saltwater fishtank anyone?

baby*love

We want to get our girls a fishtank (they are obsessed w/ Finding Nemo) for their playroom in our finished basment. We want to be able to get some bright colored tropical fish so does that mean it must be a salt water tank? Are they alot of work to take care of vs. the regular tanks? I know they can get really pricey but we were hoping to keep the tank and a few fish under $400-500  is that possible for a small/medium sized tank + a few fish to start (nothing crazy). Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated!

Mrs Lou

we have 3...you can def, stay under the budget..with just a tank and fish, however they are alot of work, you have to let them cycle, you have to buy the salt, change the water (new salt) so often, you have to check other levels if you want more than fish, sometimes you have to use different lights, not just lights you can buy at walmart, they have to be replaced every so often....

 

AnnapolisLari

I am sure that you could get the setup for what you want to spend, but they are major, major work to maintain. MUCH more work ( times 100) than a palin old freshwater tank.

KoriBrett

AnnapolisLari:

I am sure that you could get the setup for what you want to spend, but they are major, major work to maintain. MUCH more work ( times 100) than a palin old freshwater tank.

ditto

You also can't just go get the stuff and set up and have fish.  You have to set it up & let everything run and cycle for a week or three before you even add any fish.  I'd start off with a decent freshwater setup and move up from there if you're ok with it.  There are some pretty cool freshwater fish out there.