hanging fw into sw

[seamonkey]

I have a 55gallon fw that I am currently preparing to shut down but I decided to see what it would take to make it a sw tank. I have a protien skimmer already and know I need to get lr but what I don't know is what else I need. Is ls better than a calcium bed and what would I do to get it set up and ready to cycle.

[Buzz_Hog]

I did the same thing with my 55...

I did a 50% water change.... Then added salt... Actually both of my salt tanks are converted from freshwater... The existing bacteria will be your source for the cycle...

I already had my fresh tanks running with sand beds so even the substrate stayed... I added salt and when I got the SG correct and the temp stable, I added LR and let it cycle...

[seamonkey]

Thanks for the info but I gotta pull all my stone out of the fw and put a new bed down but not sure what kind. I also have 3 fish left in it and am debating how to get rid of them. I don't know what kind of filtration to use or what kind of expense it will be to do so I have high hopes the nice people here can help me. With all I have to remove from the tank I wonder if it'd be easier to put some of the water aside drain the tank completely remove everything then pretty much start fresh. I have an undergravel filter in the tank so I know i'm gonna have one heck of a mess under there. I'm attaching an image of it so yall can give me your input on what all to do with it and for it.

[Jimmer]

Based upon the info I've gotten from folks here, check these recommendations:

--You can get rid of the UGF due to the fact that it stimulates Nitrate production.
--Get roughly 1 to 1.5 lbs LR for every gallon of H2o of your tank.
--Establish a 3-4" bed of LS.
--Definately use a protien skimmer.

That should be sufficient filtration for your tank. Make sure you have a couple Power heads in there for circulation. Thats basically the set-up I'm shooting at.

Does this look good folks?

[hooked]

I agree with what jimmer has posted. Do you know what you want to put into the tank? Do you want a fish tank or reef/coral tank? This will make a big difference in light pricing. Either way you go I would invest in a ro/di unit. Do a search on ro/di and you will see why they are so important.

[Buzz_Hog]

Eesh.... After looking at the tenk and hearing about the UGF and gravel, best bet is to completely empty it... Dump all the water, all the gravel, and rinse it out thoroughly... If it needs scrubbing, use a paste made of salt with a tiny bit of water or vinagar...

Perhaps you and I should both be on the lookout for Southdown sand... I need a few bags and I'd reccomend it for you as well. Let me know if you find it at a Home Depot by you...

As for filtration, I'm running an Emperor 400 with 2 Cellpore inserts and the media containers filled with ehfi-substrat, along with a Magnum Pro 350 with Micron filter for water polishing... The filters are converted from freshwater use so I'm trying to get the best usage out of them as I can...

If you want, I'll PM you my number and we can discuss it...

[Prismaco]

Get a test kit to test yout water and make sure everything jives. Also, if your going to have a reef/coral tank, be prepaired to but chemicals...Also, the only thing that may cost alot would be the lights and the LR...also what Jimmer said, 1-1.5lbs of LR per gallon and 2-5" LS. 2 or 3 power heads would be good in that tank. One on each side and one in the middle...


-Paul

[seamonkey]

What exactly is south down sand. Where I am located we have the smaller style hardware store but I also prefer to go to hd and lowes but any way if I knew exactly what it was I can get it. My friend works at the hardware store and will get me what I need at his cost and it's worth the wait for the price I pay. I am hopeing to put some corals and such in this tank and maybe a couple fish but not to sure on that. I have 2 powerheads in my fw tank now but would have to figure out a way to mount them because they are attached to the undergravel filter. Any one got any ideas on that.
Heres a pic of my extra skimmer I have. Its made by aquarium systems an has a mp1200 295gph. This was in amongst all the equipment given to me along with my sw tank. Do you think this will be sufficent fo a 55gallon sw tank.

[foobuddha]

Keep in mind, if you have ever dosed copper in the tank it isn't suitable for a reef.

[aquaticsdeptleader]

i had that same castle in my fresh water

[thefatman]

my mom and i both have the same castle as well

i agree. converting that tank over, with all you have to do. totally empty it, clean it out etc.. that's what i jsut did with one of my 55 fw's as well. totally emptied, removed gravel removed UGF, cleaned tank throroughly TWICE. then filled with saltwater.

[seamonkey]

Hmm did not know that it wouldn't be safe. I dosed copper anout 2 years ago for ick but haven't used it again. I didn't realize that would be harmful for a reef tank. Let me take a wild guess but the copper residue gets in the silicone and will leech out. I was hoping that since the fw is currently at 88degrees that I wouldn't have to worry about what went on 2 years ago when I only kept the tank at 78. Hmm could you please explain what will happen with once having used copper.

And yes the castle is a standard peststore item for a fw tank. I actualy used to have 2 of them in there but my red devil dug all the stone away and the tower broke off when it fell and hit another rock.

[Jimmer]

Copper + Inverts(snails, shrimp, corals) = very dead critters. Au doesn't affect fish negatively to the best of my knowledge but it absolutely croaks off your inverts.

[gumhead]

Originally posted by seamonkey
Hmm did not know that it wouldn't be safe. I dosed copper anout 2 years ago for ick but haven't used it again. I didn't realize that would be harmful for a reef tank. Let me take a wild guess but the copper residue gets in the silicone and will leech out.

correct

copper is used to kill inverts (ich) and will continue to kill inverts...

[seamonkey]

by the way buzz pm me and will talk.