Jump to content

Saltwater vs Freshwater vs Brackish


RovingGinger
 Share

Recommended Posts

I know this is primarily a freshwater forum, but have seen mention of some people’s salt water tanks. 

I just got my toe in the water (actually mostly my arms) with freshwater so I’m not pursuing saltwater or brackish yet but I am curious, if you’ve tried both, what are the key differentiators? 

- How are saltwater fish personalities? Is there a saltwater equivalent to the Oscar or other cichlid personality types?

- How do filtration needs differ? Seems like every salt tank I see is drilled but is that just because hey, it’s already expensive and elaborate enough I should have a sump running?

- Are there things that freshwater keepers should adopt from saltwater and vice versa? Ways of thinking, techniques, equipment, etc? 

What’s your overall experience with the pros and cons of each? 

Monterey Bay Aquarium shot

Jellyfish at Monterey Bay Aquarium, possibly one of the cooler places in the USA. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have run a few marine tanks, but never a full reef setup with corals. I just did what they call FOWLR: fish-only with live rock, and it was pretty simple once I learned how to mix salt. I ran more filtration and powerheads than with freshwater, and kept some really cool fish.

My first marine tank was gifted to me when a buddy moved out of Boulder. I can't remember all the fish, but I think it had a big puffer, a tang, a trigger fish, and some other stuff, plus little creatures that came in on the live rock. The puffer was amazing and so much fun. I could pet him, and he would squirt frozen shrimp out of my fingers above water.

Years later, back in Vermont, I setup a couple of other marine tanks and enjoyed them for a while. I simplified to just one, but it was wiped out in 2011 when Irene came through and flooded my apartment 4.5 feet. I may try again someday, but my most recent return to the hobby was falling in love with planted tanks.

Cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Their is a lot to unpack there but I can start off.  I work at a public aquarium and I have freshwater tanks at home.

- How are saltwater fish personalities? Is there a saltwater equivalent to the Oscar or other cichlid personality types?   
 

Every fish is a little different groupers And snappers are a little like some of the larger South American cichlids but the things with the most personality are the stingrays and puffers. Angles are VERY territorial kinda like African cichlids but are little more willing to kill each other.

 

- How do filtration needs differ? Seems like every salt tank I see is drilled but is that just because hey, it’s already expensive and elaborate enough I should have a sump running?

so the best way to get all the gear you need into your filter system is a sump. protein skimmers are very useful  and biological filtration is important in all aquariums but in salt getting as much bacteria to colonize as possible helps keep a tank stable. Reef people tend to be the type of fish people who like a challenge and want it exactly right so a sump gives people the freedom to customize as well.

 

- Are there things that freshwater keepers should adopt from saltwater and vice versa? Ways of thinking, techniques, equipment, etc?   
 

Yes and no do your research on what species you want to keep and how to best keep it. Give the animal as much space as you can and keep the water clean. an aquarium is an aquarium at the end of the day. 

What’s your overall experience with the pros and cons of each? 
 Pros and cons depend on the person but here are some of mine

freashwater pros "free" water changes, less expensive on average, and Can be minimal maintenance. 
Freshwater cons limited fish with lots of color, less tank tech like lights and other fancy equipment, and that's about it but I'm more into fresh than salt 

 

salt water pros lots of cool colorful fish, corals, and cool setups with neat gear. Salt water cons expensive for everything, lots to learn for new people wanting to get into reef keeping, more equipment that is required to run it.

 

brackish pros basically fresh with a bit of salt so you treat it like a freshwater tank, cool fish and some plants, can be fun and really interesting for a fish keeper who has had fresh and would like a little bit different fish and more of a challenge. Cons have to buy reef salt, is a little more expensive to get the fish, and salt creep will begin to happen and starts to look a little like hard water stains it is easier to get off however.

 

please feel free to ask questions and other people will add things I hope 

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Taylor Blake, how does the public aquarium filter the really huge tanks? Thank you for the fascinating answers.   Why are you personally more into fresh?

I ended up at a fully marine fish store today (despite the google reviews, no fresh in sight 🤦‍♀️) and just wow. Somehow they look very different. 

Edited by RovingGinger
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@RovingGinger they filter all the tanks with large sumps they all overflow into filter socks and from there the water hose into the sump and is pumped out to a large pressure sand filter on its way there it passes through a UV sterilizer Then from their it goes into the bio tower with biological media we also have carbon in all the bio towers so the water has to pass through a carbon layer and from there it ether goes through a chiller or heater and back to the tank. Salt tanks have skimmers. 
 

im more into fresh because I'm more into this fish I have (bubbles my alligator gar) I also have a little problem with going overboard on things. I have 5 tanks in the house and almost 2000 gallons my smallest is a 90. If I were to keep salt I would need at least a 3000 gallon tank for what I want to keep( triggers and a Wobbegong or two).
 

Salt and fresh aren't that different the goal is the same to keep the fish happy healthy and clean they may look different like corals and weird worms compared to plants but the Idea is the same grow and make more if possible. 

F532F722-3D58-4014-BEE0-DC439B2A4C8A.jpeg

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

One thing I've taken for the saltwater side is the use of GFO. Granular Ferric Oxide absorbs phosphates and is used to control algae. I used it in a reactor on my 110 gallon African cichlid tank. I hardly had to clean algae over the year I had it setup. I haven't used it in a planted tank but it would be an interesting experiment to try. 

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the easiest thing from saltwater to apply to freshwater would be the auto top off concept which already uses freshwater in reef keeping, i might actually do that come winter since I will have to be gone for several weeks and other times I’ve left I’ve come back with half the water in the tanks before (no fish loss tho). As said above, sumps allow the fish keeper endless amounts of customization for filtration methods, and also allow for the culturing of beneficial microorganisms such as copepods and the like. A lot of reefers will have multiple tanks tied together via one sump, to make larger overall systems. With nano saltwater tanks though most will go the “all in one” route where there’s a built in filtration chamber in the back of a cube shaped tank. That works pretty much like a mini sump and still allows the application of things like protein skimmers. The biggest difference I’ve noticed so far is how many more numbers reefers keep track of. With freshwater, our main concern is pH, nitrate, ammonia, and Kh if we have pH issues. With saltwater, they monitor everything from pH to alkalinity to calcium to phosphate etc. name a chemical and there’s a reefer out there that tests for it. I’ve been doing a lot of research because I want to get a mantis shrimp, and if you’re wanting to really dive in and start learning stuff, I’d suggest getting onto ReeftoReef, it’s a forum like this one but it’s been around for over a decade and there’s lots of information out there over everything you could think of and you can also post your own threads as well.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...