View Full Version : Can you slowly convert a brackish tank to SW?
moose1960
12-16-2002, 6:07 PM
Right now I have a 55g which I want to go SW with. How would I go about converting it to SW while keeping my fish as unstressed as possible. I have monos, scats and columbian sharks which will all go marine as they get older. I am planning on getting a larger tank and starting strickly SW, But until then can I convert my 55 in SW.
Helpful hints like at what salinity do I put coral in or LR or LS.
Any advice/hints or even cant do it would be appreciated.
Thanks
OrionGirl
12-18-2002, 12:45 PM
I'm guessing that you're converting the tank by adding more salt with each water change. I wouldn't add LR or LS until you move to the larger tank. It's going to be a pain to add them to your existing tank and then move them, so it would be easier to just get the water up to normal salinity (about 1.020 - 1.025 is considered full marine), setup the larger tank, cycle it, then move the fish in.
moose1960
12-18-2002, 6:00 PM
OrionGirl :
Why would it be a pain to add? My substrate right now is plain silica sand from Big Als, so couldnt i just mix LS with this? I am totally new to the idea of SW.
Thanks
i'd shoot for adding .001 with each water change. slow and steady. what are you at right now?
moose1960
12-18-2002, 8:41 PM
between 1.008 ~1.010 right now. I am also noticing a whole lot of algea? starting to grow on tank and my sand substrate as I have been increasing the salinity. Could also be because i changed filters and the bioload hasnt caught up yet. Been doing water changes every 2 days to keep nitrite and nitrates down.
OrionGirl
12-19-2002, 10:49 AM
It's hard to add sand to the tank without it becoming cloudy. I'm not a fan of buying the bags of live sand at the store. It's kind of like Cycle products in my mind. The LR and such wouldn't be a pain, you'd just have to move it around, and that can cause some problems.
Part of the reason you'll need to slowly increase the salinity is that the bacteria that process ammonia/nitrites in FW are different from those doing the job in SW. So, in converting like you are, you are essentially killing off the FW bacteria, and the SW bacteria haven't had the chance to become established. The result--which you are seeing--is another reason to avoid adding LR. The LR will probably have some die-off, which will contribute to the spikes.
Just to clarify--if you're doing water changes every other day, don't increase the salinity with each one. Increase the salinity about once a week.