Different Types of Aquariums
While we are generally breaking down the types of aquariums you can choose into two large categories – freshwater or saltwater – there are actually subcategories within each of these. These subcategories have a huge impact on aspects of your tank such as cost and maintenance.
For freshwater, some of the subcategories include:
- Planted tanks
- Biotope tanks
- Cichlid tanks (African or New World)
- Brackish tanks
- Predator tanks
- Etc.
For saltwater, there are three main subcategories:
- Fish-only tanks
- Fish-only with live rock tanks (FOWLR)
- Reef tanks
Throughout the article, I will point to how these subcategories impacts your experience within the freshwater or saltwater world.
Cost
The thing that most people think of when they think about the main differences between freshwater and saltwater is cost. There is a common perception that saltwater aquariums cost a good deal more than freshwater ones. To be quite honest, this is generally the case. Saltwater fish tend to be more expensive. Saltwater tanks tends to take additional equipment. Corals can add significantly to the cost. All of these things need to be considered, but do realize that cost is relative.
For example, a reef tank is probably going to be the most expensive of the saltwater aquariums. Therefore, if you wanted to keep the cost more in-line with a freshwater tank, you could setup a fish-only or FOWLR tank. You could also do DIY projects for much of the additional equipment required for saltwater or you could skip this equipment altogether as some people do (the recent push for nano-tanks has shown to some people that things such as skimmers or sumps are not required in all cases).
Size
It used to be the common belief that you could not have a saltwater tank under 50 gallons. However, this notion has recently been shown false. The rush of nano-tanks in the saltwater world went against many of the beliefs that saltwater people held dear and showed people that saltwater tanks can be as small as you like. In fact many manufacturers are now making 10-30 gallon all-in-one units (example: Nano Cube HQI) specifically for saltwater use.
Now, as with all tanks, the larger the aquarium, the easier it is to take care of, but the point here is that there is no longer this size difference between the two categories of tanks. You can have a 5 gallon saltwater tank or you can have a huge tank and the same goes for freshwater.
Water Changes
Saltwater tanks do require some additional work during water changes, mostly related to the fact that you have to mix the salt. This can be time consuming as the salt tends to dissolve slowly and requires you to buy a hydrometer to check the salinity level.
One way to not use up so much of your time is to mix your saltwater continuously by putting some water and some salt into a large bucket with a heater and a powerhead. You can then leave it for a while (24 hours minimum) and then when you need the water, the salt will already be dissolved. In fact, this is the preferred method rather than mixing it by hand and measuring the salinity right away. Salt can take up to 24 hours to dissolve so measuring the salinity right away is a bad indicator of what it will be in the end.
Some people get around mixing salt by buying large jugs of pre-mixed saltwater from their local fish store. You just need to know that this is more expensive than you doing it yourself in most cases.
Color
There is simply no substitute for a reef aquarium in terms of color. It is just a fact that there is more variety and a wider array of bright colored fish and corals in the saltwater world. The only thing that comes close, in my opinion, is an African cichlid tank (people who do not know much about fish often mistake my cichlid tank for a saltwater tank), but even these do not have the intense color differences found in a full reef tank.
Variety
Again, the edge probably has to go to saltwater here. While there are certainly enough freshwater species to ensure you never get bored, it just doesn’t compare to the huge array of very different looking fish and invertebrates found in saltwater setups. Being able to add corals and other odd creatures also adds to the variety found in saltwater setups.
Equipment
Again, you can do a saltwater setup without a great deal of additional equipment, but the average saltwater aquarium does usually use more equipment than a freshwater setup. Examples of equipment many people use in the saltwater world that are not required in freshwater include:
- Protein skimmer
- Hydrometer
- Salt mix
- Live rock
- Power heads (these can be found in many freshwater setups as well, but they are generally not required there)
- Additional test kits (examples: alkalinity, calcium)
- Sump
Ease of Keeping
Similar to the fact that most (but not all) saltwater tanks are more expensive than freshwater, freshwater tanks are generally easier to care for. This is especially true when comparing a freshwater tank to a reef setup.
Again, there are counter examples (comparing a heavily planted tank to a fish-only saltwater), but generally the variables are less complex in a freshwater setup.
I tried to cover almost everything about keeping Fish Aquariums, If any questions feel free to ask or comment!
