Easiest or Most Difficult Pet To Keep, Is Reef Keeping the choice for you?

[Arego]

I'll take a bristleworm tingle over a foot stomp with a thousand pound animal attached to it. Nevermind getting on basically a motorcycle that can think for itself and spook... Love it though.

 

[Tamberav]

Reef keeping is as easy or as difficult as you make it.

You can have a soft coral dominant tank and some standard fish and do water changes every few months to never.

or you can have a maricultured/wild acro dominated tank with morish idols and ich prone tangs.

Most people fall somewhere in the middle... a mixed tank with a mix of fish.. some easy, some a bit harder.

 

[velvetelvis]

we have a "gentlemen's farm" and so let me see if I can keep this accurate
3 horses
12 goats (1 billie)
2 donkeys
1 burro
3 pigs
75 hens (4-5 roosters)
bunch of quail
1 goose, (who has a special relationship with one of the pigs)
and 5 dogs (a Pyrenees, Black mouthed Cur a Canaan Dog, a Shepard, and a Guatemalan street dog
a captive bred mature beaded lizard
and a despised cat.
with all the above, I spend 60% of my animal time time in the fish room

never once had anything from the fish room throw me from a a saddle, run through my legs and tear my acl while carrying feed buckets or knock me to my butt with a head but
and if you think the price of MP 40 s has become ridiculous you should see what inflation has done to 350 pounds of layer pellets and horse feed

Why is the poor kitty despised?

 

[Timfish]

Reefing is cheaper than taking the dog to the vet. Fish don't throw up on the floor at 2am in the morning, bark incessantly at anything that moves or wake you up by climbing up and sitting on you.

Or leave hair balls to find with bare feet as you're making your first cup of coffee.

 

[DeniseAndy]

I think trying to define one animal as more difficult depends on so many things and can be different at different times.

For a reef tank, it is so knowledge based in the beginning if done correctly. It can be overwhelming for new comers, therefore they skip the research and dive in. This is where you get losses and frustration. It is truly a hobby and needs to constantly researched and fine tuned. Cost is dependent on the wants of the hobbyist. The time the hobbyist puts into it (both effort and knowledge) is so important. I spend more time on my reefs than my dog currently.

With dogs, they can be very expensive also depending on the type and health of the animal. As a puppy, they need shots and training, and toys, etc. so they can be expensive (especially if you get a specific top bred dog). Then the cost slows down to food, time being the main expense. As they age, more vets bills, more special food, more issues around the house, etc.

Now, I have not had other pets (mostly due to circumstance and husband, not choice). But my rottie was very costly from a time standpoint. I walked her and trained her daily. We competed in dog obedience and she was a very dominant dog. So, tested me till the day she died. My mastiffs were expensive to get, feed, care for by vet, but a lot less time needed for training.

My current dog is easy. Feed, pet, water, snuggle, pet, snuggle, brush, and he is happy.

My dogs have been a lot more expensive emotionally than my reefs. I have had losses reef keeping and have been very down, but losing my dogs is more challenging for me.

 

[i cant think]

bark incessantly at anything

I don’t know if anyones used this joke yet (I’m only on the 1st page) however, I don’t think you’ve met a hungry Emperor angel.

 

[i cant think]

As for the hobby, I don’t think it’s any more expensive or cheap than keeping most other pets. Mainly because the further into it you get the more expensive Livestock you wind up getting (Trust me… I know from experience that the want for a 100+ fish gets to you eventually).

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

I have

3 cats
3 snakes
and until a week ago, a 20 gallon reef tank.

The tank was the hardest of all of them to take care of, but was also just as rewarding as the others. I will say that "easiest" and "hardest" are subjective terms, but you don't need to dose alkalinity on the cat. On the other hand, you don't get so many heart attacks from a reef as you get from a very food motivated 6 foot colubrid.

 

[Arego]

Horses, specifically eventing, gamblers choice and hunter jumper are wayyyyy bigger pita than fish.

Not to mention each month costs as much as an entirely new build. Both have huge rewards, just different size packages

 

[WVNed]

I just spent $6000 and ended up with a jar of cremation ashes of my best friend in the world, Bear the GSD.

Contemplating spending $4000 to play again.

 

[bnord]

Why is the poor kitty despised?

shreds the bottoms of each and every fabric bottomed piece of furniture and box springs, claw marks on the leather chairs, leaves bluebirds on the doormat, eats skinks, pees in my sink (not my wife's..) - need more?

 

[gbru316]

If your favorite color is brown, reefkeeping is super easy. Much easier than dogs or cats, even.

 

[bnord]

shreds the bottoms of each and every fabric bottomed piece of furniture and box springs, claw marks on the leather chairs, leaves bluebirds on the doormat, eats skinks, peas in my sink (not my wife's..) - need more?

and not sure I mentioned in the first tally, a 3 foot CB Mexican beaded lizard, raised from the egg

 

[velvetelvis]

Sounds like you might want to rehome kitty! I'm so sorry about your lizard.

 

[bnord]

and not sure I mentioned in the first tally, a 3 foot CB Mexican beaded lizard, raised from the egg

and not sure I mentioned in the first tally, a 3 foot CB Mexican beaded lizard, raised from the egg

And my son is a herpetologist

he said he could not pick up “the big one”

 

[bnord]

Sounds like you might want to rehome kitty! I'm so sorry about your lizard.

I had the cat ready to go to a friends house, but couldn’t in good conscience to it to the friend

 

[velvetelvis]

And my son is a herpetologist

he said he could not pick up “the big one”

I wanted to be a herpetologist when I was a kid!

 

[bnord]

I wanted to be a herpetologist when I was a kid!

Never too late

Eco tech is starting a herp division

 

[Derrick0580]

Other than the initial setup of the system, I would say the fact we have 3 great danes is far more expensive. Vet bills, quality food, non rawhide chews, treats, destroyed beds, crates, whole house carpet replacement with laminate flooring. We just had to till up our entire back yard and reseed it due to looking like a cow pasture from them destroying it, so all in all I’m will to say the dogs have been more expensive over all!

 

[i cant think]

Now that I have 3 dogs… Needy is checked off by 2 of the three. I mean, I can’t leave one of them alone and the other wants fussing any time one of the other two are being fussed. Then you add all three of them needing to be walked essentially every day. It just gets hectic but hey, that’s what comes with taking in a relatives dog for a temporary period (How long is unknown) and also having your own two border collies.
Here’s two of the three, the third prefers to be downstairs. P.S. the Teddy is theirs