from salt water to freshwater

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lethalp

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Jan 1, 2003
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I recently bought a 125g that had been set up for saltwater. It has a Amiracle fliter system with it that is covered with salt and alge. Can I convert this to freshwater? How can I get all that salt and stuff off of it? I bought this stuff called python, didn't work very well. My local lfs told me to use bleach? Can this be right? This is to clean a tank that DOES NOT have any fish in it ;) So can this be done or is there a better way? Also there is a pretty good chance this filter may not actually work. If it does not, could anyone tell me what type and size filter I should be using? Thanks!
 
You could use a bleach solution if you really wanted to sterilize things. Personally, I find this unnecessary. If you want to remove calcium deposits and hard water stains, try white vinegar. Dilute it in warm water and scrub the inside of the tank with it. Then I would soak the filter in a hot water/vinegar mixture for a afew hours and then scrub it while rinsing it off.

I've gone from fresh to saltwater and then back to fresh without cleaning anything! Even using the same substrate in the tank. A little salt will usually not affect freshwater species. The grime and crud will slowly break down, probably during the cycling period. You will than remove it when you do your water changes. No big deal.

As for filtration, if the tank is plummed with overflows (which it sounds like it is), you could just replace the pump in the wet/dry filter or the whole w/d box, etc. You can't go wrong with a good wet/dry system.
 
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You have to get the salt out of it if you're going to use it as a freshwater. Most FW fish & plants don't do well with salt. NickH seems to have the right idea about how to clean it. I just take mine and put it in the bath-tub and scrub a dub dub. Just don't use soap!

Over-flows & sumps don't generally work very well for freshwater planted aquariums where CO2 is being injected because it tends to gass-off and waste CO2. If it already has an overflow & plumbing maybe a high-light, nutrition, CO2 isn't the best option?
 
NICK!!

Nick, so glad you replied to this post, I have a question for you. What kind of fish is in the pic by your name. If you go back and look at some of my posts, I am having a hard time finding out what kind of fish I have. Can you help me out?
 
Oxyclean is a very good tank cleaner. It softens hard water deposits, kills organics, and rinses out with minimal effort--no residues like you get with bleach.
 
Amiracle leak

Bad news on the filter front. For some unknown reason the guy who had the Amiracle filter cut a hole in the bottome of it. After laboring all of Sun day on it and trying to patch the acrylic, it stll leaks. Does anyone know of a way to patch acrylic? I knew it was a ling shot, but I was trying to save a little money. The guy had it sitting in a big plastic tub, I have no idea why he cut it. :( Total bummer. Back to the drawing board. Oh by the way I tried the white vineger and it worked great. All the stuff is clean, just can't use it, bummer bummer bummer.
 
If it is made of acrylic then you can get acrylic repair kits at many hardware stores. Just overlap a bigger piece of acrylic and use a solvent weld to hold it in place.
 
how can I fix this?

We have tried twice to get the hole fixed. We have been using Proxy pros. he cut a piece of acrylic and filled the hole then put it around it. It hold for a couple hours then starts leaking again. Is there any other product we could try. Any suggestion would be appreciated!!
 
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