Is reefing the only option?

[jurgenph]

I tried fresh planted once or twice.

It taught me one thing... I am the master of growing algae!


J.

 

[jurgenph]

My dad and my sister both have great looking freshwater tanks...

My dad's got a nice cichlid one, and my sister runs a seriously overstocked mishmash of fish... It's amazing how that thing doesn't crash.


J.

 

[Streetdoc77]

Planted tanks can look beautiful but can be a lot of work to .....I never set one up like a reef though with an Apex and ATO topping off with RO water would be the trick !

 

[mfinn]

I would at least try to keep one tank around.
If I got out of saltwater it would probably for financial reasons, being retired.
If I was able to keep a freshwater tank it would be a planted discus tank, with a few cats, and a school of cardinal tetras.
I would skip the breeding part this time. It was not very calming.

 

[Steve1025]

I have my Reef and a large Koi pond at the present, after winning a gold fish on my local fare when I was a young lad, I have always had fish in my life, I love all the challanges all the various styles of fish keeping have, they are all unique in their own way and give enormous pleasure in their up keep, now at 67 years I am still loving every minute of varying fish keeping.

 

[ReefHomieJon]

when its time to relax

Planted tanks these days are pretty amazing especially with discus. I seen one with the plants and wood protruding from the tank and even had FOG coming out the water but theyll NEVER top a properly executed marine tank of any sort lol reef tanks are just too complex and beautiful to be taken lightly. I might get a planted tank one day but that’ll be after my reef tank is mature and killing off any thought that a planted freshwater tank can ever compete. And even then that planted tank is just the step brother tank lol
I e had community freshtanks growing up and an African cichlid tank prior to reefing. #SALTGANG

 

[Misbar]

I like how my oscar is doing. I've had him for 2 years now prior to getting interested in reefing.

 

[Quietman]

One of my favorite tanks was nothing but fancy goldfish and gravel. Small tank, no filter, just weekly water changes for years. Wife bought me another goldfish and lost everything soon after due to some goldfish disease. Still...very simple, very easy, and just loved watching it. That's part of why I want the shell dweller tank.

But no plans to give up the Reef. I'm enjoying that far too much.

 

[fish farmer]

I like most anything fish related.

I remember visiting Washington, DC in the early 90's at the aquarium there and they had a African Cichlid tank which I really liked, at the time I had a SW FO. Then we went to the Smithsonian and saw Adey's Ecosystem tank.

I'm more driven to try terrarium/vivarium style tanks whether it be SW, FW, brackish. I want land incorporated into the display. I really like koi ponds because of this. I think a indoor trout stream would be a really interesting display, with emergent vegetation like moss and ferns, some amphibians, gnarly root wads and brook trout.

I really don't NEED a freshwater fix though, I have 250 feet of trout stream frontage. I sat in my backyard this year and had trout rising nearby, minnows darting about, sculpins and crayfish peering out of the rocks. Not to mention all the aquatic bug life crawling around.

My wife has given me the go to dismantle "her" FW cube tank and turn it into a terrarium...it may not have the space for fish, but may try some amphipods and snails.

 

[James Tucker]

I’ve been thinking for a long time of how to pull off a saltwater version of a paladerium. Lots of experimenting, but nothing substantial yet.

 

[fish farmer]

I’ve been thinking for a long time of how to pull off a saltwater version of a paladerium. Lots of experimenting, but nothing substantial yet.

Me too...going to slowly convert my SW experiment to brackish and work with plants that actually can grow along the shore.

 

[LadyMac]

I like the overgrown wild look personally, mainly because I know the fish do.

Me too!

 

[LadyMac]

I have both. I keep wild bettas and they need plants. (See my post above.) they thrive with the cover. I once had a high tech planted tank. The co2 was the highest costing thing, or rather the regulator. I had it on an el cheapo timer. I had a T5HO light and could grow whatever I wanted. With plants you can trim and sell easily, much easier than fragging imo.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love my reef. But it’s still puny right now. Once it grows in I think it’ll look better. (Once the tank comes, even better! But for now. This is my favorite tank in the house. It’s just pleasant to watch my little pallifinas spar and then spawn and the males poke their heads out with big poofy jaws full of eggs.

 

[Randy Shapiro]

Ive also got a freshwater tank too, just its not as colorful

 

[ceruleanspiral]

If you got out of reefing would you ever consider a planted tank or any other type of aquarium?

Image source

Can't really answer this question with the answers given. I started with freshwater and I have 3 freshwater tanks now. I did replace my freshwater 10g with a 10g reef cube, and my next tank will be a large reef, but that will bring my total tanks up to 6 running- 7 if I set the 10g back up at any point. At this point, I don't see not having at least a few freshwater tanks. I think if I wanted to give up any of my tanks, it would be due to limitations that would necessitate getting rid of all of them.

 

[Hermie]

I like Reefers better because they are more "in for a challenge" and seem to be more educated about chemistry etc. There's a few reasons for it, but it's not a knock against freshwater people, of which there are some real experts. It's just that most people that get into aquariums do so with freshwater first, and the general populace is... not always as invested or adept at everything involved.

As to the OP, I have both and enjoy both. my planted are low tech.

 

[AC1211]

I have freshwater also. I KNOW that I would be willing to keep anything aquatic and if I had more space there would be no limits to what I would try to keep...next step is new fish today...more tanks maybe soon and all will be freshwater so yes I keep freshwater and I would like to keep brackish too.

 

[Paul B]

I like it both ways. On my early morning treks to the beach, if I see a plant, I throw it in my tank.
Actually, if I see anything move I throw it in my tank.

 

[AdamB]

I had 2 reef tanks(90 gal/80gal rimless up and going until I had Sudden Cardia Arrest first month of May with 30 minutes of downtime .I have been so blessed to be able to survive and be able to get back to normal though I am still back to work helping run our company I thank God every time I wake to having another day with my loved ones Anyway after I got home after event I decided to change my 90 gallon feed tank to a Peacock/hap cichlid tank so I could devote more time on other imports things but still enjoy my favorite hobby!
I done the fishless cycle with cichlid tank and dosed a little heavier to get up to 3ppm to accommodate the heavy fish load of 30 cichlids introduced all at once in tank.
3 weeks out and all is well .
I hope I can get my 80 gallon reef tank stocked and looking great once I’m back to work!
I really like all the movement in tank and I have the best of both words now in my downstairs aquarium room!

 

[AdamB]

I had 2 reef tanks(90 gal/80gal rimless up and going until I had Sudden Cardia Arrest first month of May with 30 minutes of downtime .I have been so blessed to be able to survive and be able to get back to normal though I am still back to work helping run our company I thank God every time I wake to having another day with my loved ones Anyway after I got home after event I decided to change my 90 gallon feed tank to a Peacock/hap cichlid tank so I could devote more time on other imports things but still enjoy my favorite hobby!
I done the fishless cycle with cichlid tank and dosed a little heavier to get up to 3ppm to accommodate the heavy fish load of 30 cichlids introduced all at once in tank.
3 weeks out and all is well .
I hope I can get my 80 gallon reef tank stocked and looking great once I’m back to work!
I really like all the movement in tank and I have the best of both words now in my downstairs aquarium room!

Lol. Forgot about having freshwater koi in my which has gave me a lot of joy.