Hey all,
I often talk to hobbyists who want to keep marine fish, but they say "salt is too hard/complicated." In my opinion, if you're only keeping fish, it's no harder than fresh. I imagine in the early days of the hobby, saltwater fish were more challenging, but these days, especially with captive bred fish like clowns, saltwater is doable for any mid-level hobbyist. But the sigma lingers.
For example, discus. When discus first entered the hobby, they were impossible to keep. These days, they're captive bred and as simple to care for as any fish. Yet people are still afraid to keep them. Everyone is operating on outdated information. I'm wondering if the same holds true for saltwater.
Do you think the idea that saltwater fish are more difficult is a dated? (Please exculde coral from your calculations. Coral, especially SPS, opens a whole new can of worms.) Also, how has the hobby progressed from, say, the 80s to now in terms of easiness? I only began keeping saltwater fish in 2010, so I'm curious what it was like in the early days.
I often talk to hobbyists who want to keep marine fish, but they say "salt is too hard/complicated." In my opinion, if you're only keeping fish, it's no harder than fresh. I imagine in the early days of the hobby, saltwater fish were more challenging, but these days, especially with captive bred fish like clowns, saltwater is doable for any mid-level hobbyist. But the sigma lingers.
For example, discus. When discus first entered the hobby, they were impossible to keep. These days, they're captive bred and as simple to care for as any fish. Yet people are still afraid to keep them. Everyone is operating on outdated information. I'm wondering if the same holds true for saltwater.
Do you think the idea that saltwater fish are more difficult is a dated? (Please exculde coral from your calculations. Coral, especially SPS, opens a whole new can of worms.) Also, how has the hobby progressed from, say, the 80s to now in terms of easiness? I only began keeping saltwater fish in 2010, so I'm curious what it was like in the early days.