saltwater is wayyy too messy

We've never owned an aquarium but we had a goldfish named Silvery (because it was silver) and he/she lived for 3.5 years. We used tap water with special water treatment drops. Is saltwater recommended for goldfish?

We have two fresh water fish tanks (a 40 gal long and 120 gal). We downsized, or I should say my husband did that). His hobby was fresh water fish and he had a lot of fish tanks in the basement. Fish breeding and looking for the eggs was the norm, but it became too much so he had to give up. I like fresh water because they are easier to maintain and the I can have plants. Salt water tanks are pretty, but they take a lot to maintain.

Goldfish are very messy..the messiest I would say. I can't understand fish tanks that cannot have filters, which is what a bowl is..definitely not very suitable.

Fresh, I've tried salt and brackish before and fresh is relatively easier. I did keep my little figure 8 puffer alive for 8 months and the little flounder for three, but. I'll take my fancy goldfish and koi.

@ armipeg, a little salt is sometimes added to the aquarium water for goldfish to ease stress or for certain treatments, but no. Goldfish are fresh water.

@ printesa, there are 'messier' fish than goldfish to keep.
Only thing you should keep in a 'bowl' is your fresh picked rose to float on the water. A betta should have at least a five gallon aquarium, and a ten is better; and for fancy goldfish, 3 adults maximum to a 55 gallon tank with a filter big enough to handle it.

Here's a slightly better photo

I voted for a salt water tank because I have no intention of getting either, so the maintenance difference is not relevant.

Love saltwater tanks with exotic species :)

I have two happy goldfish in my tank and I love them! They are so sociable. They know that I'm the one with the food, so try to peek around my partner to see if I'm coming to visit them instead, they welcome guests with their curious little faces, and tell me when they aren't happy or feeling well by sitting on the bottom of the tank in the corner where I can come check them out. They make me so happy! But they are definitely messy and need weekly vacuuming and a good filtration system - it's worth the money.

@okdokegal, I've never had goldfish, but I know how much dirt they produce. As for bettas, my husband was into breeding them so I know a bit about them..his favorite were Betta Macrostomas..I like the prettier ones

I have a 20 gallon freshwater aquaponics system in my kitchen. No cleaning EVER, even with 6 huge goldfish. The goldfish provide nutrients for my fresh herbs, and the herbs clean the water for the goldfish. The only "maintenance" I do is top off the water occassionally. It's a perfectly balanced ecosystem.

Freshwater tanks need to have monthly water changes and a vacuuming is needed to get some of the waste off the floor of the tank. Saltwater tanks are more self sufficient once established. It all depends on what type of fish you want. Saltwater gives you more exotic fish while fresh water fish are normally cheaper and not as fancy. Cichlids give freshwater enthusiasts the most color and exotic look but they are aggressive and not suited for beginners in the hobby.

Does a pond count? I have koi (at the moment), though I'm having trouble with bears and raccoons eating them. If anyone has any suggestions for protecting the koi, I'd appreciate them.

I created a shelter for our koi by taking a large rigid plastic flower pot (dark green) and having my husband cut out two holes in opposite sides of the pot, large enough for the koi to swim through. The pot is inverted on the bottom of the pond, and I put a large potted water plant on top of it to weigh it down. The koi seem to appreciate the shelter and shade. We have not lost any fish to predators--but we don't have any bears to contend with.

I tried netting. I found it around the corner - koi gone. I had a large shale slab propped up with a small space underneath. The bear threw it out of the pond; the raccoon just moved it (I can't.) I now have a fairly narrow metal pipe wedged in the pond with the shale slab. I have another slab I'm hoping to add, but waiting for a strong visitor to install. Am hoping for the best!

Karelina, gravy train dog food, put out a bowl, you'll go through 25# a week or so.

I am not kidding, if you don't have a dog that can tree a coon; that is about the only thing that will work, is bribing them... short of trapping or killing them.

Electric wire strung around pond edge at about 6" height MIGHT deter them for a short bit. Bears are nothing to mess with and short of enclosing your pond in a well built hoop house or other building is going to keep bears out.

I used to live on the Front Range, was part of a pond club that had members living in the foothills and, there is not much to be done for either. Unless you build a feature indoors.

Freshwater tanks tend to need water changes a lot more than monthly! For several years we had a dedicated 'fish room' with about 2000 gallons in 55 gallon and larger tanks, and had a continuous overflow system; we used emitters from drip irrigation to add water to each tank and an overflow drain... the water was channeled out to garden and flowerbeds. We had healthy fancy goldfish and good growth.

If you're not changing at least 50% a week on fresh you're letting too much build up even with a good filter. (deleted) if you are using undergravel filters. No matter how careful you are in vacuuming and cleaning, between 8 and 12 months it will go sour and kill off what you have in the tank. Every time. We lost many good fish that way.

We prefer a bio/aqua system with plants, pothos with bare roots in the waterflow do a lot to help keep nitrates and nitrites down. That's why the frequent water changes are needed, to keep the nitrites down.

@ printsea, I betta-ranched for awhile too, keeping females in compartmented 20 longs and the males in compartmented 10's (3 males to a 10 with a bay for the heater and filter intake/overflow; 7 females to a 20) I was mostly raising betta splendens, trying to get bluegreen and red, and bright blue and red. I did have one male blue/red that decided a gold lyretail molly female in the next tank was the one he wanted; he built fantastic bubble nests to entice her but she'd never swim over to his tank. Poor fellow.

Printsea, I will agree, raising a goldfish spawn is a lot of work; and a lot of culling. It took 8 55 gallon takes and daily culling and a LOT of brine shrimp eggs to get them down to 30 keepers from 1500 or so in a hatch...

Carp (goldfish and koi) are heavy bioload and the amount they generate gets substantial FAST for their size. They are intelligent though, I had a small orange oranda male that learned to come to the surface and swallow air and push it out through his gills making bubbles, to beg us to hand feed him... and koi tame enough to eat out of your hand at the surface of the water, and accept a nose pat. I'll take my freshwater :) and admire someone's well cared for salt tank.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/moving-pond-waterfeature-salt-and-fresh-tanks-from-fresh-or-salt-poll-dsvw-vd~777552 I just moved to here and if anyone wants to follow me, to discuss opinions, advice, compare notes, and more, we don't need to hijack this poll thread. :)

Thanks okedokegal, I'll check out your website.

Not a website, just moving over to another thread, so we don't hog or hijack this one. :)

@C to C Tile, for fresh water, bettas have the best color.

@okdokegal, we had bettas for while when my husband wanted to breed some and get certain colors. He had a pair where both female and male mouth brood, which apparently doesn't happen. When he got out of this, he gave them away to someone who wanted them. That person managed to get the female killed by the male pretty quick. They are aggressive since they are not used to live together, but they are beautiful. For now, I'm just glad we don't have the tens of aquariums we had before. Looking for eggs and using lots of brine shrimp was just taking too much time:)

We had a custom salt tank with live rock. The maintence is crazy! Ever few days it starts to stain the acrylic-glass walls and the fish....die and they start at 40 bucks for a nice one. Although its beautiful, I'd never do it again.

We have a 100 gallon saltwater tank with live rock, lots of fish and some coral. My husband and I have enjoyed the hobby for over 20 years, having had both fresh and saltwater tanks. He even worked in the pet industry in the early 90's. Saltwater is a lot more work than freshwater and much more costly. However, the aquarium hobby has come a long way, with many advancements, so we are able to keep our beautiful saltwater fish alive and well for many years. We only buy from reputable stores and coral farms in Canada and our set up requires only minimal monthly maintenance. We love and enjoy our fish, but it's definitely NOT a hobby for the average person.

Oops! You forgot the option "Neither: Wildlife should be allowed to live in the Wild." Please add at least one vote that this third category.

Before the bear ate my koi.

A well established freshwater tank takes very little time to maintain. I use all live plants. And this area has very hard water so keep African Cichlids who love the our water.

@midmitt, I like your fish tank. I want to add more plants to one of our tanks, but my other half is concerned about algae because of the strong lights that these plants require. How often to you have to clean the tank of algae?

I had 130 gallon African Cichlid tank for years. The bigger the tank the easier the maintenance. There are lots of interesting varieties of Cichlids and the are easy to take care of.

@printesa, I don't normally have to touch the tank for algae, the large plants use up all the nutriants in the water so there is very little left for the algae to use, I might scrape the front glass once or twice a year, and I have just over 2 watts of lighting per gal, lights are on timers set for 12 hr a day, many fishkeepers over stock with fish so have a large bioload, and therefore much higher maintanance scheduals, I add a lot of plants and only 6 to 10 small fish in the 75 gal tank, max size of the fish is about 4 inches, water changes aprox 10-15% every other week, with a fish only tank the there would be a need of 50% water changes weekly (min), I also have about 6 nirite snails (saltwater) that love algae but dont mess with the plants, as the snails are salt water they will not reproduce in fresh water so as to overpopulate the tank, filtration is a simple sponge filter (upper right corner in picture) on a power head, my goal was to look like something out of a jungle stream but easy to care for, for inspiration you might want to visit Aquatic-Gardens.org ,

Thanks for the info. The fishtank I wanted to add more plants to it has only a few small killifish, some snails, and a few crystal shrimps. So overpopulation is not an issue. We added some plants and I'll see how they are doing. I love moss on the driftwood, but it's difficult to keep it put. I like plants, my husband likes breeding fish:)

Cool purple fish

Saltwater!