Is It More Difficult To Keep Saltwater Aquarium Fish Than To Keep Freshwater Fish
Every hobby has its myths which sometimes prove to be true, but other times don't. For instance, the fact that fishermen stories are always false or at least, different from reality, has been often proven to be a false assumption. The same happens when discussing salt water aquarium fish as compared to the freshwater one. It is true that there are different requirements for each, but the myth that keeping the former is a lot difficult than keeping the later, also proves to be false. First of all, salt water aquarium fish is more sensitive to changes as the freshwater one.
This characteristic is justified by the fact that the natural environment of this fish, the ocean, suffers fewer changes than a river or a lake, therefore its inhabitants are less accustomed to those changes. This creates some risks when transporting the salt water aquarium fish from one place to another and maybe that is one of the reasons why the myth was created, but a more careful handling is all that's needed.
The similarities between keeping the two types of aquarium fish regard the factors involved, such as pH, nitrate, salinity and temperature. The owners of salt water aquarium fish must be aware that those factors are very important as they have to recreate the original environment in which the fish lived. To this purpose, the pH should not drop under 8.0 and although salt water aquarium fish are more tolerant to nitrates that the freshwater counterparts, the nitric level should not be very high. The salinity makes probably the major difference, hence the names and it is important to remember that it varies according to different locations, even in natural seas.
According to the type of salt water aquarium fish you have, it shouldn't be so difficult to find out to which level to establish the water salinity. Eventually, maintaining the appropriate temperature for salt water aquarium fish is no different than freshwater fish, thus nor easily or harder. Anywhere between 75F to 80F (24C - 27C), your salt water aquarium fish should feel just fine. As briefly proven above, keeping salt water fish is not more difficult than keeping freshwater fish. More passionate hobbyists will find it in fact even more delightful.
