have you ever kept a freshwater aquarium?

[dwd5813]

I'm curious about where folks tend to start off. was your first system FW, or SW?
feel free to reply or not, but i encourage votes.

[Freed]

My first was FW and that is why I am in to SW now. FW is a waste of time IMHO.

[sruiz]

If it was not for fresh water ,I would not have got into Saltwater. Lucky me I never did freshwater, my wife asked me to go buy my son a fish, she was thinking a goldfish in a little tank. But I said NO WAY... if I was going into fish keeping I was Doing it Right.. I bought a hex 30 gallon saltwater, and exactly one month later i upgraded to 55. I think freshwater is for lazy people that don't like to do water changes. Just my opinion on how freshwater tanks look, they just don't look clean to me.

[fishworm]

my first tank was freshwater, and I still keep freshwater. for the past 10 years or so I have been keeping and breeding just about every type of Cichlid from Lake Tanganyika. they are very interesting fish with very interesting personalities and breeding styles.

keeping just a plain old freshwater aquarium gets boring fast. but trying out new and difficult species, and getting them to breed is where the fun is. I have a 150 gallon tank full of Petrochromis fasciolatus and Tropheus moorii "katoto" they have been breeding like crazy lately. and I have a 125 gallon that used to have a bunch of sand dwelling tanganyikans, but I lost them all during the ice storm last winter. now the tank has some central and south american cichlids. 2 breeding pairs of green severums and 2 synspilums. dont know if they are a pair yet.

(life member of the American Cichlid Association)

[jamiep]

I think there is alot of a natural progresion for people. That is, Community freshwater, Chilids, Marines. I started keeping fish when I was 10. My mum hated the tank with a passion and did do no matter what I did to it, so as you can guess she was delighted when I had to take it down last year to go to university. Of course the first thing I did was set it back up again when I got home in july (I know travel everyday) and she was ready for taking it down herself! But I promised it would be different..and it was! Saltwater has changed her opinion on the tank, and she has been caught in my room staring at the tank several times!

[chuppy]

My 1st tank is freshwater.. i still keep FW btw... Well, this is my opinion, FW - PLANTED tanks are very(and i mean) very time consuming.. as much as SW IMHO... they need the best of pruning and stuff to keep the tank look competition worthy... Well, i kinda enjoyed doing that...-still- ahaha. For FW, Planted NA style and community all the way!! Oh, i also have marine mind you, so i know how it is both different is more ways than 1 . Best of both worlds i must say..

Sorry if i am hijacking this thread but i must know,
sruiz,
"I think freshwater is for lazy people that don't like to do water changes. Just my opinion on how freshwater tanks look, they just don't look clean to me."

How is that so? I find them very pleasing and relaxing to me.... and lazy people that don't like water changes? please... Unless you're going El Natural, a water change per week is a MUST for most FW tanks and they an be very clean .. only people who don't do regular maintenance will get dirty tanks(not pointing at anyone here)

My personal observation::

> SW>
Pro: very interesting and all those colours.. WOW... there's life everywhere and it is plainly interesting to watch. (all those tentacles swaying tentacles in the current hypnotizes me lol)
Con: You can get stung and get rushed to the ER at anytime (life's a gamble eh?) and they don't come cheap(corals)

>FW>
Pro: there's a sense of art to it.. the way you arrange those driftwood and rocks all matter... and plant choices determine how your tank will look in near future.. a period of 3 weeks(estimation) for a complete cycle =D..Less equipment.. cheaper...
Con: Weekly water change a must, like the marine counterpart of coral supplements and food-there are plant fertilizers . Constant maintenance of overall tank cleaniness and pruning of plants. Colour of plants- FW counterpart of corals- comes in green, red, bronze, yellow and orange or anything in thse fields.. and that's all.. never seen a blue plant before LOL

Conclusion: I like them both!!!! lol =D

Andrew
P.S. sorry for long post.. my personal views

[dkh0331]

My very first tank was a 5 gal freshwater, over 40 years ago.

[USC-fan]

my first tank was a 30gal reef....

[xian]

The variety of freshwater options creates a great range of difficulty

Most "community" tanks are easy to maintain. As in a blend of teras danios etc with no natural ecosystem in place.

"Fancy" goldfish produce large amounts of ammonia so keeping them can be more challenging than it seems

Cichlids' behavior can make stocking a nightmare. My tangs and damsels are 10 times less agressive than any mbuna I ever owned.

Discus are notoriously fussy.

Some plants are as demanding as acros.

[Saltwaterstart]

I like my FW tanks very much right now. I have a 150 community and an 85 aggressive.

I also have a 20 gallon tank that have goldfish that I am trying to get rid of (mind you the fact they're 12 years old).

[Radioheadx14]

I have had about every type of FW fish you could have except discus. I think FW fish are more boring... less personality.

[Misled]

Originally posted by dkh0331
My very first tank was a 5 gal freshwater, over 40 years ago.

Yup X2

[old salty]

I still keep fresh water. I just recently upgraded to a 65g, though I removed all of the live plants; too much of a PITA!! Low tech FW is my newest hobby!!

[sruiz]

Ok, Like I said i've have never kept a freshwater so I should not judge how hard it is to maintain. But most of the freshwater tanks i've ever seen have really really big fish in them and usually look over crowded(im sure you gusy have seen some saltwater tanks over crowded too, but usually thats when it crashes). By choice I decided to go with saltwater because I like the colorful reefs and tropical fish.
For those that keep freshwater tanks, how many fish do you keep in your tank and how many inches long do they usually grow? How does it compare to saltwater in the same sense of trying to maintain the proper water conditions? Or are freshwater fish more hardy and easier to keep care of? Meaning they don't need as many water changes as ReefTanks or Saltwater FO Tanks??

[sruiz]

The other point I have to make is that Live rock makes a tank look more brighter than a piece of wood. And it seems that freshwater tanks have less options to decorate. I know the advanced freshwater keeper has to prune plants and stuff, but many just just add skulls, fake plants, castles, and other plastic junk. it would be my uneducated guess that freshwater would be easier to keep than saltwater. But I'm not putting down freshwater. I have much respect for people that keep and maintain a healthy aquarium no matter if its saltwater or freshwater. As long as they take care of the water and keep their livestock alive.

[airinhere]

I still have my two frontosa chichlids and a 2500 gallon pond in my backyard full of about 200 large comets (feeder goldfish).

I really dont have to do much to maintain either of my cichlid taks nor my pond. I just make sure I top off as needed.

Each frontosa has a 35 gal hex tank and eventually I will have to get something bigger for each of them. They are already about two years old and were some of the last freshwater fish I decided to get involved with. Lots of personality, (but kinda mean). I just cant bring myself to get rid of them.

As for the pond, if I can ever figure out how to make it into a saltwater pond, the goldfish are doomed. And I would never leave my backyard.

BTW, welcome to MARS.

[Acillaton]

My first tank was fresh water looooooooong time ago...I was a little kido. I think if I would'n keep fw I certenly would not be in this hobby.

[MegsB]

65 gal reef is my first tank, up for 6 months and going well got a 33 up as well, a month after the 65.

[chuppy]

now that's a good reply there sruiz! lol, sorry to jump on you but still, fw keepers must undergo most water changes weekly! and sometimes ven more(for a greedy person like me, i cram most fish-not too much of course-)
Nways, well said, Hat's off to you sruiz :P
My answer to that is they are equally challenging ... i mean advance planted vs reef tanks, i like them both and still sometimes, i am glad i have 2 colour types of buckets to tell apart FW and SW as it can get confuising at times lol! -almost aded sw to my fw once :S

Drew

[Abiathar]

Kept fresh water aquaria all through my youth. The normal tetras, guppies and gold fish though, nothing elaborate.

Steve

[Kemo484]

I started off with FW and rather enjoyed it, but when I relocated to Florida many of the fish I enjoyed keeping are outlawed here. So I decided to go into SW. But I still keep a goldfish pond thats pretty much self sustaining.

[jadeguppy]

My first tank was fw over 20 years ago. To answer the questions posted earlier, 1" per gallon rule is for small fish like tetras, platies, etc. Tehy get about 2-3" total length. I like a lot of smaller fish with a school or two in fw. I keep 9 planted fw tanks ranging in size from 2g to 35g. With proper plant care and balance of fish, the tanks can go some time without water changes. Otherwise fw needs weekly water changes. Like sw, some fw are considered hardy, others are very delicate. Discus are an example of very nice fw that can be touchy, especially if wild caught. For those that think sw is time consuming, try keeping killie! They have some beautiful colors, but can be very demanding. The reds and blues rival sw fish. I actually tore down some of my killie tanks in favor of sw because it takes less time. Planted fw tanks offer a different calming effect than sw. It is a preference. Also be sure to compare apples to apples. Many fw tanks are set up with little care, that doesn't mean that it is a healthy system. sw can be set up the same way, but I don't suggest it. Depending on fish, things like pH can be vital to both fw and sw. Both tanks can be awesome!

p.s. BTW, saying that fw is for lazy people is insulting to many aquarists!

[boozerell]

My first tanks were freshwater and I still have one running. I was afraid of the whole saltwater set-up and kepted debating about switching. Finally, made the jump and just love the tank. I'd say it's addicting and I love the looks of the saltwater tank! Not really as bad as I thought it'd be.

[guaiac_boy]

I've kept FW for about 25 years. I haven't tried SW yet, but am thinking of starting just to see what it's all about.

Much of what has been said about the appeal of each is subjective. My opinion is that most SW fish exhibit more "personality" than most FW fish. There are exceptions. Many SW damsels are pretty boring and many FW fish, especially chiclids, can exhibit some remarkable behavior.

I love looking at a well-done reef setup. The colors from the corals and fish are amazing. That said, even the nice ones never feel that "natural" to me. It's sort of an alien world. Nicely planted FW tanks are peaceful and can produce the same "WOW" factor IMO.

In general, there are very few people who keep high-end FW systems so I agree that 90% of what people look at aren't that impressive. The percentage of SW people who have high-end systems is certainly higher. It's much harder to "dabble" in SW systems.

Before you get too judgemental about FW, try keeping a high-end planted tank sometime. I keep a show tank with reconstituted RO, MH/T-5 lighting, a closed-loop system, UV, CO2 injection, 20% waterchanges 3X/week. IMHO it's prettier than almost any reef tank that I've seen.

With either SW or FW you usually get out of it what you put in to it. SW people usually put more effort into their systems from what I've seen.

[twelvejewelz]

here is a pic of my freshwater tank. its an african cichlid tank (mbuna) . about 25 fish that will reach 4-6 inches. the tank is a 75 gallon. i do weekly water changes. with every water change i have to add a buffer to keep the ph up . its not as much work as a sw tank but i do test levels once a week.