I know that it is a personal choice but I would like to hear about some pros and cons.
I've heard that salt water is harder and more expensive to maintain. I've always know that the fish are more expensive. I also checked out the article comparing fresh and salt water fish based on their appearance so I know you can get a salt water look with a fresh water tank.
I love the corals, feather dusters, and all the other critters that live in salt water.
Substantially more cost, time and frustration with saltwater. My suggestion would be to learn the basics with a medium sized freshwater tank and then explore saltwater options down the road.
For reference, I'd put the set-up cost for a 50G freshwater tank at around $500, and close to triple that for the same tank setup for saltwater.
__________________ 46G Bowfront: 1 snakeskin gourami, 1 blue gourami, 2 pearl gouramis, 11 black neon tetras, 4 panda corys, 1 albino pleco.
Plants: Java Moss, Flame Moss, Marsilea Minutia, Staurogyne sp., Myrio Simulan, anubias, stuff I don't know the name of.
FRESH Pros:
- cheaper
- more species readily available
- greater room for error
- more fish allowed per volume
SALT Pros:
- fewer diseases, and they're easier to treat
- all seawater virtually the same; all salt fish have matching preferences
- skimmers work in saltwater, doing half your job for you
FRESH Cons:
- Many different types of water conditions means different requirements for fish & plants
- many more diseases, and they're harder to eliminate
SALT Cons:
- sheer expense
- Not much room for error
- most specimens still wildcaught
- most species still very difficult to breed and raise
- saltwater cannot support as much biomass as freshwater