As much as I hated to do it....

[Auquanut]

I keep FW and reef tanks. Of course, when people visit they tend to gravitate to the reef. Fortunately, they can see (side by side) what it takes to maintain each type of tank. I also have a wide variety of FW fish and plants that really attract the kids.

I'm currently in the planning stage of setting up a FW tank for my Daughter and her kids. They're all pretty excited. If they really get into it, I'm sure it won't be long before the move to the salty side. I think it's great that they're getting their feet wet with FW first. That's what I did.

Good call REV!

EDIT: Oh by the way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY OLD MAN!!

 

[Dark_Knightt]

How deep are your Pockets?

Not Deep = Stick to fresh water
Deep = Buy a 20g NANO.

YOu say deep buy 20g XDD. I bought my first tank a few months ago ,20g SW, and thought it would be pretty cheap. I made lots of calculations and everythign was perfect. But then stuff happens, you need to kill off cyano and buhy cleanup crew, etc. So I know live buy "If you want SW, plan out how much it should cost you, then double that XD" Ive spent at least 2000 CAD on my NANO. I almost feel like it wouldve costed the same amount, if not slightly more for a bigger tank.

 

[Thaxxx]

Here's the plan......
Get your friend to get "YOUR" dream tank along with all the goodies.
Let him stock it with your favorite corals and fish.
Then when the first hiccup happens in the tank, offer to take it off his hands with the deeply friend discount.
With a friend like that, who needs enemies?

 

[Starkrost]

I'd say the FW recommendation was spot on especially with a 5 year old. I kept FW for decades before turning joining the dark side and there just wasn't the same amount of drama (e.g., parameter swings, weird illnesses, carnivorous activities). A 5 year old who sees a FW tank succeed might be more likely to grow up to be one of us than one who remembers how much work and worry his parent put into a SW tank and still watched helplessly as things went pear shaped.

 

[Squeaky McMurdo]

The parent’s heart needs to be in it or it will fail. Especially with a 5 year old. I do all the maintenance on my 6 and 8 year old boys’ African Clawed Frog tank in their room. It’s the most basic tank in my house: a 10 gallon with a filter, gravel, and some fake plants. They are typical little boys and did manage to break the front of this tank once which is why I chose a 10 gallon. They’re a dime a dozen for free.

My 10 and 12 year old daughters are more responsible so they have an all in one 5 gallon betta tank in their room. They chose the fish and the decorations and are capable of doing water changes, but I have to remind them to do it sometimes.

My 12 year old is really into the science behind keeping fish and corals so will probably end up with her own nano reef in the next year or so if she asks.

 

[piranhaman00]

Freshwater is just as cool, reefs are just more involved.

 

[Squeaky McMurdo]

Oh yah, my 4 year old has a “pet“ moss ball in a 1 gallon tank. Lol 0 maintenance on my part

 

[Kongar]

I'm a noob in the saltwater scene, but I've done FW forever. Recently, my daughter got a really small 3.5 gallon AIO cube and stuck some fancy big tailed guppies in there along with some live plants and bag of blue gravel. The tank looks great, the guppies are super fun to watch, and it takes like 5 min of maintenance a week. $50 all in, and the tank is frankly quite enjoyable. Surprisingly so. I think reefers should enter the gauntlet of their own accord

 

[I’ma tempermental coral]

So I make my recommendations for tanks on peoples jobs. Not so much for the how much they make part but more in line with how much time they spend at work compared to at home. If they lead a busy life like we do I find it hard to recommend salt. I usually get the response of “well you guys are always soooo busy how do you manage it?” To which my response is something along the lines of “30+ years of combined tank keeping experience between my husband and I” lol. If they keep at it I’ll work with them on figuring it out, but if they shy away a little bit I try to convince them a solid freshwater tank can be VERY gorgeous! On another note if it’s one of my friends that has zero patients and or can’t plan ahead more than 5 minutes... well you get the point hahaha.

 

[ichthyogeek]

I recommend a saltwater tank....almost never. While the failure rate has gotten much less, it's still fairly high, and a lot of FW fish are captive bred (which equals harder to kill). I'd only recommend a saltwater tank to somebody who has a family member who keeps coral, because then that person has a go-to for "I HAVE ASDFGGHJK: IN MY TANK WHAT DO I DO" syndrome.

One of the only times I would recommend saltwater over freshwater is if it was a) a future child of mine, and b) a science fair project about larval fish development. Freshwater fish raising is fun, yes. But captive breeding larval saltwater fish is challenging and going to win that sweet, sweet blue ribbon.

Interesting FW things to keep that cost less that $1
19 cents

79 cents

I have 0 idea what those are, and how you can get those super cheap. What are they?

 

[hart24601]

The biggest pro FW has going for it is the cost and simplicity of water changes. Buy a python and it’s no buckets and even a 100% wc is just a couple bucks or less on a 100g tank and doesn’t take much time.

 

[H3rm1tCr@b]

I just tell them it's a heck of a lot easier, for multiple reasons. Freshwater just seems easier to get the parameters stable, generally much cheaper, the equipment and dosing is cheaper, etc. You can really simplify freshwater down to just a tank with plants, a fish, and a light if you knew what you were doing. When people ask me about fish I tell them that bettas are a good way to go (and that they REQUIRE a heater, tank of at least 5gal, etc. etc. etc.).

 

[sixty_reefer]

I had to recommend a freshwater tank to a friend who has a 5 year old son who wanted a tank for various reasons.

What criteria do y’all use when recommending saltwater over freshwater to someone who asks?

Why not recommend a nano salt water with some memos

 

[dzfish17]

Here's the plan......
Get your friend to get "YOUR" dream tank along with all the goodies.
Let him stock it with your favorite corals and fish.
Then when the first hiccup happens in the tank, offer to take it off his hands with the deeply friend discount.
With a friend like that, who needs enemies?

Chicken (add expletive here) lol

 

[Crabs McJones]

I had to recommend a freshwater tank to a friend who has a 5 year old son who wanted a tank for various reasons.

What criteria do y’all use when recommending saltwater over freshwater to someone who asks?

Where were you back in 2014 when I needed you! ;Hilarious;Hilarious

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Man, that title scared me. Thought I got banned. But it would have said good news everyone so....

Just kidding as always...

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

Several things come to mind. First of all understand, I do not own a fish store nor have I ever tried to sell anything to anyone in this hobby/industry.

I have actually had to make that recommendation a few times now and my response depends on what I know about the person I am talking too. Are they intelligent with a desire to learn? Can they afford what they think they want? How stable are they? (I could not imagine owning my 200 gallon reef tank and actually moving to a new place every six months) Do they have patients? I usually end up recommending freshwater to be honest.

maybe it’s just me... a freshwater tank can be a hobby... having a reef tank takes commitment!

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

Here's the plan......
Get your friend to get "YOUR" dream tank along with all the goodies.
Let him stock it with your favorite corals and fish.
Then when the first hiccup happens in the tank, offer to take it off his hands with the deeply friend discount.
With a friend like that, who needs enemies?

That’s just ....wrong! Lololololol. OMG that was funny!

 

[snorklr]

lets see ....300 bucks for a ro/di...150 for a booster pump....somewhere to hook it up , mix and store gallons and gallons of fresh and salt water...topoff system...dosing...OR ....tap water and a $4 bottle of stress coat

 

[Dark_Knightt]

Freshwater is just as cool, reefs are just more involved.

No way tetras are cooler than mandarins XD