Vivarium or Aquarium?

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Being inspired by a recent thread about leopard gecko's, I suggested getting a vivarium over the weekend (2 females and a male in a 4 ft eventually), having done a fair bit of research on them over the internet. Her reply was that they'd be climbing the walls and stuff, until I pointed out they're terrestrial repitles without the sticky feet. Her son said reptiles are hard to keep, whereby I said leopard gecko's are the easiest - showed him a vid of one eating a cricket, to which he smirked.

The other alternative is a 4ft Discus community setup, as I have kept and breed fish before (partner wanted angelfish, but I hate them). Although it would be a little more sedate (with marbled hatchetfish, black neons, rummy-nosed tetras, and panda corys). Having taken my 1 yr old to his grandparents, he was mesmerised by their tank and kept trying to peek under the leaves, looking for fish. And he know's not to hit the glass.

So, which do you think would be the more interesting, as our flat's a little bland at the moment?

 

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Looks like the fish are winning.

Already done a successful malawi tank before I moved to London. Had Labidochromis, Psuedotropheus and a blue species with a big hump on it's head (can't remember the name). All breeding without cross-breeding in the same tank too. I do agree they are comparitively easy to keep.

Thought discus might be a good change and a little more challanging for me. Also, my little lad can watch the schooling behaviour. Although mouth-brooding is cool.

 

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that would be C.Moorii or malawi dolphin as it is commonly known

Theres always marines if you want a challenge

That's the puppy! Not sure I'm ready for marines, as I haven't kept a tank for 5 years. Thought Discus might be a good re-introduction to water quality and then step up to marines.

Nice pics btw phykell - do the other organisms just 'appear' or do you have to buy them, like the spaghetti worm? I really know little about marine tanks atm.

Fish are still winning...any gecko/vivarium pics anyone?

 

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Think the fish have won, on the grounds of colour and the 3 dimensional aspect. Would be more appealling for a 1 yr old, I think. Although I will investigate the gecko's at a later stage.

Gonna go with the discus setup, and maybe one day graduate to marines, as what Phykell says below interests me.

Typically, you'll put (say) 10kg of live rock and then watch over the next few days as the life which it brought in with it, makes its presence known.....Having said all that, marine aquaria are great for people who build PCs as the amount of equipment boggles the mind and makes building a PC look pretty easy.

However, just wondering how to figure out stocking capacity (for tropicals), as I used to work on the following:
Length * Width / 10 = total fish length.

I assume the above isn't the current way of figuring stocking levels now, so just wondering what you use?

 

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so what sort of equipment would you need to start off?

I'd imagine a protien skimmer, external filter, good lighting and excellent water chemistry...but I think we need phykell's experience/expertise.

Edit: Just seen phykell's response

 

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How much do RO units go for? May ultimately have to get one, as the water here is not ideal for Discus (will play around with the water whilst the dither fish are there maturing the tank).

 

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You can get a 6 stage 100 gal/day one which can be plumbed in with a reservoir tank for under £100 from EBay. Definitely worth it for the improvement in drinking water quality as well as the fish.

I presume they're relatively easy to plumb in akin to taps, washing machines etc?