tanks included. It something I have to do and I have the freshwater down to less than 30 minutes, not enjoyable minutes.
You don’t need a protein skimmer but its better that way but i have tried no protein skimmer for 4 years and everything is still looking great and 90 percent of all fish are not wild caught
After we complete our apartment downsizing move, we are thinking of installing 2 tanks, a 20 gal. long & a 10 or 15 gal. Tank to serve as a quarantine tank or nursery. It’s been 40 years since we had tanks, so we are basically newbies again & need to decide - fresh or salt. This discussion has been quite helpful, & it’s likely leading us back to fresh. We still have time before deciding, so all comments & information will help. Budget is a factor. Thank you for posting this.
I have been in the freshwater hobby for 12,5years before i decided to go with a saltwater setup for me the difference s you mentioned here are accurate and i have had my Challanges going into the reefkeeping and i have to say that corals are more forgiveing in the hobby then the fish are for example tangs are ich magnets so if you want to keep then you need a uv that adds extra costs to your tank so you can kinda see it like as keeping wild discus its a challenge and everything has to be maintained correctly otherwise you lose a lot of fish
I remember seeing this humorous tag on a beautiful salt water reef tank at an aquarium show sometime ago! It said:”This is not a hobby, it’s a full time job!”
John, just saw this video 2 weeks after it is posted and I do agree with a lot of the points you do make, however I will disagree with you that both sides of the hobby are closer together than you think. I have both salt and freshwater and they are very very simalier. I will equate corals to plants and vice versa. There are species that require special light conditions in both and both require different water conditions. The only extra that corals have that need to be taken into consideration is flow. Tank size in both sides does dictate how easy of a time you will have. The larger the tank the better. For anyone wondering larger tanks will mean more stable perimeters for both salt water and fresh water. And it does also dictate what size fish you can get to put in the tank. Which with a lot of salt water fish that is something you have to be carefull of. With alot of the saltwater fish such as the blue hippo tangs(aka dorey) you need a good 200 gallon tank for swimming room. So you do need to watch out for that. On the other hand my tinfoil barbs which I love could probably use the same size tank up from thier 125 gallon tank they are in now. I have found sump filtration to be the best filtration for all my tanks, it is just extremely versital and allows for a bunch of food waste to be removed. Also using a sump on my tinfoil tank has allowed me to create a river flow in my tinfoil tank which has made them more enjoyable to watch. The food for the fish is the same. I can take and feed all my fish the same thing if I need to. Lastly, the fish. More and more companies are being created that are breeding salt water fish, and corals. You have ORA and Sea and Reef just to name a couple of companies. I have gotten fish from my lfs from both and they are pretty hardy fish. It wont be long till people figure how to breed a lot of the saltwater species and one can get an all non wild tank for salt water with all the different attractions known to be in a reef tank. If anyone sees this comment, and wants to do a salt water tank, head over to bulk reef supply's channel they have a lot of great videos over there to help with getting a salt water tank started. I think the only barrier that is currently standing in all of our ways with both sides of the hobby is purely mental. Once we realize that the hobby is essintallly the same with a few minor differences on both sides we all can get better at keeping fish. And remember just because you know how to scramble an egg doesnt mean you know how to make a suoffle, even though you have all of the necessary ingriedients with just an egg.
Had both Freshwater tanks and now Saltwater reef tanks, and although you were right that Saltwater in general can cost more, there’s certain advantages SW has over FW. I enjoy simple maintenance and nano setups. The biggest dealbreaker for me is that FW can have mold buildup overtime and I have allergies. I’ve never had any mold issues with SW. Lastly, there’s a few things mentioned in the video that aren’t true. All of my nano reefs never use protein skimmers. In fact, SW or Reef tanks with protein skimmers have the danger of being too clean and getting dinoflagellates which is really bad. Also, there are a lot of common SW fish you can buy online that come from farms, not wild caught. Look up ORA for instance.
Hey I just heard that you’re moving to North Carolina! As a native North Carolinian, let me extend a warm welcome. Love your channel and I hope you have a safe and successful move.
Hey John so I am a salt water to reeder . And I want to tell you I love watching you and Lisa. Because Lisa I got me a sorority beta tank. I love you guys and I will see you at AquaShela in Chicago this year. Love you guys!
As a beginner in the hobby i have been told by some who do reef tanks that the entry level complexity between fresh and salt is massive. And that is the just starting out in salt. I personally want to keep a salt water tank to keep a toby puffer because i love how they look but I'm sticking to my freshwater oscar and jack dempseys for now.
I made the jump from fresh to Salt, I Stuck with Salt but your points are absolutely valid! Imagine my shock when learning that my 160 liter Tank is still considered nano.
I was a freshwater hobbyists for about 20 years.... About 5 years ago I decided to go saltwater and never looked back. It's a lot of fun and more enjoyable in my opinion than anything the freshwater hobby can provide to me.
I assure you a successful saltwater tank can be VERY simple and cheap. I've got a 10 gal reef tank that cost under $100 to start including lights and it's been wildly successful for over 4 years
I've had many years on the hobby and Ive had saltwater and freshwater as well as reef tanks. I never really got much enjoyment out of my saltwater tanks it was always alot of stress and felt more like work. I am strictly freshwater now and actually these days mostly native freshwater. I source my own fish locally so no buying fish I LOOOOOOOVE stream tanks. 6 ft long tank with with a powerhead and little strong swimmers. My best tank is a 125 gallon with a bluegill, a green sunfish, 3 longear sunfish, and 3 chub minnows. Native freshwater is so underrated since Ive been keeping them tropical freshwater doesnt even appeal to me anymore. But thats just me.
This is something I’ve trying to tell people for a long time now. I’m glad that there’s actual good video on you to talking about it. Those one video of a saltwater biased buy saying that freshwater is just as hard as salt water, one of his biggest points was that you can’t use a protein skimmer and fresh water. As somebody who use a protein skimmer and has two saltwater tanks I want much prefer not to have to use a protein skimmer.
My brother has had aquariums for decades. He currently has saltwater, and the aquascape was incredible, corals, live rock, the full shebang. Truly beautiful 😍 but I'm just getting into freshwater, as I'm a reptile girl, obviously I have a turtle in mine. Real fun building a community tank for him with little fish. I've got some shrimp, snails, neon tetras, a bristle nose pleco and 6 corydoras. The snails weren't exactly the best idea though, as they can't move out of the way in time, and sadly ended up as a snack. Other than that though I'm very pleased with everything and it's a perfect little ecosystem! My live plants, sand, large river stones and driftwood look pretty good too 😃 Moving them all into a 600 litre 6 foot long very soon! Which I can't wait for 😁
I have had freshwater for probably around 20yrs last yr i took the step and went saltwater. The cost can be more but can still do it on a budget. Best thing to start out is a all in one tank set up that has a hood with built in light with a hood alot less water evaporation and all i do is water change once or twice a month and change out filter when dirty no different then fresh water. Fish can cost more and corals but there is so many easy and cheap fish and corals that anyone could keep. It really comes down to what someone wants to do i set out to do a budget salt tank and it wasnt much more to do then a fresh water
Freshwater 4 life!!!! I love the saltwater fish and the corals but seeing how much goes into a well-established saltwater aquarium is definitely off-putting but I would like to try one day... I love the collaboration between both channels. You both definitely did a great job explaining the differences between freshwater and saltwater.
I’ve had both and saltwater was not fun to me. It became a chore and the payoff to me wasn’t worth it. More expensive didn’t equal better to me. End of the day it really comes down to what you prefer which I know is such a lame statement. I really enjoy watching my plants grow waaaayyy more than I liked watching my coral grow.
Hey folks, so I used to only keep freshwater tanks, goldfish specifically. But since I was a child I always at a point keep a volitan lionfish (min 75gal). Last week I purchased the volitan and if you're only doing fish the only difference is literally salt and a refractometer. I still keep both fresh and saltwater and they're both amazing and the fish from both sides of the hobby have crazy and awesome personalities. BTW many reasons for the volitan, they're awesome, they're really intelligent and b/c they're invasive I technically rescued my volitan. I named him Shaggy Rogers. I love ALL my fishes the goldies, my Oscars and my volitan I LOVE EM ALL ❤️ 💕 💗 ♥️
I understand where you are coming from. I am one who keeps both. Yes you can get by with much less equip in freshwater but I also have built a lot of my tanks fresh and salt to use a lot of the same equip. Personally I enjoy both sides of the hobby. I currently have 4 freshwater tanks and one reef tank. Some equipment is more expensive but there are some fish in freshwater that are pretty expensive also not as many as in salt. Automation is making a lot of the Maint that needs to be done easier and much less work especially as knowledge in salt has been increasing it has changed so dramatically. I do love both sides of the hobby. Yes there isn’t that many that do a lot specialize in one side or the other but I like the challenge of doing both
Never tried salt, but have considered it a few times. I did hear more and more salt water fish are being captive bred though? At least Compared to 5/10 years ago 😜
Something about reefing makes people gadget obsessed and those gadgets are majorly inflated in price. And the focus is on collecting shiny things (fish and coral). I wish there was more on cool aquascapes with a deliberate/elaborate design like freshwater planted tanks. And fish selected for more reasons than utility/it fits the tank size. No color coordination or anything and it all looks like a big collection of living things.
I've got both but I'd say saltwater is far more interesting all the different creatures besides the fish are great definitely a bit harder to keep the reef tank but I enjoy the challenge and I disagree it can be a setup as cheap or expensive as you like minus salt for water changes and a $75- $100 protein skimmer but saltwater livestock is out of control expensive I definitely agree with that
Planted freshwater aquariums with co2, high end lights & fertilizer dosing rivels the costs of a reeftank. Plus a weekly or bi weekly trimming of freshwater plants is way more timeconsuming that reef tanks... Cichlids are the way to go ;-)
You will lose the algae, diatoms, cyanobacteria fight one day with a reef tank for sure. (15+years reef tank keeper and one of my clown fish is 15 years old :)...)
Never kept a saltwater tank; never seriously tempted to. Reef tanks are beautiful to look at, but I'll stick to fresh😎 I do, however, appreciate the FW channels who are trying to bring the 2 sides of our hobby together...about to go hear why salt is better, who knows, maybe he'll convince me to try a FOWLR tank💕👍...Hmmm, Jason's video isn't up yet, I'll try again later today-thanks John😎...found it
Yea, as much as I love both saltwater and freshwater im gonna have to say freshwater is better for beginners. Saltwater is very difficult at times and I think somebody getting into the fish hobby in general should take care of a freshwater tank first to get to know the basics of fish keeping as they are pretty universal. But I do think saltwater is 10x more entertaining as the variety of stuff you can keep is just about endless, though you will need a deep wallet. Overall I think they're both insanely cool hobbies and I don't prefer any one over the other.
The respect one is true. I started with freshwater tanks. Had a reef going for a few years. Decided to start a planted tank. Literal jungle in 2 months. Reefing gives you a better understanding of the componants of plant growth as well as coral growth.
You are so right in that freshwater is much easier than saltwater but in my opinion there is just something about seeing saltwater fish and corals that draws me to them.
You bring up some good valid points John. I kept Central & SA cichlids for 22yrs before I made the switch to the salty side. The cost of maintaining a reef is definitely more costly than freshwater. I find the show stopping colors in saltwater a lot more appealing than fresh but also to see a planted tank is very amazing as well.
There is no denying that saltwater equipment is generally more expensive than freshwater, and can be really expensive, but it doesn't have to be outrageous or unattainable. Skimmers and sumps are absolutely not required they are only an additional way to export nutrients. My first saltwater tank was a 40g all in one system (no sump very small basic filtration. The reason you see sumps and skimmers on most tank is it is just one piece of equipment that can reduce how much/often you need to do water changes. Not having that equipment just means you might need to do water changes a little more often or in larger amounts (or feed less but who wants do do that). If there was an equivalent toy in freshwater that meant you could do water changes once a month instead of every other week, you would probably see it on every freshwater tank too.
I had a Tropical Marine Tank and successfully kept a variety of fish. Tangs, Wrasses, Hawkfish, Damsels, Clownfish, Dwarf and full size Angelfish. I also kept Barber Pole Shrimp. No Protein Skimmer as they were a new item. Eventually I went on to African Cichlids.
I like them both. I have had more fresh water tanks but I did like my salt tanks. When I get my new place I'll set up both. The salt at the stores you just go buy those big jugs already filled and you bring back the empty ones for a deposit.
I really enjoy your videos John and totally agree with you I have had fresh water for approx 20 years my latest 3 for the past 14 years and I stick to fresh and love plants 🌱 😂 My ex kept a 10 foot reef marine for many years and after watching him basically live in the tank it shyed me off salt . Fresh water 💦 are still work when dealing with larger tanks and fish 🐠 but I agree reef, with corals fish and anemones are a one step up With your thought about keeping wild fish 🐠 I always felt that way until watching videos from Heiko in Colombia that so many fresh species are dying out due to loss of natural habitation it is vital we keep species alive Absolutely have a lot of respect for your videos and you definitely hit the nail on the head !!! Huge hello from Australia Nat 🐠 🐠🐠🐠🐠🐠🐠🐠 Look forward to your next
I started with freshwater tanks and am dipping my toes into saltwater, slowly. There's a lot of tools out there to monitor the reef water parameters. If you are going big and spending a lot you definitely need those tools. I'm currently doing a 3 gallon reef tank to learn about them without all the fancy tools. It's not that expensive, compared to larger tanks. The coral frags you can buy go as cheap as $5.
Oh for sure, I've gotten small frags. I was more thinking for those that have large investments (or large tanks with lots of coral that would beneift from having such tech)@@knox7945
Been doing freshwater for several years and started with a 10 gallon tank and practiced being a good fish keeper a few years and have now moved up to a 37 gallon and will continue to progress until I am efficient enough to move up to a 150 or more gallon tank. I was thinking of getting the nano 13.5 gallon saltwater tank kit and starting small with that and doing the same thing and eventually one day have the best of both worlds and keeping nice big and efficient Tanks of each Side of the hobby when I have gotten plenty of time and experience to be able to efficiently without killing any fish or living creatures that I put in them.
I want saltwater one day when I have time. This is a fun collaboration in that you’ve decided to partner with someone doing the opposite of you within the hobby. Awesome idea! Very clever.
Fresh is a great way to get into the hobby! Ive has a variety of tanks and i can 10000% say salt>fresh any day of the week. So much personality and variety in salt
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
I really enjoyed having saltwater tanks. Lost a reef while a friend was taking care of it while on vacation. Took me out of the hobby for a while. Now large heavily planted freshwater is what I’m intro these days. Large schools of fish are awesome.
Yesss, I adore large heavily planted tanks
My story is about the same... 😂 😢
Yeah ive come to learn with a reef that if your going to be gone for a week max its beat to just have your auto top off container filled up and dont even worry about feeding the fish. Anything longer like 2 weeks a reliable auto feeder is good and someone to come by and just top off the ato container if needed.
Same, sorry for your loss
Green is very relaxing.
We are blessed to have a little slice of nature in our lives no matter what.
Always go fresh first. You have to make sure you’re able to do the maintenance and fresh is much more forgiving. I tried SW back in the day and it was too much and ended up losing $300 in livestock. Did FW for a while and now moving onto my first reef. Finally feel educated enough.
Tbh I'm only doing fresh to practice for salt.
You are lucky you only lost 300 for a saltwater crash. Some corals cost more than that for a single polyp. And some corals would just decide to die without any apparent reason. 😂
You don't need experience in fresh for salt. Very helpful but not a must have.
@@dinosaurpro6592 my first tank was a saltwater reef. Never had a freshwater tank and it thrived for over 3 years
I setup a freshwater tank 1 year ago. I use to sit and stare at it for literally hours. That being said, I’ve recently setup a reef tank and I find myself much more drawn to it. If you’re thinking about switching to saltwater, I 100% recommend it. Newcomers don’t be afraid! Maintaining a reef tank is kinda like raising your first child, initially it can be hard and definitely requires attention to detail, but over time you really get use to it and it becomes much easier.
Be careful it gets addicting the salwater tanks, there's so much you can do!!!
I did saltwater for a decade it got old for me
@@Yofuggindaddybichalot of work huh?
@@Yofuggindaddybich A lot of it has to do with how much time you can devote to a saltwater aquarium. In most cases freshwater tanks require less time to take care of, not the case with saltwater, especially a reef tank.
As somebody who keeps both, fresh is SOO MUCH EASIER. My fresh tank it’s self contained and I haven’t done anything aside from add water in over a year, my reef tank takes weekly maintenance, but I love both of them equally.
I keep freshwater fish (200 liter aquarium) but still change water weekly just in case and want my fish to be as healthy as possible. But is that not really needed?
@@zakosist it depends, my fresh system is beyond heavily planted and is only guppies. They are omnivores so they eat the plants and roots encouraging growth, which creates a really nice ecosystem that is forever changing
I've been recently getting into the fresh water, hobby what got me into it was I saw it as an extension of plant care: I saw all these really cool planted aquariums and I needed to build one. Salt water looks amazing and I'm always really impressed, but for me nothing beats a green aquarium.
Yes, it's impressive those beautiful, colorful corals and fishes. But in my house, I feels better with green plants
Look into macroalgae, not necessarily plants in a traditional sense but its some very unique and diverse greenery in the saltwater hobby
@@janmalini2293 Yes! And mangroves!!
There’s probably thousands of green corals lol
@@huum4430 Corals are animals not plants tho. So in a saltwater tank, y’all are just taking care are the animal inhabitants while freshwater tanks have both the fauna and the flora
I had both Reef and Freshwater aquariums and you're definitely right about the delicate of having a Reef tank. Anxiety sometimes struck me on my reef.
In Scotland. Salt water peeps are the nicest folk. No snobs here. All great to go to for issues, problems and general advice. I found them a great community and great help when I was dipping into salt water....... but due to health I opted back for severums.
Whenever I have the urge to have a salt water tank, I go to our favorite seafood restaurant where they have a huge salt water aquarium on display. Clown fish, blue tang, puffer fish, an angel or two, parrot fish, squirrel fish, sea urchin, and more are cruising in and out of a reef. The whole thing is magnificent and professionally maintained. Then I go home to my fresh water aquariums that make me happy in Pennsylvania.
Do you like pick which fish you want for dinner at the aquarium lol, definitely a humorous display for a seafood restaurant.
@@liamlindow5756its probably to see how fresh the fish is
Was freshwater for 5 years now Saltwater for 5. I'd NEVER go back to freshwater. It's all about the coral for me, grow and sell my own coral which is a great little money earner on the side. Saltwater people aren't really into the fish side of things. It's coral.
I have a nano reef with 2 clowns one cardinal and one puffer. No corals at all. Just a anemone. Too scared that my corals die off lol. It runs with a canister filter and a surface skimmer.
I'm just gonna go with a FOWLR coral are even harder than fish to keep.
Did you just assume that all freshwater enthusiast are just fish enthusiast? 🤪 I’m a high-tech planted tank enthusiast and I’m more fascinated to aquatic plants than the animal inhabitants. Don’t even get me started on how diverse the looks of freshwater tanks while all saltwater tanks just look the same: Corals and saltwater fishes. While freshwater tanks has nature style planted tank, dutch-style planted tanks, iwagumi planted tanks, paludarium etc.
I was saltwater for 8 years and now 3 years a goldfish freshwater. I’m never going back to saltwater. So much care. Who needs that.
@@TinoushGTR I had corals but I couldent keep the anemone alive
My local fish store has had their coral frag tank quarantined for like 6 months because there's a bit of hair algae and the owner is terrified of the reef snobs who will freak out if they see a single filament in their precious tanks... Personally, I like having a bit of algae as long as it doesn't overgrow my corals. I'm trying to create a realistic aquatic environment, not a sterile show piece.
I agree with the points made in this video. I'm almost 70, and have kept freshwater since my teens.
In the 80's I dove into saltwater. Even kept an octopus. However, I lost $1000 worth of fish over a couple of days due to ich. Devastated, I dropped out of the hobby for 30 years.
Last year I returned to the hobby doing a freshwater planted nano tank. I'm enjoying fishkeeping again. I will never do saltwater again.
Aww im sorry about your salt tank, but its good you came back to the hobby. I hope everything is going great!
It looks like you should chose fish that are good for begginers; even with a tight budget saltwater is much more mesmerizing.
I say this every time: the most-competent aquarists in the world keep both. They don't argue one is "better" than the other. Too bad for whoever can't accept this.
I'm just starting my first marine tank. I've always wanted to do so, but finally decided to go for it. I'm not going the sump and protein skimmer route though at some point I may add a HOB skimmer. I'm running an Aquaclear HOB and have a power head for additional flow. It's a very low tech 20 gallon nano reef. Since my focus is on corals I only plan on having a few small fish and a invert clean up crew. My first fish is actually a gold dust molly who is clearly the queen of the tank. The aquarium is only two months old so livestock is sparse but so far so good. There's more parameters to test and I'm a bit neurotic when it comes to making sure I'm doing weekly water changes, otherwise it hasn't been that different from keeping my planted 38 gallon freshwater. I've even added some macro algae (seaweed) to my reef because I'm a plant geek. I have my aquariums flanking my TV and I love the contrast between the fresh and saltwater environments. I'll probably always lean more towards freshwater because of cost and ease, but I'm loving the idea of my colorful saltwater garden.
I’ve recently got myself a reeftank after being in the saltwater hobby for a while. A freshwater setup is much easier to keep and maintain for sure. And there are many cool freshwater fish aswell. That being said, there is something special about keeping a reef in your own home.
I live in FL and I like keeping native fish. I’d love to do a FL saltwater marsh grass tank, but it seems like unless you want to do reefs there aren’t resources.
Before I watch I'm going to comment through experience to compare, I have had a 90-gallon reef with a 30 sump for years now. It is extremely expensive! Not to mention how fast you can mess up an established reef with one addition. Every fish was $80 and up, each coral was $20 and up(this is an addiction) not to mention the 100 pounds of live rock at $15 a pound. $350 light, wave makers, heaters etc. I spend $55 a month on a bucket of salt, I have a science kit just to make water changes, and all these socks, stones, carbon, I'm getting exhausted. There's a reason I'm changing over. I will be setting up the 180 for my Oscars, they are still very very small and will move accordingly.
There are a lot of fish being aquaculture now. There are no longer any wild caught Clown Fish (Nemo) or Yellow Tangs in the hobby any more. Also many more and a lot of us have decided to buy only aquacultured fish for in our aquariums.
I remember reading last year that even some Butterflyfish are beginning to be aquacultured. Shows you how far things have come. Double good too, since once they become more common, you will get fish used to eating a diet that can can be more easily provided.
I noticed that part, too. He mentioned most salt water fish being wild caught, while showing clown fish. These are being bred to the point that color variations and “designer” patterns are now available. Another fish prominently featured in the video are lion fish, which are invasive and destructive in many areas. You might even get a bounty for removing them.
And many fresh water fish are mostly wild caught as well. For example otocinclus and kuhli loaches are all wild caught to my knowledge (and many die before they even reach your LFS).
To me, it’s neither a point for/against fresh or salt water, but to be aware and research what species you get. Personally, I don’t like to buy fish that do not readily reproduce in captivity. Because if we cannot produce conditions for breeding, then we probably don’t keep them adequately.
We are currently attending Macna Aquatic Expo which traditionally was a saltwater only event. This is the first year freshwater was invited and we gave the only booth! Getting to talk to the reef folks this weekend has been great! There are going to be quite a few shows this year from what we heard that are going to now incorporate freshwater, so I think this may be the start of something beautiful!
I liked your video.
I had a 30 gallon saltwater tank in the 1980’s. This was before all the high technical things that are in the tanks today. My tank was crystal clear all the time.
In my tank I had 2 Cowries, 1 Pacific Giant Green Anemone, 1 Pistol Shrimp, several Peppermint Shrimp, 2 Cleaner Shrimp, 1 Arrow Crab, 4 Mollies, several Guppies, 2 Clown Fish, one oyster, and 2 clams. The oyster and the clams came from the grocery store…honestly! I dipped some tank water out into a container to put them into so their temperatures could equalize. I put them back into the tank where they thrived!
I will stop at this point however if you would like more information on the filters and so on just leave a comment to this one.
Thanks LAM
I keep both fresh & salt; I went into this video honestly expecting to roll my eyes, but these are very valid points, and I have had each of these thoughts myself
I don't agree with the item of keeping saltwater fish in a small area, ok well I do agree with that, but it is true with freshwater fish too.
@@davidhorizon8401 Please add 'Zero Dawn' to the end of your name.
I’ve had both fresh and saltwater, and I like both. Two things that are also nice about freshwater fish and where not listed in the video is you can keep bigger fish relative to the tank size. The other thing, particularly with cichlids, you can find fish with significant personality.
Freshwater still has a ton of colours, while leaving you more margins with money, time and effort you have to put into, a plus if you have to still worry about job, family etc. . Also, I love planted tanks, so freshwater has this plus, too; and I very like the delicate, softened tone palette of freshwater aquarium organisms: the awe-factor of marine/reef tanks works for some time, then you kinda end up appreciating both, at which point by a pragmatic point of view you can understand all of the advantages of a freshwater aquarium.
My tap water is unfortunately quite weird (relatively low °gH, but with very high °kH) and finding matching fish is extremely tricky (even platys struggle in such water...), so I've had to start making osmotic water again, but still if you want to make the best possible synthetic marine water you have to mix the salts in osmotic water, thus the 110€ / ca. 120 $ you'd have to spend for an osmotic system still are a cost you should consider into the budget for both kind of aquarium.
Practice with freshwater, then go to salt once you want to see the rainbow.
@@dinosaurpro6592 Sincerely, I have Congo Tetras, which alongside with Melanotaenias are the closest thing there could be to a swimming rainbow... You can have it in freshwater too.
@@TenorCantusFirmus what about a mandarin goby? A tailspot wrasse? A emperor angelfish? A flame hawk?
Freshwater can be cool, but saltwater fish just can't be ignored. You just have to keep them if you have the money. I'm really tempted.
@@dinosaurpro6592 I don't ignore saltwater fish. It's just that I don't find the little bit of extra color to justify the cost. The captive-bred vs. collected in nature issue is still the most important one - Maybe, if saltwater captive breeding will start becoming more regular and involve a wider variety of fish, there I might start thinking about them.
What's wrong with wild caught fish? Are they less hardy? More expensive?
Thank you. I will be going with the fresh water... I think you really saved me a headache.. it is appreciated 👍
hello love your videos ..somethin caught my eye at 8:06 what the heck is in the middle of that thing is that a eye? honestly i dont know what im seeing
i'm now a both freshwater and saltwater aquarium hobbyist. Its hard but just seeing them both makes feel at ease. I'm now trying to have an aquarium brackish you know where the river meets the sea
I've been keeping freshwater tanks for years, and this video was one of many that inspired me to try out saltwater...and now that I've had my salt tank up for nearly 8 months, I can surely say that freshwater is way better, at least in terms of costs and payoffs. A good sized freshwater planted tank can cost under $100 to set up, can run for months without any maintenance aside from feeding fish, and can even pay for itself through the plants grown and livestock bred within. My tiny 20 gallon salt tank is by far the most expensive I've ever set up, and needs constant maintenance and water changes. Corals and macroalgae don't grow quickly enough for me to even consider selling them, and there aren't many types of fish or inverts that readily breed in a home aquarium. I'm probably gonna dismantle the tank in a few weeks to relieve the mental and financial burden it causes me, and will likley stick with freshwater from now on
I been doing fresh for over 25 years and saltwater for 10 years with about 15 tanks ranging from 10 to 150 gallons. Since I started a family, 2 dogs, and still working 2 jobs, I only 1 saltwater tank left. But really thinking of converting it to fresh due to the less maintenance. No more caring big jugs of water
I am a fish keeper since I was a kid, had them on and off throughout my life. Got fresh fish tanks
I got my first reef tank about a year ago, no way you can compare them, if you like challenges, salt water is a endless path of constant battles, all and everything said in this video is truth but he fail to mention, it's so rewarding the fact you can keep a very complex ecosystem clean and going is like symphony master piece orchestrated by yourself, that feeling can't be achieved by fresh water and I repeat I have them both
I totally agree one of my clients asked me to build a 200 gallon saltwater and I ask him y he said it’s gorgeous I told him u know how much work u going to put on it ? He said work?? I was like yeah work and love to have a salt water reacquainted a lot of experience
He was like never mind then I was like if u do want a tank I can do it for u but u got to show me how much interested u have to keep one otherwise I can give u better option he was like better option?
Yeas we look at salt water tank because of color and beauty they are they look much more fun to have them
But if u see a planted fresh water with discus u might change your mind of fresh water
Then I showed him one of my discus that a keep for my self he was totally amazed by the art and landscape he told me he never thought the a fresh water could be so beautiful I told him I love fish fresh salt don’t matter but if u a beginner on fish u should go for fresh first so u see how much work u have to put into it he agreed and now he got a tank tha looks better then my over a few days ago I asked him once you tank die let’s do a saltwater tank ? He was like man I kind felt in love with fresh I will one they but I do want to keep my discus for ever they are so gorgeous
I know
I told him most of u guys go on pet shop and see raw tank with a few fish for sell
But u guys don’t know how many species are out there and how much plates are beautiful
Everything on saltwater and fresh water are beautiful u just have to know how to deal with it to getter better read about understand first before u buy any fish don’t try without read our u going to learn in the hard way and we fish sellers that love what we do we not going let u buy a fish tha u think it breathe water when it don’t understand it’s the key and the gas it’s read and the engine is the work
Love is the path and your eyes is the pleasure
Stay fish and keep the nitrate low
Your tank is the reflection of you hart
How u see things but remember do not over stock or tank if u like big go for extra large if u like small go for large I think 10 gallons tank should be prohibited 🚫 maybe for a single betta fish but still I put my on a 20 minimum
Give you fish a happy life because if u think it don’t deserve it u don’t deserve to be in the robin love you videos makes me Poetize my love for what I do thank you for talking about fresh and salt salt it’s hard but beautiful then fresh fresh is gorgeous and easy the salt big msg for big love love I love what I do
My roommate has salt water tanks. I have freshwater. Whenever I go to do something for my tank, like cleaning the filter, putting in plants, rinsing something off, whatever, he always has to “give me advice” then proceed to mansplain how to do stuff I already know how to do. He thinks because “saltwater” is harder that means he knows more than me about how tanks work. Obviously not everyone who is into saltwater is like that, but man, he’s a snob about it.
START A REEF TANK THEN YOU WILL UNDERSTAND YOUR BUDDY BETTER AND SEE WHY HE KNOW MORE
THEN YOU
@@junito1957 nah.
loved the video and as a saltwater guy I promise that from now on I will try to make more of an effort with freshwater people.
Got to 2:56 and had heard enough. In a tank with a good amount; 2/3+, of cured live rock all you need is a circulation pump, use that air pump to run an internal protean skimmer and you're set to go. Reef tanks aren't that different then a planted tank, it just takes a bigger tank to achieve the same balance. You can run a micro reef or a tiny blenny and shrimp tank, it's just real easy to max a salt tanks bioload.
I have both. My planted is so low maintenance I barely even feed the fish at this point and they are thriving. But even that one, I never had a moment were it was change the water immediately or have a crash and everything dies.
Salt, that does happen, and yes, I am one who buys the premixed water cus if you gotta get the RO anyways than you might as well just get the salt too. This happened last week on Monday actually and I thought I had enough saltwater to fill it back up, nope. And apparently all the stores (which are pretty far already) were all closed! I ended up driving 2 hours just to go find salt water! Plus the drive back. And I live in Florida where there are a bunch of fish hobby stores. Salt tanks are def when you have more time and disposable income.
But I always will have fresh tanks. One for every room! lol
I also watched the other salt vs fresh vid. :)
One thing I like with freshwater tanks is that most species are raised in captivity. Catching fish in the wild involves a lot of unintended mortality.
I have a reef tank and an African cichlid tank too and In general the reef tank is easier to maintain once everything is stable and not very labour intensive
How long have you had it? Definitely the opposite for me
@@racingbeats1493 have had the cichlid tank for about a year and the reef tank for about 6 months, at the 3 month mark everything got stable
I just got into a fish keep hobby a year ago with a betta. Now I have a 20 gallon community tank, 5 gallon betta tank, and 1 gallon shrimp jar. I really enjoy my fishes and enjoy learning more about them. I want to set up a 10 gallon saltwater tank and keep a single baby clownfish and then eventually upgrading to a 20 gallon when space becomes available.
Agreed 100% I have a 250 gallon tank set up for saltwater for the last 23 years. I just recently toured all down and in the process of switching to freshwater, it is very expensive all the additives vitamins for the fish to iodine, calcium, different types of food, magnesium so much to keep everything alive. Keep the corals alive. Something went wrong and some of the easiest corals to keep alive stary polyps, all started dying, and I couldn’t figure out why I’m gonna what I did. I had a huge colony of them on one side of the tank all of them down the walls the rocks really pretty, and it all started dying and green and purple all over dying I couldn’t stop, I had a bunch of fish I had for a while could’ve been old age. I don’t know. I always lose it. All happened quickly in about three or four months and I just got burnt out. I’m eventually going to set it up for freshwater. It’s been a process Tank up and getting it ready if you’re getting a new tank, just freshwater unless you got a lot of time and money and I don’t
I started in Freshwater, then I went to a reef tank. I had it for about 3 years, then I had to move from WI to ND. I did not think it wise to move the whole thing, so I sold it. I then bought a bigger tank and went into Discus. I miss Saltwater, but not sure I will ever go back.
I have kept a few freshwater tanks and currently have a CO2 planted freshwater. Reef tanks have completely changed the hobby for me and I will never go back. So many different animals fill specific niches and they all look unique and incredible. Coral adds such an amazing variety as well. The industry is also going towards captive bred as well. This was mentioned but the most popular fish, clown fish, are all captive bred. You can search many seller by captive bred but in general at this point yes, freshwater still has a lot more captive breeding. My lfs also only sells aquacultured coral aka they grow their own and don't buy any wild caught.
The two main barriers for me are money and maintenance. Don't get me wrong, I'm neither poor nor lazy. I spend quite a bit on my freshwater tanks and I love to fiddle around with them whenever I have the time. But this all just lets me know that I'd spend way more on saltwater and spend a lot more time being anxious about my fish. Planted tanks just take care of themselves.
If I'm trying to make a planted aquarium, do I need to take out the activated carbon?
@@cesarsalazar8618 That would be best yes, especially if you're dosing fertilizer :) If you still want something like it, then Seachem Purigen would be good, though I personally don't use it and do not think it's necessary. Let me know if you have any more questions!
I used to run a 20 gallon nano reef in 2020 as a Junior in high school. Spent more than I’d admit. With SW there’s just way more you have to worry about in a delicate ecosystem - way more testing, dosing, tuning your dose, coral disease, coral pest, pest algae, pest hitch hikers, stability, quality lighting.
Taking your eyes off is not an option. That said, I freaking LOVE the saltwater hobby. I’ve been debating to set up a tank, honestly I’ve been feeling impulsive.
My issue is I get too anxious, and too caught into trying to learn everything it affects my schedule. I’m just not built for it, especially as a young adult looking to grow in other areas. I truly believe it has to be a lifestyle
I have a 55 gallon freshwater I enjoy maintains however, it’s almost plug and play
Cool video. Just started fresh, wanted salt, eventually. You made excellent points. Does not deter from wanting salt, but it will probably take me a decade to build the confidence to attempt such a feat. FYI, if your ever near Charleston, SC, there's an amazing shop called Ocean Realms in Goose Creek. Small, but incredible tanks. She even has seahorses! I've got all my fish there because they are so happy and healthy. Your videos have helped so much! Thanks for all you've devoted to these creatures!
I kept many saltwater fish in the mid-80's with just a canister filter and regular water testing. Love them, miss them!
Exactly it doesn't have to be that complicated and expensive. Filter, heater and lights... done.
9:24 9:30 Freshwater vs Saltwater 9:32 whoaw
Yeah I know that feeling I have a big reef that’s cost me close to 10k on 1 tank but it’s worth every penny and the satisfaction from it is so worth it
Yes the satisfaction and relaxation is great!
I think you will love North Carolina. I lived there 3 yrs. and I loved it in Jacksonville. But Im from Northern NY and really love the snow. Snow won! Congratulations on your and Lisa's new Journey!
the cool thing John is that the hobby grows as your knowledge and experience grows, and exploring the saltwater is in my humble experience just a-natural progression. This started by getting my son an Oscar , and it grew as we learned about water changes, ph, acclimation, nitrogen cycle and tank husbandry. For us its been a natural progression to quench this curiosity and love that comes once you get involved in the life aquatic. There is no better or worse, but if you study fish, you see that there’s just ones that are living in freshwater there’s ones to live in brackish water the rest in the sea. There’s no way that you can get involved in this hobby, and be any kind of a thinker without pondering the fact that we may just be a fish tank for some alien creature
Im a reef keeper and I agree with most of your points . for example my saltwater fish valued about at $1200 . its not a cheap hobby. I have to say most reef keepers are type A personalities . if u only keep saltwater fish u can get away with less cost . on the nano tanks u can keep Catalina gobies without a heater .just a example . I have gotten back into freshwater heavily planted nano tanks I currently have a 1.2 gallon cube housing 5 neon tetras and 4 albino corys . I love the challenge of a small ecosystem. btw we are not snobs .
I never had freshwater or aquariums at all growing up. My first experience with fish at all was jumping right into a 35 gallon reef tank. Our local fish store gave us guidance for coral and fish and we never looked back. 8 months later and now we have a 125 gallon and the 35 gallon reef tanks. Everybody talks about how much the saltwater side is about coral, but to me it’s just as much about the awesome, colorful, exotic fish. Nothing on the freshwater side can even catch my interest for more than a second once you start exploring the vast world of colors and shapes and sizes of fish. Coral is a world of its own and it can all coexist beautifully inside your home. It’s the salt life for me.
I agree with most of the points. Saltwater has the wow factor, but I have a job and family which means freshwater fits me. I figure if I had the income to go saltwater, I am hiring a company to maintain it.
I also looked at my freshwater tanks and saw the algae the eaters can’t keep up with. Where did I put that scrapper.
Yeah, but IMO... paying someone to maintain your tank takes the fun out of it! Half the fun (for me) is doing the maintance, cleaning stuff up, helping my fish thrive. It's so rewarding. I understand alot of people don't love the hobby enough to do the maintance but want a tank in their house for decoration etc... So for them yes that's the way too go, but most of us love the maintance part! 😁👍
@@DirtNassty Yes it's true. I didn't think I would but I really enjoy the cleaning of my freshwater tanks.
@@hurricanevolf7165 absolutely! It gives me my personal time away from hectic life and I whole heartedly enjoy keeping my fish happy and thriving!
@@DirtNassty for me I have enough work to do. Taking care of a thousands of dollars of fragile environment is why I would do it. I don’t enjoy cleaning anything, tanks included. It something I have to do and I have the freshwater down to less than 30 minutes, not enjoyable minutes.
Refugiums and auto top offs have made it more or less the same for me, between salt and freshwater.
You don’t need a protein skimmer but its better that way but i have tried no protein skimmer for 4 years and everything is still looking great and 90 percent of all fish are not wild caught
After we complete our apartment downsizing move, we are thinking of installing 2 tanks, a 20 gal. long & a 10 or 15 gal. Tank to serve as a quarantine tank or nursery. It’s been 40 years since we had tanks, so we are basically newbies again & need to decide - fresh or salt. This discussion has been quite helpful, & it’s likely leading us back to fresh. We still have time before deciding, so all comments & information will help. Budget is a factor. Thank you for posting this.
I have been in the freshwater hobby for 12,5years before i decided to go with a saltwater setup for me the difference s you mentioned here are accurate and i have had my Challanges going into the reefkeeping and i have to say that corals are more forgiveing in the hobby then the fish are for example tangs are ich magnets so if you want to keep then you need a uv that adds extra costs to your tank so you can kinda see it like as keeping wild discus its a challenge and everything has to be maintained correctly otherwise you lose a lot of fish
I have four freshwater tanks. I love them. So easy to maintain. And just as beautiful in my opinion. Great video!
I remember seeing this humorous tag on a beautiful salt water reef tank at an aquarium show sometime ago! It said:”This is not a hobby, it’s a full time job!”
Iv been a reef guy for 3 years and I still watch all your videos as I find you and Lisa amazing and you can never have to much knowledge
John, just saw this video 2 weeks after it is posted and I do agree with a lot of the points you do make, however I will disagree with you that both sides of the hobby are closer together than you think.
I have both salt and freshwater and they are very very simalier. I will equate corals to plants and vice versa. There are species that require special light conditions in both and both require different water conditions. The only extra that corals have that need to be taken into consideration is flow.
Tank size in both sides does dictate how easy of a time you will have. The larger the tank the better. For anyone wondering larger tanks will mean more stable perimeters for both salt water and fresh water. And it does also dictate what size fish you can get to put in the tank. Which with a lot of salt water fish that is something you have to be carefull of. With alot of the saltwater fish such as the blue hippo tangs(aka dorey) you need a good 200 gallon tank for swimming room. So you do need to watch out for that. On the other hand my tinfoil barbs which I love could probably use the same size tank up from thier 125 gallon tank they are in now.
I have found sump filtration to be the best filtration for all my tanks, it is just extremely versital and allows for a bunch of food waste to be removed. Also using a sump on my tinfoil tank has allowed me to create a river flow in my tinfoil tank which has made them more enjoyable to watch.
The food for the fish is the same. I can take and feed all my fish the same thing if I need to.
Lastly, the fish. More and more companies are being created that are breeding salt water fish, and corals. You have ORA and Sea and Reef just to name a couple of companies. I have gotten fish from my lfs from both and they are pretty hardy fish. It wont be long till people figure how to breed a lot of the saltwater species and one can get an all non wild tank for salt water with all the different attractions known to be in a reef tank.
If anyone sees this comment, and wants to do a salt water tank, head over to bulk reef supply's channel they have a lot of great videos over there to help with getting a salt water tank started.
I think the only barrier that is currently standing in all of our ways with both sides of the hobby is purely mental. Once we realize that the hobby is essintallly the same with a few minor differences on both sides we all can get better at keeping fish.
And remember just because you know how to scramble an egg doesnt mean you know how to make a suoffle, even though you have all of the necessary ingriedients with just an egg.
Had both Freshwater tanks and now Saltwater reef tanks, and although you were right that Saltwater in general can cost more, there’s certain advantages SW has over FW.
I enjoy simple maintenance and nano setups. The biggest dealbreaker for me is that FW can have mold buildup overtime and I have allergies. I’ve never had any mold issues with SW.
Lastly, there’s a few things mentioned in the video that aren’t true. All of my nano reefs never use protein skimmers. In fact, SW or Reef tanks with protein skimmers have the danger of being too clean and getting dinoflagellates which is really bad. Also, there are a lot of common SW fish you can buy online that come from farms, not wild caught. Look up ORA for instance.
I just wanted to let you know, the new website looks REALLY cool! I can't wait to have some room to get some betta fish from you guys!
I've watched both videos and I think the only way to settle this is for you and Jake to have an arm wrestle 😅
Hey I just heard that you’re moving to North Carolina! As a native North Carolinian, let me extend a warm welcome. Love your channel and I hope you have a safe and successful move.
Thank you 🙂
Want to bring salt and fresh together? Build a reef tank with acclimated mollies!
Hey John so I am a salt water to reeder . And I want to tell you I love watching you and Lisa. Because Lisa I got me a sorority beta tank. I love you guys and I will see you at AquaShela in Chicago this year. Love you guys!
I already subscribed, I just wanted to say, you, for some reason are very well-spoken and I like your videos more than others, yes the popular others.
As a beginner in the hobby i have been told by some who do reef tanks that the entry level complexity between fresh and salt is massive. And that is the just starting out in salt. I personally want to keep a salt water tank to keep a toby puffer because i love how they look but I'm sticking to my freshwater oscar and jack dempseys for now.
I made the jump from fresh to Salt, I Stuck with Salt but your points are absolutely valid! Imagine my shock when learning that my 160 liter Tank is still considered nano.
I was a freshwater hobbyists for about 20 years.... About 5 years ago I decided to go saltwater and never looked back. It's a lot of fun and more enjoyable in my opinion than anything the freshwater hobby can provide to me.
I assure you a successful saltwater tank can be VERY simple and cheap. I've got a 10 gal reef tank that cost under $100 to start including lights and it's been wildly successful for over 4 years
I've had many years on the hobby and Ive had saltwater and freshwater as well as reef tanks. I never really got much enjoyment out of my saltwater tanks it was always alot of stress and felt more like work. I am strictly freshwater now and actually these days mostly native freshwater. I source my own fish locally so no buying fish I LOOOOOOOVE stream tanks. 6 ft long tank with with a powerhead and little strong swimmers. My best tank is a 125 gallon with a bluegill, a green sunfish, 3 longear sunfish, and 3 chub minnows. Native freshwater is so underrated since Ive been keeping them tropical freshwater doesnt even appeal to me anymore. But thats just me.
This is something I’ve trying to tell people for a long time now. I’m glad that there’s actual good video on you to talking about it. Those one video of a saltwater biased buy saying that freshwater is just as hard as salt water, one of his biggest points was that you can’t use a protein skimmer and fresh water. As somebody who use a protein skimmer and has two saltwater tanks I want much prefer not to have to use a protein skimmer.
My brother has had aquariums for decades. He currently has saltwater, and the aquascape was incredible, corals, live rock, the full shebang. Truly beautiful 😍 but I'm just getting into freshwater, as I'm a reptile girl, obviously I have a turtle in mine. Real fun building a community tank for him with little fish. I've got some shrimp, snails, neon tetras, a bristle nose pleco and 6 corydoras. The snails weren't exactly the best idea though, as they can't move out of the way in time, and sadly ended up as a snack. Other than that though I'm very pleased with everything and it's a perfect little ecosystem! My live plants, sand, large river stones and driftwood look pretty good too 😃
Moving them all into a 600 litre 6 foot long very soon! Which I can't wait for 😁
I have had freshwater for probably around 20yrs last yr i took the step and went saltwater. The cost can be more but can still do it on a budget. Best thing to start out is a all in one tank set up that has a hood with built in light with a hood alot less water evaporation and all i do is water change once or twice a month and change out filter when dirty no different then fresh water. Fish can cost more and corals but there is so many easy and cheap fish and corals that anyone could keep. It really comes down to what someone wants to do i set out to do a budget salt tank and it wasnt much more to do then a fresh water
Freshwater 4 life!!!! I love the saltwater fish and the corals but seeing how much goes into a well-established saltwater aquarium is definitely off-putting but I would like to try one day... I love the collaboration between both channels. You both definitely did a great job explaining the differences between freshwater and saltwater.
I’ve had both and saltwater was not fun to me. It became a chore and the payoff to me wasn’t worth it. More expensive didn’t equal better to me. End of the day it really comes down to what you prefer which I know is such a lame statement. I really enjoy watching my plants grow waaaayyy more than I liked watching my coral grow.
Please make a video with all of your aquariums ... I really wanted to see that ... Also I think it will be a very good memory for you guys .
Hey folks, so I used to only keep freshwater tanks, goldfish specifically. But since I was a child I always at a point keep a volitan lionfish (min 75gal). Last week I purchased the volitan and if you're only doing fish the only difference is literally salt and a refractometer. I still keep both fresh and saltwater and they're both amazing and the fish from both sides of the hobby have crazy and awesome personalities. BTW many reasons for the volitan, they're awesome, they're really intelligent and b/c they're invasive I technically rescued my volitan. I named him Shaggy Rogers. I love ALL my fishes the goldies, my Oscars and my volitan I LOVE EM ALL ❤️ 💕 💗 ♥️
I understand where you are coming from. I am one who keeps both. Yes you can get by with much less equip in freshwater but I also have built a lot of my tanks fresh and salt to use a lot of the same equip. Personally I enjoy both sides of the hobby. I currently have 4 freshwater tanks and one reef tank. Some equipment is more expensive but there are some fish in freshwater that are pretty expensive also not as many as in salt. Automation is making a lot of the Maint that needs to be done easier and much less work especially as knowledge in salt has been increasing it has changed so dramatically. I do love both sides of the hobby. Yes there isn’t that many that do a lot specialize in one side or the other but I like the challenge of doing both
Never tried salt, but have considered it a few times. I did hear more and more salt water fish are being captive bred though? At least Compared to 5/10 years ago 😜
A lot of saltwater species also aren't as hardy in captivity, like cow fish. I myself don't think I could morally keep a cow fish.
Kind of makes you appreciate how amazing nature is to keep all this in balance in the wild
Something about reefing makes people gadget obsessed and those gadgets are majorly inflated in price. And the focus is on collecting shiny things (fish and coral). I wish there was more on cool aquascapes with a deliberate/elaborate design like freshwater planted tanks. And fish selected for more reasons than utility/it fits the tank size. No color coordination or anything and it all looks like a big collection of living things.
I've got both but I'd say saltwater is far more interesting all the different creatures besides the fish are great definitely a bit harder to keep the reef tank but I enjoy the challenge and I disagree it can be a setup as cheap or expensive as you like minus salt for water changes and a $75- $100 protein skimmer but saltwater livestock is out of control expensive I definitely agree with that
Planted freshwater aquariums with co2, high end lights & fertilizer dosing rivels the costs of a reeftank. Plus a weekly or bi weekly trimming of freshwater plants is way more timeconsuming that reef tanks... Cichlids are the way to go ;-)
You will lose the algae, diatoms, cyanobacteria fight one day with a reef tank for sure. (15+years reef tank keeper and one of my clown fish is 15 years old :)...)
Never kept a saltwater tank; never seriously tempted to. Reef tanks are beautiful to look at, but I'll stick to fresh😎 I do, however, appreciate the FW
channels who are trying to bring the 2 sides of our hobby together...about to go hear why salt is better, who knows, maybe he'll convince me to try a FOWLR tank💕👍...Hmmm, Jason's video isn't up yet, I'll try again later today-thanks John😎...found it
Yea, as much as I love both saltwater and freshwater im gonna have to say freshwater is better for beginners. Saltwater is very difficult at times and I think somebody getting into the fish hobby in general should take care of a freshwater tank first to get to know the basics of fish keeping as they are pretty universal. But I do think saltwater is 10x more entertaining as the variety of stuff you can keep is just about endless, though you will need a deep wallet. Overall I think they're both insanely cool hobbies and I don't prefer any one over the other.
The respect one is true. I started with freshwater tanks. Had a reef going for a few years. Decided to start a planted tank. Literal jungle in 2 months. Reefing gives you a better understanding of the componants of plant growth as well as coral growth.
You are so right in that freshwater is much easier than saltwater but in my opinion there is just something about seeing saltwater fish and corals that draws me to them.
the background music you guys use always reminds me of when i first started keeping fish
You bring up some good valid points John. I kept Central & SA cichlids for 22yrs before I made the switch to the salty side. The cost of maintaining a reef is definitely more costly than freshwater. I find the show stopping colors in saltwater a lot more appealing than fresh but also to see a planted tank is very amazing as well.
There is no denying that saltwater equipment is generally more expensive than freshwater, and can be really expensive, but it doesn't have to be outrageous or unattainable. Skimmers and sumps are absolutely not required they are only an additional way to export nutrients. My first saltwater tank was a 40g all in one system (no sump very small basic filtration. The reason you see sumps and skimmers on most tank is it is just one piece of equipment that can reduce how much/often you need to do water changes. Not having that equipment just means you might need to do water changes a little more often or in larger amounts (or feed less but who wants do do that). If there was an equivalent toy in freshwater that meant you could do water changes once a month instead of every other week, you would probably see it on every freshwater tank too.
I had a Tropical Marine Tank and successfully kept a variety of fish. Tangs, Wrasses, Hawkfish, Damsels, Clownfish, Dwarf and full size Angelfish. I also kept Barber Pole Shrimp. No Protein Skimmer as they were a new item. Eventually I went on to African Cichlids.
I like them both. I have had more fresh water tanks but I did like my salt tanks. When I get my new place I'll set up both. The salt at the stores you just go buy those big jugs already filled and you bring back the empty ones for a deposit.
I really enjoy your videos John and totally agree with you
I have had fresh water for approx 20 years my latest 3 for the past 14 years and I stick to fresh and love plants 🌱 😂 My ex kept a 10 foot reef marine for many years and after watching him basically live in the tank it shyed me off
salt . Fresh water 💦 are still work when dealing with larger tanks and fish 🐠 but I agree reef, with corals fish and anemones are a one step up
With your thought about keeping wild fish 🐠 I always felt that way until watching videos from Heiko in Colombia that so many fresh species are dying out due to loss of natural habitation it is vital we keep species alive
Absolutely have a lot of respect for your videos and you definitely hit the nail on the head !!!
Huge hello from Australia
Nat 🐠 🐠🐠🐠🐠🐠🐠🐠
Look forward to your next
I started with freshwater tanks and am dipping my toes into saltwater, slowly.
There's a lot of tools out there to monitor the reef water parameters. If you are going big and spending a lot you definitely need those tools. I'm currently doing a 3 gallon reef tank to learn about them without all the fancy tools. It's not that expensive, compared to larger tanks. The coral frags you can buy go as cheap as $5.
Depends on the corals that you buy to cost that much. GSP is a cheap one, and some Zoas and Mushroom would cost that much.
Oh for sure, I've gotten small frags. I was more thinking for those that have large investments (or large tanks with lots of coral that would beneift from having such tech)@@knox7945
Been doing freshwater for several years and started with a 10 gallon tank and practiced being a good fish keeper a few years and have now moved up to a 37 gallon and will continue to progress until I am efficient enough to move up to a 150 or more gallon tank. I was thinking of getting the nano 13.5 gallon saltwater tank kit and starting small with that and doing the same thing and eventually one day have the best of both worlds and keeping nice big and efficient Tanks of each Side of the hobby when I have gotten plenty of time and experience to be able to efficiently without killing any fish or living creatures that I put in them.
It's so much easier to keep a 150gal than a 10gal...
Cool video! I'm a fresh water keeper but I'm about to start a 20 gal. reef tank!
Good luck buddy
@@osamadeveloper Thanks!
I went from DC to NC last year. Luckily we only have one 10 gallon. Good luck with your move.
I want saltwater one day when I have time. This is a fun collaboration in that you’ve decided to partner with someone doing the opposite of you within the hobby. Awesome idea! Very clever.
Speaking of Aquashella. That was one dope event and it was nice to meet you and your lovely wife.
Fresh is a great way to get into the hobby! Ive has a variety of tanks and i can 10000% say salt>fresh any day of the week. So much personality and variety in salt
It's the plants for me