Introduction

Looking at starting an aquarium, well you have a choice between a saltwater aquarium and a freshwater aquarium. Personally I would select a freshwater aquarium because they are less work and easier to care for.

But I will let you decide and just provide you the differences between a saltwater aquarium and a freshwater aquarium.

Obvious Differences

First there is one obvious difference between saltwater and freshwater aquariums. The first obvious difference is that the saltwater aquarium has salt in the water and a freshwater tank does not have salt in the water.

Specific Gravity

Specific gravity is an important measurement for people who operate a saltwater aquarium but not that important for operating a freshwater aquarium. Specific gravity is a unit less measurement that measures the density of a substance to the density of water at a specific temperature (4C).

For a saltwater aquarium when you measure the specific gravity of your aquarium you are actually measuring the salt content of your tank. Using a hydrometer, you should keep the specific gravity in your saltwater tank between 1.020 and 1.025.

For freshwater tanks you do not need to measure the specific gravity but you may on occasion need to add salt to kill parasites in the tank.

Coral Reefs

If you have a saltwater aquarium you can actually grow coral reefs in your aquarium naturally. This addition will make the saltwater aquarium look more natural and will help your fish feel at home.

For freshwater aquarium, live coral is not recommended since there is no naturally occurring freshwater coral. You can buy artificial coral which you can place in your freshwater fish tank but it will not make your tank look natural and your fish will not feel at home.

Water Sources

For freshwater tanks you can use regular tap water after you let it set overnight and treat it with a conditioner. But for salt-water tanks it is recommended that you do not use tap water but use distilled water or water that has been run through a reverse osmosis device. The reason for this is to keep the heavy metals out of your fish tank that is found in tap water.

Conclusion

There is much work involved in keeping a saltwater aquarium. Because of the work needed to keep this type of fish tank, it is recommended that for beginners they start with freshwater tanks.

For Aquarist do what you did when you started your freshwater tank, research first before you start.