"Why Salt?" They ask. "Isn't it a lot more work?"...

[SaltEverywhere]

"Because of the pretty colors," we tell them.

 

[tom39]

I ask people with kids the same thing - "Why kids, isn't it a lot more work?"

 

[Drakonis]

Lol start a poll of who can name the test and its result from that pic i know i can

 

[david p.]

i have been a a freshwater adict for more than 10 years, new to reffing, i can tell you that saltwater is not more work. There's more parameters to follow, but maintaining a well planted tank, it's like gardening, you can mess up your aquascape if you are lasy on maintenance, plants overgrowing, others dying, algae bloom due to too muchlight, not enough light, unbalanced nutrient, your CO2 is empty and did not see it... on and on and on...
I do spend more time on my reef for the pleasure of it, not because i have to.

 

[Drakonis]

Planted is how i did freshwater when i had them and i +1 the pia plants can be

 

[Quah]

i have been a a freshwater adict for more than 10 years, new to reffing, i can tell you that saltwater is not more work. There's more parameters to follow, but maintaining a well planted tank, it's like gardening, you can mess up your aquascape if you are lasy on maintenance, plants overgrowing, others dying, algae bloom due to too muchlight, not enough light, unbalanced nutrient, your CO2 is empty and did not see it... on and on and on...
I do spend more time on my reef for the pleasure of it, not because i have to.

Not to derail the thread but I have heard it is a lot more work to maintain a high-tech planted tank than it is for like an SPS reef. Just interesting when I hear this from people who went from serious planted tanks to serious saltwater systems.

 

[reeferfoxx]

I agree. High tech planted tanks are PITA. Nothing like having your entire carpet plants melt overnight. The algae never goes away, either. Tom Barr spends most of his day cleaning and pruning, i'm sure.

 

[david p.]

Not to derail the thread but I have heard it is a lot more work to maintain a high-tech planted tank than it is for like an SPS reef. Just interesting when I hear this from people who went from serious planted tanks to serious saltwater systems.

it depends of your set-up, i did hight tech planted tank for several years with EI dosing method, CO2, high lights... it's a lot of water change, testing, triming. i felt i was on the edge all the time, excess nutrient to drive color and growth, but something get imbalance... boom... algea all over the place. but a well organize set-up, i would say it's equivalent, but you have day to day maintenance to do, or at least i was always doing a little something in my FW tank.

I'm new to reefing, but other than dosing a few additives daily, some weekly/monthly maintenance. Reef aquarium are also a LOT, A LOT... i mean a whole lot more 'active', fish have more personality. i feel seing

 

[reeferfoxx]

Planted tanks just don't have the clean up crew like salt. The lower the pH the fewer snails you can use. Shrimp are great but then you are limited on live stock. I still keep a planted tank. I just keep it "low tech".

 

[cb684]

This was my 300 then:


This is my 300 now:



I had far more work to setup the reef but the work to maintain is about the same. The price is not the same...