Whoa.*
I've been eyeballing aquariums for awhile now. From where I sit, on the outside looking in, it looks soothing. I've long-thought fishkeeping would be a good hobby for me, especially with my high blood pressure. Might calm me down a little. So I recently began doing research online, trying to decide what kind of setup would be best for my family, our budget, our would-be aquarium population, and the real-world ecosystem.
Folks say start with a freshwater setup because it's easier and cheaper. Add to that the majority of freshwater fish are captive-bred, i.e. little or no negative impact on the environment, and I was preparing to go with fresh. I even began making a shortlist of how I'd like to stock a 55 or 65-gallon tank and was checking my selections against a compatibility chart.
Then someone, online somewhere, said that saltwater, specifically Fish Only With Live Rock, is only marginally -- if at all -- more challenging than a planted freshwater tank. Hmmm. Visually, I prefer what saltwater has to offer. So then I began thinking that I could go with a FOWLR setup, and purchase only captive-bred and aquacultured stuff from reputable vendors. This way, perhaps, I could successfully and responsibly manage a marine tank, even though I'm a total fishkeeping greenhorn. I was excited!
Then I found this thread. I read the first twelve pages. They read like Greek, complete with photos of special plumbing that I couldn't even begin to understand. Then I skipped to these last two pages and that was enough to make me want to scrap my precious plans and consider, instead, an aquarium-themed screensaver for my laptop. Sounds like, in the saltwater aquarium hobby, all that stands between lovely blood-pressure-dropping tranquility, and ugly heart-attack-inducing disaster, is the inevitable power failure. Or, it could be something else mysterious: introduce a new fish, everybody dies, thousands of dollars lost.
Perhaps fishkeeping is not the peaceful, stress-free hobby I was hoping it would be. Should I just forget tropical fish and stick with cigars? Again, for me, the whole impetus was the meditative calm I thought fishtanks brought. Is that just a naive fantasy?
Or, is it simply that I've got no business sticking my aquarium-noob nose in The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread? Maybe it's just that this stuff is waaay outta my league. Perhaps I just need some entry-level, practical guidance from the experts here in the Asylum. Is freshwater easier, and therefore, more relaxing? Do marine tanks often suffer crashes costing thousands? Is my electric bill sure to go through the roof? Would I need to hire a plumber to have a great saltwater setup, or buy a generator, or run the risk of divorce? If you've got insights, please gimme a holler. TIA
*My apologies if this comes off as a thread jack.