Saying hi

[corntoe]

Just wanted to say hi to all the veteran members of the board as i'm new to the hobby. Right now i'm reading a book and understand most of the concepts of keeping a SW tank and hopefully in about 2 months i should have a ready tank to start putting fishies in. The one thing i don't understand about these tanks is why some people are so against the idea of having to take care of SW fish when you could take care of equally beautiful (not what i think) FW fish and not have to do so much stuff to keep them. I say this because as i mention the hobby to friends and family they all seem to be against them. If only they had the inquiring mind like mine and the patience to do it, which it all seems to pay off when your tank is ready and your fish are enjoying themselves.
you'll see me around

 

[exile415]

Hi.

 

[sinner's girl]

SW requires more time and money. I have a 55gl in the living which currently has fresh water. We feed them everyday. In summer I added water every couple of days so the water level didn't get low. I can use tap water-no trip to walmart, no salt. right there it cost less. no water test or lr or ls.
SW, water test, water changes, fish cost more! FW are cheap, can buy them at walmart. FW doesn't need anything fancy.
Then if you add a reef tank, it cost even more money. But I like saltwater better. We just have fw in my 55gl because the tank was empty and sinner didn't like having an empty tank in the living room. I think they are a bit boring, but I was unwilling at the time to do a sw. The tank's been up since May, I've done one water change (not my fish, not my responibity, I didn't want them, told sinner he had to take care of them, I've got enough to take care of without adding another tank).
Welcome, and enjoy. Read and do research and ask question and don't trust your lfs.

 

[puffer32]

If you have a hobby like FW, to me, its not much of a hobby. You se up, get some fish and then just stare at them. I like the fact SWF are more time consuming, i like shopping so much for fish, corals etc. To me a hobby is something you spend time (not to mention money on). I have had fresh, brackish and salt, now reef, and if it were to easy, it would be a boring hobby, i like a challange and spending time on a hobby, not just getting it set up, and your basically done, BORING! JMHO here, if you don't have the money, time or desire to spend on SW, FW is a good hobby, but after having a reef, FW would be very boring to me, and i don't want a boring hobby.

 

[turningtim]

Corntoe Welcome. IMO there are FW tanks that can be quite interesting and harder to keep then just a goldfish tank. I for years had an African Cichlid tank that I loved and the fish were very attractive and had their own personnalites. I was always afraid of SW because of the up keep cost and fear of losing everything. Well 10 monthes ago I started my SW reef and will never go back! I love it and my wife and kids love it. Its not just about the fish its about all the little critters that live in SW. I don't think all FW is boring and you can just as easily kill off a whole FW tank as it is SW, but if you have the time and energy SW is the way to go. If it were easy it wouldn't be so much fun.
BTW keep reading and then read some more and after that read more. This board and others are what kept me from making some big mistakes. There are so many different ways to do things in this hobby that it is wise to get a 2nd, 3rd, 4th....... opinion.
Good Luck!

 

[misty7850]

Hi, Welcome to the boards.. I have both FW and SW.. I find I put alot more time, effort and expense into my sw reef tank.. but we all love both of our tank. You will find many helpful people on the boards..

:jumping: