| What's it gonna be - salt water or fresh water? If | | | | cheaper. A fresh water tank can end up being |
| you're hooked on the aquarium hobby, that's the | | | | very expensive indeed. If you have lots of plants, |
| question you'll end up asking yourself sooner or | | | | you'll likely require special lighting and fertilizers. |
| later. | | | | Tanks housing African cichlids will often need rock |
| The general pattern calls for a person to start out | | | | that just as expensive as the live rock and |
| with a fresh water aquarium set up and move to | | | | aquarium corals required in a salt water |
| salt water once he or she has enough experience. | | | | configuration. Price, therefore, is relative. Marine |
| But while it is generally true that salt water fish | | | | tanks are usually more expensive, but that's only |
| tanks require more care than their fresh water | | | | usually. |
| cousins, a careful and committed hobbyist can still | | | | By the same token, freshwater tanks are |
| go to salt water right off the bat. | | | | generally easier to maintain. This tends to make |
| For argument's sake, let's say you want to go | | | | them the preferred choice for home aquariums, |
| the salt water route. There are three main types | | | | particularly when comparing them to reef set ups. |
| of salt water tropical fish tanks - fish-only, fish | | | | Again, this is not always true. Heavily planted |
| with live rock and reef tanks. If you're looking to | | | | fresh water tanks that also contain fancy |
| keep your costs in line with what you'd normally | | | | aquarium ornaments can easily cost as much to |
| pay for a good fresh water tank, you'll want a | | | | set up as many marine aquariums. |
| fish-only, all glass aquarium. | | | | Of course the outstanding characteristic of a salt |
| To be sure, a marine fish tank set up is likely | | | | water aquarium set up is the wide variety of |
| going to cost you more. It will require more | | | | brilliantly colored aquarium pets - fish, snails, etc. - |
| equipment and some of the decorations - corals, | | | | to choose from. There is simply nothing like that |
| plants and marine substrates for example - are | | | | in freshwater fish tanks. Aquariums with African |
| significantly more expensive than they are for | | | | cichlids come close, but even they do not have |
| fresh water set ups. On the other hand, these | | | | the striking color contrasts that characterize salt |
| accessories are more exotic-looking and come | | | | water denizens. |
| from all parts of the globe, so you should expect | | | | I'll continue to discuss this topic in future articles |
| to pay more. But if it's to your taste, it's truly a | | | | because it comes up every time you set out to |
| worthwhile investment. | | | | buy. Aquarium shopping can be a complicated |
| That's not to say a fresh water set up is always | | | | process but that's all part of the fun. |