I’m about to buy a 90 gallon aquarium with a matching canopy and stand… equipment wise, it has nothing and I pretty much sold everything last December because I wanted to start over. I’ve kept freshwater community aquariums (peaceful & semi-aggressive) and I currently have a lightly planted tank, and I want to take it to another level to make it worth it.

If I get a freshwater planted tank, I want to make it worth it and I’m going to splurge on a Tek T5 HO light fixture worth around $459 dollars, a Co2 system, a reverse osmosis system to change water parameters to match those of the discus, heavy duty canister filters, a forest of plants, and as much Flourite black sand as I can stuff in there, ect ect. This is something I’ve been posponing on for so long now, I’ve sort of given up… especially with the high odds of me failing when it comes to keeping Discus, since they’re so sensitive.

I’ve also always wanted to step into the saltwater arena, but like many people I’m a bit nervous about going in that area and even though I would absolutely LOVE a reef tank, they’re expensive so I’d probably only start up with a FOWLR tank. I’ve also got no clue when it comes to the stocking… I’ve read up on easy fish to keep for beginners, but none of them really gets me excited, and makes me want to build a tank around it.

Not sure if in comparison, budget and difficulty wise keeping a saltwater tank is harder or easier than keeping a heavily planted tank with discus. I’ve never kept a heavily planted tank with that fish and obviously never kept a saltwater tank, so a little guidance would help!

Just want opinions, and if there’s any saltwater gurus an estimate of how much I would need to spend on the equipment to make a FOWLR and with the possibility of transforming it into a reef one day cuz I have no clue. ;>