Those who don't do freshwater tanks, why?

[Bnutz]

I've kept fw planted tanks for about 20 years, and started a reef tank this year. Fw planted is a lot more work to me with the constant trimming, I am in the process of removing most of my stem plants to alot more time to the reef tanks. Fw planted and reef tanks are very similar though. I've used co2 and dosing pumps with 2 part ferts on planted tanks similar to dosing a reef. Fw and reef are both beautiful when executed properly.

 

[Montiman]

One thing no one has brought up yet that really depresses me with my planted tank is how short lived they can be in comparison to a reef tank. After 3 -5 years most high tech planted tanks need to be restarted because the substrate has had most of the nutrients sucked out.

I really like having a reef tank that I plan on growing out for 10-20 years. Additionally saltwater fish also generally live longer where as many community fish may only live 5 years.

 

[RC Corals]

Went to saltwater in 1990, never looked back, and don't want to. In general, freshwater fish are so plain when compared to beautiful saltwater fish.

Saltwater fish are just there to fertilize all the corals...

 

[RJKain-777]

I’ve tried to keep freshwater before, and failed every time.

 

[ShrimpDemolisher]

One thing no one has brought up yet that really depresses me with my planted tank is how short lived they can be in comparison to a reef tank. After 3 -5 years most high tech planted tanks need to be restarted because the substrate has had most of the nutrients sucked out.

I really like having a reef tank that I plan on growing out for 10-20 years. Additionally saltwater fish also generally live longer where as many community fish may only live 5 years.

I'm no expert but can't you put root tabs in the substrate? That's what I've been doing for my low tech for 3 years.

 

[piranhaman00]

I love the freshwater "monster" fish, pbass, aro, big cats, gar ect.

 

[ca1ore]

I kept FW planted tanks for years. They ARE as much work as a reef tank and as I approach 60 I'm attempting to reduce frustration and clutter in my life where I can. Once big tank is sufficient. I do miss it though ......

 

[Indytraveler83]

I kept a 55 gallon planted tank for years before tearing it down in favor of a reef. Now I just keep a small 5 gallon planted tank. Here's my reasoning for tearing down the 55:

1) maintenance nightmare. People who complain about the speed and invasiveness of green star polyps and zoas make me laugh. Ever had 30-35 anubis decide it's time to spread out? I used to remove buckets of plant matter every week just to see my fish.

2) Livestock quality. Despite ideal water parameters, freshwater fish die so very easily. Most of the plant friendly stock (think tetras, gouramis, etc) are horrible quality and very sick to begin with. I've never had any of those freshwater fish respond to medicine, and they like to die off in waves. I think because most of them are sub $5 fish, noone worries about it, but it upsets me the same as a $100 tang dying.

With all of that said, I miss my big planted tank and keep looking for somewhere to setup maybe a skinny 45 gallon and buy some gouramis ..

 

[Miller535]

I have done fresh, brackish, and saltwater. I stopped keeping fresh water about 10 years ago because I really wanted to get into saltwater, and getting rid of the fresh water tanks and brackish tank was how I was able to convince my wife into taking the saltwater plunge. Some day I may do freshwater again. Who knows.

 

[Montiman]

I'm no expert but can't you put root tabs in the substrate? That's what I've been doing for my low tech for 3 years.

This can work for large plants like swords or crypts but if you want a carpet of babies tears then the tabs don't work as well.

 

[stanleo]

Depending on what you want, freshwater can be just as challenging as saltwater.

That said I am so bored with my 110 freshwater. I can't seem to decide how to make it interesting to me again. I tend to really love inverts in my reef tank and there isn't the variety on the FW side as on the SW side. I had an awesome panther crab that was almost the size of my fist for 3 years but he just died a couple weeks ago and now I don't know what to do with the tank. I have a pair of angels, 20 neons, 4 glass catfish and some corys and a twig catfish. Beyond the angels breeding every month or so I am about done with it.

 

[Saltyreef]

Ill echo everyone else in here when i say the colors or inhabitants dont really do it for me but i recently saw a crossover style salt water tank that im in love with at my " local " shop.
Im sure some other bay area reefers have seen it already but all i can say is WOW!
Great job on aesthetics with one of the cheapest corals!

 

[Willbiker]

I have a 55 gal African Cichlid tank which I love as much as my reef tank. It is by far the easiest of the two to maintain as water changes are done with the garden hose! Snails keep it spotless, I don't even scrape the glass. I rinse the canister filters every month. Very easy....However it is well established and my reef tank is 6 months old so still going through the teething phase.

Simple answer is do both and if you can ... a koi pond too ;P

 

[92Miata]

I had a "high tech" planted tank. Only 20 gallons and it was a pain even at that size. I didn't go "high tech" because it was planned, it just ended up that way because of algae and other issues.

It is way more maintenance than a reef tank. Everything grows fast, so it's constant trimming. You see those stunning photos, but what you don't see are all the other days when you've just trimmed so the plants are stubbed down further. Or you don't see when it gets overgrown.

But those photo days were very nice while they lasted.

With a reef tank, things move slower but also look good all the time.

I still keep paludariums, and I keep them really high humidity and I use the same plants. But the plants are above ground, I don't dose Co2 and high amounts of fertlizer and powerful lights etc. I'm about to turn my 25g reef cube(that is going into a 180g tank) into a poison dart frog tank/paludarium after the 180g build is done.

Same experience here - my freshwater planted stuff was always either in "runaway growth that needs every day maintenance" or "algae and everything looks terrible". Plants grow so fast that they're just ridiculously unstable.



Reefs aren't any harder, and look better IMO - and they're so much more alive. There's no real freshwater equivalent to all the stuff that just shows up in a reef tank (like bristleworms and amphipods and feather dusters and everything else)

 

[Indytraveler83]

Depending on what you want, freshwater can be just as challenging as saltwater.

That said I am so bored with my 110 freshwater. I can't seem to decide how to make it interesting to me again. I tend to really love inverts in my reef tank and there isn't the variety on the FW side as on the SW side. I had an awesome panther crab that was almost the size of my fist for 3 years but he just died a couple weeks ago and now I don't know what to do with the tank. I have a pair of angels, 20 neons, 4 glass catfish and some corys and a twig catfish. Beyond the angels breeding every month or so I am about done with it.

Ever thought of a female betta "harem?" My favorite lfs has a giant one (maybe 200 gal or more) with at least 60 female betta, loads of shrimp and Cory cats. It's sort of mesmorizing.

 

[ichthyogeek]

I personally want both. Or rather....I like keeping fresh and saltwater fish.

I currently have saltwater fish, because tap water doesn't matter to them, and i know that I'm moving soon. When I move, I can buy fish that are more well suited to the area's water (hard water = cpds, betta macrostoma, etc., soft water = freshwater pipefish, liquorice gouramis, chili rasboras, etc.). Or I guess I could use the runoff from the RODI unit for doing water changes.....hmmmmmmmm....

I like corals, but hate how some of them are incredibly finicky....but I inherited a green-ish thumb from my mom, so I just get plants and macroalgae better.

 

[EmilyXLC]

I personally find the fish to be both dull in color and personality.

 

[bluprntguy]

I had a planted tank for a few years. There were 2 major reasons that I went back to saltwater:

1. Planted tanks aren't very challenging or interesting to maintain. Water changes take no time and the only thing you really have to do is trim the plants occasionally and refill C02. The remaining chores like cleaning the canister filters, are just chores. I actually enjoy testing saltwater and making constant adjustments to respond to new challenges.

2. In San Francisco, C02 was really difficult to get. The City had a law that limited refillable canisters, so I had to go to Dick's in the next town over to refill. They always had trouble keeping C02 in stock so I always had to call in advance and it could be weeks before they got their tanks refilled.

 

[KenO]

I had planted tanks for many years. I went very high tech with my tanks. I also built my own led lighting systems and tailored the led light spectrums to produce lush growth, color and flowering. You can have more than just green plants. I would mineralize my own soil for my tanks and I would dose various nutrients. I also grew and sold plants online to support my habit. I had sophisticated CO2 systems with Mazzei injectors and I used sumps vs canister filters on most of my tanks. I didn't have AWC, I wish I did, but I got my water changes down to a science. I would start multiple tanks with siphon hoses setup to remove a certain amount of water. As water was coming out of some tanks, new water was going into others. Still it took me 4-5 hours to do my water changes with all the tanks I had. I also looked for unique plants and fish. I was a member of a local FW club and we would meet on a monthly basis and swap plants. My one brother had a 27 acre heavily treed property with a large amount of deadwood that I would search through each spring to find unique wood pieces for my tanks. I would also go each spring with members from a local fish club I attended and we would collect local fish (yes we had special permits) So I also had native fish biotype tanks. One of my favorite native fish were the dart fish. I would transition the native fish from live foods to pellets over time. At the height of my FW tank career (lol), I had a 200 gallon, 75 gallon, 65 gallon, 40 gallon and a 20 gallon tank on the main level of my house. In my basement I had a room that was 18'x24' dedicated to FW tanks. I had a 150 gallon, 3 - 55 gallon, 6 - 10 gallon, 4 - 30 gallon and 5 - 20 gallon tanks. Personally I felt my FW tanks were way more work vs my SW tanks. Plants would grow quickly and needed lots of trimming, hence the online sales. I would raise FW shrimp and breed SA cichlids. I also had a 5000 gallon pond full of all types of aquatic plants in my yard with Koi and native fish.

Where I was at I had decent city water and well water for my tanks, so I didn't have to mess with making special water. I did have an RO/DI setup for my top of water. I would pump the waste water outside and water my landscaping with it. Where I am at now in AZ, our water is liquid rock with TDS levels at 650. I would have to use my RO/DI water to create the proper water conditions for plants and fish. It would be just as time intensive as my SW tanks and I would need additional water storage containers to do it. So for me right now having FW tanks is not an option. At some point down the road if I get tired of my SW tanks, FW is always an option. Most of my equipment would transition over with some tweaks.

 

[Saltyreef]

I feel the same answers but, opposite, would apply if this question would be asked on a FW forum