I am looking at getting an aquarium and am really leaning towards saltwater because freshwater tanks just look kind of boring to me. All the colors are browns, greens, and grays. On the other hand I like the thought that freshwater tanks are so much easier to take care of and way cheaper to get going. I would like to see some pictures and maybe I will see some things that would make me feel better about freshwater. Show me your cool tank. =)
I've honestly never had any desire to keep SW. FW I find quiet interesting. Also the stocking requirements put me off SW, since the number of fish you can keep in SW is very low compared to FW.
You can look at Byron tanks. He has some really neat ones. As to specific colorful fish perhaps some Lake malawi cichlids would interest you. Just put "Lake Malawi Cichlid" into google images.
Many of us have photos of our freshwater tanks posted. On the left under our site name there are two tabs, one is "Aquariums" which is where the photos are. Check out some of the members' tanks.
And I agree with Mikaila, I find FW so fascinating and interesting that in my 20+ years I have never even thought about SW. And I am sure I never will. I have 7 tanks running presently, all planted FW, and I can hardly decide which one to sit in front of for an hour.
I had a saltwater tank in a lower-tech age, 30 years ago. I really enjoyed the fish colors, but the maintenance became a pain for me. I got tired of mixing up salt solution every week for water changes. I also made the mistake of using too small a tank. My water parameters were not nearly stable enough, so if you go saltwater, bigger is easier, on a per-gallon maintenance basis.
Good luck either way, both FW and saltwater tanks are a blast! The stuff folks are doing with corals and coral frags now is really amazing. I don't feel comfortable attempting corals and don't have the time for saltwater, but SW is really neat. Having said that, a FW planted tank is fun as well, I'm enjoying the plants as much as the fish.
I'm a freshwater girl but I did have a saltwater tank for awhile too. Like DKRST, I too became tired of constantly having to wipe up salt creep, mixing up salt water every water change, and constantly checking parameters. But there are soooo many cool salt water fish.
If you want freshwater color, have a look at African cichlid tanks. They are very colorful. You do need to have the type of water they prefer for them to thrive which generally is pretty hard water. There are also many American cichlids (which is what I keep) with great color too. You can check out my tanks to get an idea.
Jean, I think you have the best looking tanks of this thread. Just my opinion, I don't like the ones that have to many plants, I am sure the fish love it but it's to much for my taste.
Mika, what is the gray worm eel looking thing? It's interesting. =)
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Tropical Fish Keeping
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