Yeah I think I would face that decision too but I would go with high tech. That is because even though high tech is pricey, it is not near as pricey as saltwater. I started doing some serious research because I thought I wanted to start up a reef in the next couple years. Even to set up a smaller saltwater tank (40 gal or so) it would be extraordinarily expensive. A black clownfish is 60 bucks! A normal ocellarus clown is "cheap" at $16. The majority of the corals and anemones I looked at were 30-50 dollars and the light to grow those corals and aneomones was about 200. An RO/DI unit is another 150. Plus, everything is so touchy. One little bad thing happens and there goes your entire tank.