Dangerdoll said:
In a saltwater reef tank you should do water changes more then in freshwater.Should always do more then fresh as there are larger bioloads in saltwater yet animals are mroe sensitive.
Are saltwater aquariums harder to take care of
- Thread starter kevinfishboy
- Start date
In a saltwater reef tank you should do water changes more then in freshwater.Should always do more then fresh as there are larger bioloads in saltwater yet animals are mroe sensitive.
Dangerdoll
Global Moderator
ok, good point... that's with a reef set up, how about a FO set up with LR?
(bear in mind I'm only 8 months into SW and haven't tried reef yet)
(bear in mind I'm only 8 months into SW and haven't tried reef yet)
I never kept a freshwater tank so I don't know. I'll yield my remaining time to my distiquished colleagues DD and Corrie 
Dangerdoll said:
Well the situation is that the live rock is full of critters if you know it or not and with fish only yout should still do water changes and watch your ph and nitrates ect like a hawk cause discus in freshwater is just a regular fish in saltwater. Btw, that reminds me that I need to get my discus tank going.
Anyhow, my point earlier is that saltwater and freshwater share most of the same concepts except saltwater is normally a larger quantity.
FL Knifemaker said:I never kept a freshwater tank so I don't know. I'll yield my remaining time to my distiquished colleagues DD and Corrie
Like the new title man.
I disagree--the differene is between tolerances and stocking levels. A lightly stocked reef, with proper water changes and dosing, is much less maintenance than a heavily stocked FW tank--and FW tanks are more likely to be heavily stocked. It takes fewer water changes (larger volume--45% every other week versus around 30% weekly) for the SW setups than the FW, and that keeps the parameters all inline. But--compare a 55 with 5 brichardi, one chocolate pleco, 3 whiptails and 2 bristlenose to a 120 with one bicolor angel, one blue damsel, one mandarin, one yellow tang and ~150 of liverock, fed maybe every other day, lots of snails and other cleaners. Even comparing the FO (one trigger, one burrfish, one angler, ~150 lbs liverock, very few cleaners) is ridiculous--the nutrients being imported with food is hugely different between the 2 systems, much less comparing the non-fish biomass.
Obviously there are different opinions, but what it comes down to: a SW setup certainly doesn't need to be any more work than most FW setups. Planning, careful choies, and regular maintenance adequate to the system will work for either type of tank with little difference in time.
Obviously there are different opinions, but what it comes down to: a SW setup certainly doesn't need to be any more work than most FW setups. Planning, careful choies, and regular maintenance adequate to the system will work for either type of tank with little difference in time.
Nitrates have a larger effect in a saltwater reef tank then a freshwater and most people that do saltwater do reefs. Most people that do saltwater also stock pretty heavy too because there are so many choices unlike freshwater.
Dangerdoll
Global Moderator
but the cost in dollar amount is higher which would I would think would inhibit some of that..... I'd much rather pay 2 bucks rather than 40 for a fish.... maybe I'm not part of the norm... maybe I am... but I would think the dollar amount is what keeps most SW tank less likely to be over-stocked than a FW.
EDIT: forgot to add this in... I've noticed my SW has been more consistent than my FW but that could be because of my stocking levels though..... BUT when I had my 55 gallon freshie, that tank was way more consistent than either one of these so I would say a large amount depends on stock..... and how it affects the tanks parameters/dynamics of the tank.
EDIT: forgot to add this in... I've noticed my SW has been more consistent than my FW but that could be because of my stocking levels though..... BUT when I had my 55 gallon freshie, that tank was way more consistent than either one of these so I would say a large amount depends on stock..... and how it affects the tanks parameters/dynamics of the tank.
Last edited:
I think to compare a reef tank to a fresh fish only is apples and oranges.
Compare a reef to a high light, CO2 injected planted tank and you have something more similar. The fresh water plants growth alone will kick the pants off any reef on maintanance time to keep it from getting over grown, without any fish in the tank.
Back the light off on that planted tank and plant rosette plants that won't out grow the tank and salt maintenance overtakes the planted tank.
Fish only setups with only low or moderate light, yes the saltwater tank is more demanding.
No single statement about one being more work than the other will ever be true for more than the two tanks being discussed just because of the great differences in possibilities.
Compare a reef to a high light, CO2 injected planted tank and you have something more similar. The fresh water plants growth alone will kick the pants off any reef on maintanance time to keep it from getting over grown, without any fish in the tank.
Back the light off on that planted tank and plant rosette plants that won't out grow the tank and salt maintenance overtakes the planted tank.
Fish only setups with only low or moderate light, yes the saltwater tank is more demanding.
No single statement about one being more work than the other will ever be true for more than the two tanks being discussed just because of the great differences in possibilities.
Last edited:
SnakeIce said:
I would say the level of awareness in reefing has to be high too because there are more things that can go wrong. WAY more things.There are plenty of people out there that have to tear down saltwater takes because they used tap or wrong spectrum lighting or wierd macro algae grew from no where to take over the tank. In other words its less forgiving. In a freshwater planted at least you dont have nitrate to worry about. In a saltwater tank we have to keep an eye on the evap salinity calcium alk mag ect ect along with doing water changes for nitrates and ect. Then theres all kinds of creatures that can pop out of live rock that will destroy everything.
