Which is better Saltwater or Freshwater

[Blinky]

I agree, there are pros and cons to both.

SW - amazing colour, symbiotic relationships, complex chemistry and difficult to keep animals (for those who enjoy the challenging side of the hobby). There's an unbelievable number of fish and critters to choose from. Also tends to be expensive and less forgiving when it comes to mistakes in care.

FW - can be simple (think betta in a pickle jar) to complex (high-light planted tanks with all the gizmos and ferts), there are lots of fish that are relatively easy to breed, but not as many options as SW when it comes to inverts.

Overall I have to say I prefer SW - after 15 years in FW I still keep one planted FW tank but there's a reason people say 'once you go salty, you never go back'

Oh, and Dave - don't be silly. There is no 'pie vs. ice cream'; without one, the other is nothing

 

[ragc]

Oh, and Dave - don't be silly. There is no 'pie vs. ice cream'; without one, the other is nothing

I couldn't agree more...mmmmpie...ice cream..!

But, back to the subject of SW vs FW; of course, it's like everyone says, a matter of opinion. I enjoy the intelligence of a good betta in a planted nano tank, or breeding swordfish, or creating great riverbed scenes in a heavily planted aquarium, but I spend hours looking at my SW tank admiring all the events that go on, from vermatids casting and inhaling their web, the bumblebee snail hunting worms, the emerald crab trying to get the partly-digested krill the curlycue anemona just spit back out (not exactly, but no sense in getting too gross), the different things that happen under "moonlight", the multiplication of zooanthid polyps on my LR, the encrustation of glass with coralline algae, the appearance of new hitchikers, the birth of new nassarius snails, the tenacity of my yellowtail blue damsel in defending his rock cave when the pencil urchin decides to occupy it (he blows sand on it with his tail), etc., etc.! This in addition to all the colors and the challenges mentioned by others, plus the fun of running a chemistry lab every weekend, keeping water chemistry records, and adjusting chemistry levels makes saltwater much, much more interesting to me personally.

Now...back to pie and ice cream... :