What do you suggest?

[MOsborne05]

Well I really don't like the tank (45 gallon) in my living room sitting empty, which it has been for the past 8 months. We were planning on doing a saltwater tank, complete with getting it drilled and installing a sump/fuge. But with a baby on the way, I'm not sure that I want to do a saltwater tank anymore just because the maintenance would be more difficult. I'm kind of leaning towards going back to my low-light planted tank, which was super low maintenance. I already have most of the stuff for the saltwater tank, including a nice 165 watt Nova Extreme light fixture.

So should I continue on with the Saltwater tank, since I already have most of the materials? I would still have to get the tank drilled and construct the sump, but everything else is ready to go. I love the thought of getting a pair of clownfish and a goby, along with some colorful corals, but I'm not sure I want to risk losing everything if I don't have time to maintain the tank. Or should I just make it a low-light freshwater tank, and sell all of my saltwater stuff? Hubby wants to sell everything, but I don't like that idea.

If I do decide to go freshwater, what should I put in it? I would like to get a nice pair of cons, because I've never kept them before and I think they are beautiful fish. But with all of my inverts, I would like to be able to throw some in this tank if the others get too crowded, and the cons would surely snack on shrimp & crays.

 

[brian1973]

MO..congrats on the pregnancy, must have missed the MOsborne news thread.
Your biggest issue wil be what will survive a 1yr old adding things to the tank..juice, milk, whatever else they can find.

 

[Orion]

I really wish I could say something useful here, but I think the best advice is going to have to come from people who's done this before and had a youngun.

 

[MOsborne05]

MO..congrats on the pregnancy, must have missed the MOsborne news thread.
Your biggest issue wil be what will survive a 1yr old adding things to the tank..juice, milk, whatever else they can find.

LOL, I didn't think about that.

I'm also concerned about spending the money on the saltwater stuff, because it is so much more expensive. I'd hate to spend a ton of money on fish and corals to lose everything if I'm not able to do a water change. There is much more room for error with freshwater.

 

[brian1973]

How willing is your husband to perform maintenance? Assumng this is your first child, Honestly there is alot that can happen during a pregnancy, god forbid, that could keep you from during any maintenance (bed rest, etc.). Plus at about 6 months in you may not to want to do much of it anyway. Good news is your be in the larger stages during the winter months. Other than that a little one wont really keep you from during your daily stuff, you will have to adjust but as long as you and hubby share responsibilties then not as much will change as you think.

Oh..explosive poo does make a sizable dent in time schedule.

 

[MOsborne05]

He doesn't mind doing the occasional water change, but I don't think he would want to do much more than that. That's why I'm thinking that freshwater is probably the way to go.

The local aquarium club is having a picnic/swap in two weeks, so I think that I would be able to sell all, if not most, of my saltwater equipment. I'm not going to get as much as I paid for it, but I can sell it and use the money to purchase the stuff that I would need for freshwater. I stupidly sold my canister filter and light that I had on the tank, thinking that I wouldn't need it for a long time.

The more I think about it, I think I want to swap my freshwater desktop nano for a saltwater one, that way I still get my saltwater fix. I could get a small goby or something, and a few corals. I would still get to enjoy the beauty of saltwater, but it wouldn't be near as much maintenance or money as the big tank.

 

[brian1973]

well hopefully the saltwater experts here will chime in..I have heard that aside from setup a SW tank is not anymore time consuming in regular maintenance but I have no idea. But seriously if a kid can access the tank, and they always find a way, they will add things for the cute fishies to drink/eat.

 

[AlyKat]

I think the best advice is going to have to come from people who's done this before and had a youngun.

Don't leave the food where small hands can reach!! LOL!

I'd love to do salt, but having 4 kids and 2 jobs, just don't have the time...but having all these tanks to begin with I don't have time either...sigh...

How many tanks do you currently have? I'd say if you have the time to devote, then go with salt. It'd be SO pretty in your living room! As for when the baby comes? I wouldn't worry too much. Mine have grown up with tanks and they've learned never to touch...and they don't.

 

[Orion]

I remember when I was about 3 my parents had a tank with no top. I saw the cat balanced on the side of the tank one day fishing. I got so mad at the cat, I ran up and pushed the cat into the tank. My mother was rather upset about a soaking wet cat running all over the house.

Oh just food for thought....

 

[AlyKat]

I got so mad at the cat, I ran up and pushed the cat into the tank. My mother was rather upset about a soaking wet cat running all over the house.

ROFLMAO! I think that's the funniest thing I ever heard! Man, I bet she was PISSED!! Heeheehee!!!

 

[FishGeek]

I say go with FW for now but hang on to all of you SW stuff in case you decide to go into it later

 

[MOsborne05]

Don't leave the food where small hands can reach!! LOL!

I'd love to do salt, but having 4 kids and 2 jobs, just don't have the time...but having all these tanks to begin with I don't have time either...sigh...

How many tanks do you currently have? I'd say if you have the time to devote, then go with salt. It'd be SO pretty in your living room! As for when the baby comes? I wouldn't worry too much. Mine have grown up with tanks and they've learned never to touch...and they don't.

I have 5 tanks running right now, but I really need to downsize. I've only got two tanks in the living areas, my 7 gallon fw planted and the empty 45 gallon. The other tanks are downstairs in my 'fishroom' aka basement, just for breeding purposes. I have a 10 gallon with a pair of dwarf orange crays, a 20 gallon long that is pretty much empty now except for some MTS because I moved the scarlet badis, a 5.5 gallon with cherry shrimp and scarlet badis, and a 10 gallon sw qt with some live rock. I am definitely going to take down the 20 gallon long, but I'm not sure about the rest.

I've decided that I am going to go ahead and set the tank up with saltwater. I am just going to take it really slow, and will probably start off with just FOWLR, and maybe add a few easy corals. If the maintenance isn't too bad, then I might get some nicer corals. It is going to be awhile though before I add anything. I am using mostly baserock so the tank will take a while to cycle. A guy in the local club is going to drill the tank for me, and make my sump

 

[Lotus]

Good that you've decided If the saltwater tank proves to be too much work, you can always sell it later or break it down. A FOWLR is definitely much cheaper and easier to maintain than a reef. Fish aren't that picky about water quality, but corals are. Almost like a high-tech planted tank, but even more vigilance is needed.

I've read that some parents find that their babies enjoy sitting in front of the tank... kind of like a living mobile. Make sure that your chemicals and foods are away from curious baby hands, once he/she starts crawling and investigating.

 

[MOsborne05]

Yeah, we are going to baby-proof the house soon, and the stand doors are definitely getting a lock on them. Too many chemicals, fish food, and it will have a sump/fuge in it too. I want to do a 'Finding Nemo' themed baby room some day, complete with a small saltwater tank

There is a big coral swap this weekend in Michigan, and I am drooling over some of the awesome zoas that people are bringing! I can't wait until next years swap

 

[jessey]

How willing is your husband to perform maintenance? Assumng this is your first child, Honestly there is alot that can happen during a pregnancy, god forbid, that could keep you from during any maintenance (bed rest, etc.). Plus at about 6 months in you may not to want to do much of it anyway. Good news is your be in the larger stages during the winter months. Other than that a little one wont really keep you from during your daily stuff, you will have to adjust but as long as you and hubby share responsibilties then not as much will change as you think.

Oh..explosive poo does make a sizable dent in time schedule.

apparently i am the only one who found brian's last comment here hilarious... you were so serious and the you add the part about explosive poo. *SUPERSMIL

that being said, lol, i think your plans sound great, MO. the tank will be beautiful... and like you said, if you just take it slow, i think everything should work out nicely. i love the finding nemo idea!

 

[Whiskers]

i've never had a salt tank so i can't give you any personal experence but at a pet store i've recently discovered, while talking to a fella there, he was one of the saltwater tank experts and he was telling me that salt tanks are easier than fw tanks to keep. he was telling me that after the cycling process and adding live rock, he only did water changes once or twice a month. he said thats why he liked sw over fw tanks because he was so busy with school and work that he didn't have much time to play with his tank. Oh yeah and he was telling me that his major in college was marine biology, so i figured he knew what he was talking about. hope it works out for you.

I noticed it as well and yeah i agree Jessey the explosive poo was a great touch.

 

[skratikans]

best of luck with your new tank

 

[MOsborne05]

Changed my mind again. With a baby on the way, and a new foster puppy, and working overtime to bank some extra hours, AND trying to fix up our house before the baby arrives, saltwater is just not going to work. I've been having a hard time finding the time to even top off my freshwater tanks lately. So I am going to sell my saltwater equipment and set up a low-light planted tank, that can go months without any maintenance. It just makes much more sense, especially since salt doesn't evaporate and not being able to top off could cause salinity problems. At this point, it just seems like more hassle than its worth. Maybe in the future I will be able to get my saltwater tank, but that will be years away. Thanks everyone for the help

 

[FroggyFox]

fwiw I found the most difficult part of SW to be learning everything over again. Having FW and knowing a lot about FW I thought would really make me ready for SW and it SO does not work out that way! lol So you could always pick up those books and keep some salt mix and a hydrometer etc and learn about the extra chemistry and the different things for some point in the future (for instance if you wanted to do that nano??)