Freshwater vs. Saltwater

[darkslide820]

Hi people. I've been running a freshwater tank for the last couple months and I've been browsing around this website lately in the hopes of eventually getting a saltwater tank. From what I understand, the saltwater maintenance is much harder than the freshwater tank would require. However, I've yet to come up on a good comparison of every aspect of the tank. Would anyone be up to the task of creating (or providing a link to) a category-by-category comparison of freshwater vs. saltwater care? Examples would be cycle time before introducing the fish, best methods of introducing new fish once some are already in the tank, how often to change water, etc.
Thanks in advance. This seems like a good community from what I've been reading so far.

 

[markw]

Thanks in advance. This seems like a good community from what I've been reading so far.
cycle time before introducing the fish:
Freshwater: Depends on the fish. Most of the time as soon as your cycle is over, 1-4 weeks.
Saltwater: Depends on the fish. You cant put a mandarin in anything less than a 6 month tank, some say that is too early due to lack of food. Some say to wait a good 6 months to make sure the bacteria is built up enough. Usually a few weeks though. Salt and fresh generally cycle the same in regaurds to the cycle itself, but the species in FW to SW are different with how they react to it. You have to adjust accordingly. Generally, everything takes much longer with saltwater. Patience is key.
best methods of introducing new fish once some are already in the tank :
FW: float the bag for half hour, release the fish.
SW: drip acclimate for sometimes 3-4hours or longer then quarentine in a quarentine tank for a month, then drip for another 3-4 or more hours and put into your display tank. Not everyone does it, but you asked for the best way. To me, the safest way is best and this is the safest way.
how often to change water[/b]
FW: Depends on how stocked your tank is. Most can take a month or more without changing. Especially with hardier fish. Weekly is best.
SW: Weekly is best with aged, purified saltwater. You have to fill the tank with purified water when it evaporates as the salt in the water will not evaporate and will cause the salinity of the water to rise.
In general, everything is much more expensive and takes alot longet to sey up. Especially if you go with a reef rather than fish only tank. For a reef, you need $400+ in lights alone usually depending on the size of the tank. Bigger is better here, as it will be easier to keep the water parameters in check with more water. You will need a protein skimmer running hundreds, LR running hundreds, and live sand (or aragonite or crushed coral) which could also be expensive. All this is before corals, inverts and fish. There are many routes to take. If you do a fish only tank, you dont need much lights at all, and you only need sand and rock, none of which have to be live. No protein skimmer necessary, a canister filter will do.
I dont mean to try and scare you away here as it is an amazing practice. If you get into saltwater, be prepared to do TONS of research and wait a long time before you do anything with that tank. Always keep the fish's best interest in mind and dont cut corners. You will be kicking yourself in the long run if you do. I suggest you read "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" by Robert Fenner and read TONS on this board before making any decisions. I, and many others will be here to answer any questions you have. Good luck with whatever you choose.

Mark

 

[darkslide820]

SW: drip acclimate for sometimes 3-4hours or longer then quarentine in a quarentine tank for a month, then drip for another 3-4 or more hours and put into your display tank. Not everyone does it, but you asked for the best way. To me, the safest way is best and this is the safest way.
Funny you mention that. I was just at a fish store today (a Petland) and I saw they just got their new shipment of saltwater fish. How did I know? They had all the fish floating in plastic bags, just like I've been doing with my freshwater fish. So I said to the guy "You just float them for the water temperature, you don't drip acclimate them?" and he just said nope.

 

[stanlalee]

well like he said, its the best way but not everybody does it. I sure dont. I put my new fish in a bucket with bag water and every 10-15minutes put a medicine cup full (30ml) of tank water into the bucket for about 30-60minutes and thats it. never lost a fish that way in 15yrs. I doubt hardly anybody is doing 3-4hr drips, who's got that kind of time. My LFS on the other hand DOES drip acclimate all their livestock in the styrofoam containers they come in BUT the last time (last week) I looked into one they had two humu triggers, a lionfish and peppermint shrimp dripping in the same container. the triggers were going after the shrimp and each other, the lionfish in a corner so I probably rather they just dump in the fish to the tank they are going in.
Oh back on topic. when I made the switch from cichlids to saltwater (granted it was like 1996) I realized hardy saltwater fish arent hard to keep at all if you've been keeping freshwater. the expense was more troublesome than the upkeep (and then the expense was just a hagen powerhead that i used until 2007, an underground filter I used until 2004 and crushed coral I used until 2006). A water change is a water change but no constant buckets of salt to buy with freshwater. liverock $6/lb vs free rock brought home from the stream. $20 hang on filter vs $150 skimmer. one small powerhead vs two good ones ect. Honestly once you have the equipment set up and you've paid for the expensive liverock ect, to just keep basic hardy fish (which there are tons of) you arent doing much more than water changes every couple weeks and all the stuff you'd be doing with freshwater (cleaning glass as needed, testing as needed, feeding ect). Its not until down the road with a large system or reef tank that things become any more complicated. freshwater has its learning curve too (tropical vs non ex: most people of the saltwater world dont know goldfish shouldn't go with tropical fish or the water pH difference from african cichlids vs south american ect).

 

[scsinet]

Originally Posted by Darkslide820
http:///forum/post/3131370
Funny you mention that. I was just at a fish store today (a Petland) and I saw they just got their new shipment of saltwater fish. How did I know? They had all the fish floating in plastic bags, just like I've been doing with my freshwater fish. So I said to the guy "You just float them for the water temperature, you don't drip acclimate them?" and he just said nope.
Petland is hardly the kind of place you want to look at for a reference as to the right way to do things.
Most fish stores that are just that... dedicated to fish, will acclimate. I even acclimate my freshwater fish.