Deciding Between Freshwater and Saltwater Fish

There are two main things that you will want to take into consideration before you decide to purchase a freshwater or saltwater aquarium. You will want to figure out how much time you have to dedicate yourself to your fish tank first. Saltwater fish tanks will take more time and cost more money.

To do water changes because you must mix salt into the water if you have a saltwater fish tank. Freshwater fish tanks will not take as long to clean as saltwater fish tanks will. You will also have to add supplements to the water if you have a saltwater fish tank with coral.

Saltwater fish tanks will cost you a lot more than freshwater fish tanks. You will probably spend at least twice the amount of money to create a saltwater fish tank. You need to purchase a canister filter if you choose to go with a large saltwater fish tank. This filter will provide a good amount of water movement for the coral to strive.

You will also need to purchase high powered lighting system to maintain your coral if you choose to add coral to your saltwater fish tank. A 20 gallon freshwater tank will cost you around $100 and a 20 gallon saltwater tank will cost you around $350. Live rock will cost you $5 per pound if you choose to add live rock to your tank. Freshwater fish are much cheaper than your average saltwater fish.

Freshwater fish are not as colorful as your average saltwater fish. Saltwater fish are a lot harder to keep alive than freshwater fish. You must keep all the nitrate and ammonia levels down just like freshwater fish tanks. You also have to keep the salinity level range around 1.021 to 1.025.

If you do not want a large fish tank I would suggest going with a freshwater fish tank because they are much easier to maintain. A smaller saltwater fish tank will be harder to take care of than a larger tank because the salinity will fluctuate more when the water starts to evaporate.

You will have to keep adding salt and keep the tank is range. When you have a large tank, you need to keep up on the coral and fish which is difficult as well. If you've never owned a saltwater fish tank I would suggest going with a freshwater fish tank first to get the hang of it and see if you enjoy the fish hobby first.