Are Brackish Tanks harder to look after than Freshwater Tank

[puffertt77]

Hello All

Are Brackish Tanks harder to look after than Freshwater Tanks?

Is it harder to keep Ammonia, PH, nitrite and Nitrate under control?

Or is it just the same as a freshwater tank once you've added the salt?

Thanks for your time and expertise

[edmlfc1]

IMO, In one way it's a little different. I keep a container with a powerhead and heater to mix my salt and water, this way I'm always ready for a water change. Now that my tank is saltwater, I use the same container to mix saltwater. Other than that everything else is the same.

[recombinantrider]

Yeah I think it's the same too. You may notice a shift in the algae population (from a dominant greenish cast for FW to a dominant reddish cast) but other than that, it required just about the same amount of care.

[puffertt77]

Is full Marine hard to maintain?

[LilGreenPuffer]

I think the main difference between brackish and fresh is that you have to mix the salt for each water change and get it to the right SG.

[riggers]

To be honest, only you can say whether it is harder or not. Many people say that SW is easier than FW, but then there are also people who say the opposite.

[Myaj]

IMO, marine isn't too hard if its fish only (no corals) and a big tank.

Small marine tanks are very touchy, because any bit of evaporation can throw your salinity way up, which can crash the biofilter, etc etc.

Marine and brackish though, really only involve more "work" when it comes to water changes, and that's just premixing the salt.

More expense of course, you use a lot more salt than a person would expect, and its not cheap, and if you go marine, live rock can be really, really expensive.

[recombinantrider]

Yeah, totally. I didn't foresee those expenses when I bought my first GSP from Walmart, after getting so much wrong info. I've spent so much money on my fishies....but you know what? It's worth it though.

[riggers]

Yeah like myaj says, it also depends what you put in the tank. If you had a FOWLR it would be easier than if you added corals. But also if you just had corals and no fish it wouldn't be too bad (depending on the corals). So I guess really it all comes down to what you would want in the tank.

[puffertt77]

Let's just say I manage to build a 1000gallon tank and had it marine with loads of hiding spots and had a Porky, Stars and Stripes Puffer, Mappa Puffer, Golden Puffer, Dog face puffer and a Guineafowl Puffer and live rock, would ythis be OK?

Would this ammount of water make it easy to maintain?

Would it be expensive to run?

How much do you think water changes would cost me per week (in salt etc)

Thanks

ps If this is to many Puffers what about just a Porky, Mappy, Guineafowl and Dogface

[Myaj]

*snork* I would say that's way too many puffers. Very large, waste producing puffers. Then add in aggression...

[LilGreenPuffer]

Isn't the 1000g going to be for the Mbu?

[puffertt77]

Isn't the 1000g going to be for the Mbu?

Yeah but I was thinking if I made it twice as wide I could put a wall of glass down the middle and have 2 1000gallon tanks
(yes OK I'm just dreaming, it could happen one day...please do)

[Nick]

The expenses for water pumps to keep things moving, skimming for a tank that size, and enough live rock, would run in the five to ten thousand dollar range alone.