Honest opinion

I have had fw a long time a switched over to SW just this year. Water changes are harder becuase you have to mix the salt. Thats the main maintanence drawback IMO.
 
harder? no. a bit more time consuming? yes. but after the first 6 months of it, it seems to have leveld off a bit and now my SW tank doesnt take much longer to maintain than my FW tank. and my salt water tank is much bigger than my fw though.
 
i dont think most tap water is good for fish tanks. in the 2 towns i have lived in my tap water came out with 40ppm of nitrate, which is a bit more nitrate than most people consider safe for fish. i think most people want to keep their nitrates below 20ppm. as far as the protein skimmer goes, most people say it helps, but i know that ray says he does just fine without them. i dont currently have one but im gonna get one because im in the middle of getting my corals. i have read conflicting stories about them from various forums. most people with reefs would recommend them, but i have also read threads that say they can take out foods for corals. its the he said/she said thing. i beleive ill go with the majority and use one. i dont think you need a protein skimmer with just a fish only tank though.
 
I would use a skimmer for all SW fish tanks. For a big tank I would add a sump too.


The tap water thing is your choice but with tap water you will get more algae.
 
not trying to get you to go one way or the other, but after you learn all the things you need to learn, a sw tank isnt all that hard to maintain. the biggest problem is getting started, read, read, read, and read some more. the more you know the easier it gets. after i started my first tank, maybe 2 months into it, i was ready to give up and go back to fw, but i hung in and now im sooooooooo glad i didnt quit. my sw tank is doing great now.
 
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