fresh and salt compareison

[SnakeIce]

if you compare a freshwater planted jungle that has high(for freshy plants) lighting, co2 added, full fertilization schedule, with what ever larger fish that can raise its own young going at it and a full compliment of nitch fillers and comunity denitzens

and

a reef aquarium, live sand, live rock, and what all is needed for that kind of set up

say they are both 150 gallons just for purposes of comparison

how much do these tanks differ in cost to set up, cost of upkeep, time to upkeep, the amount of time from filling empty tank to having a filled in great looking tank, the minimum personal knowlege needed to be succesful at it

could one with little knowlege of either have a coach here or in personal aquaintance be able to, with their help and direction achieve either one of these set ups

and finally if you have had a semblance of both or currently keep both why one or the other

[mogurnda]

Big question, but I'm procrastinating, so here goes. This is based on my personal experience with a 20 gallon nano-reef and heavily-planted 25 gal tall. If you scale up to a 150, things will actually be easier. I think the cost and effort comparison are relevant to larger tanks. I won't include the cost of the tank.

The cost of the reef was about $1000.
Lights (130W PC) $130
Skimmer $150
Live sand and Rock, cleanup crew $250
HOT refugium and light $150
Pump and closed-loop plumbing $90
Heater, wavemaker etc $150
Livestock: as much as you want. Many corals were free frags.
Doesn't include all the stuff that didn't work and sits in the basement.

Learning curve: After 30 years FW and 20 years SW, it made me feel like a total newbie. It's a complex system. Buy several good books, read them and reread them, then hang out at reef central for a while.

Several months to get Ca/CO3 addition routine figured out.

Cycling, about 6 weeks for 0 NO2; about 4 months for NO3 to drop; about a year to reach something like maturity.

Maintenance: add Ca/CO3 daily; 20% water change every 2 weeks; test pH, Alkalinity, Ca, NO3 weekly. Occasionally scrape glass for algae snails can't get. Prune macroalgae occasionally.

Planted tank cost about $300
Light (55W PC retrofit) $65, plus $20 for DIY 13W dawn/dusk
Filter (Via Aqua 230) $45
Pressurized CO2 system $150
Plants ~$70 (mail order)
Heater, laterite, misc $50

The learning curve was similar to the reef, actually, except that there aren't as many good, clear books out there. This site has been the best resource I've had. I'd say getting the nutrient balance is more tricky in the planted tank. In the reef, your salt mix has all the stuff you need, and you just need to keep Ca and alkalinity up for the corals. With a planted tank, you have to keep NO3, PO4, K, and SO4, plus all the trace elements, at the right levels, and everybody's tap water differs.

Cycling took a few weeks, I guess. I never worry too much about that with FW tanks. I'm not sure if there is a maturation process in a planted tank that's comparable with a reef. The plants are your main biological filter, and they settle in and do their stuff fairly quickly.

Maintenance: weekly 30-50% water change and scrape algae off front glass. Add KCl and trace 3X per week. K2SO4 with water change. Will start adding KNO3 and KH2PO4 when they get back down to ~5 and 1 ppm, respectively (long story). Prune fast growers every few weeks.

Why keep them? They are both great to watch. The reef just bustles with life. In addition to the corals and fish, there are worms, sponges, oysters, brittle stars, arthropods of all sorts. I could spend all day in front of the tank, and it's especially satisfying to watch the corals grow. The planted tank is more peaceful, like escaping to a weedy jungle. It is also very satisfying to just plunk down and watch the loaches calmly snuffling around in the growth.

Well, that's one opinion.

[BrianH]

I agree with mogurnda's comparison. I had a 65gal. planted tank and started a 50 gal reef when the planted tank sprung a leak a couple of years ago. I agree with the cost being 3 to 4 times as much for the reef. The main difference for me is in the maintenance. I used to spend about 1 - 2 hrs. per week on the planted tank changing water & pruning. I now spend mabye 1hr per week on the reef with water changes.

I also think you are ahead in the game if you have experience with a planted tank. When I had the planted tank, adding supplements & CO2, and the constant water testing gave me a decent background for starting the reef. Since I was used to keeping stable water parameters the switch to a reef was not very drastic. JMHO

Brian

[SnakeIce]

thanks for the replys, I have seen hearsay that made me thing along those lines but I didn't have a concrete idea of all the differences in the two