fresh to salt conversion?

[manfish]

I have a 125gal. freshwater tank that has been up and running for almost 2 years now. I am seriously considering converting it to SWFO and eventually (when I can afford it) add LR and a DSB.

My question is: Can the conversion be done by just adding salt or will I have to drain, clean and start all over again?

Is the beneficial bacteria the same in both fresh and salt?

[OrionGirl]

There are several threads on this topic that you may want to look into.

There is not solid evidence regarding what specific bacteria process nitrogen wastes in SW. A member here did exactly as you described to convert his 400 gallon setup and did not have any spikes--but this is just one case.

[manfish]

Thank you Oriongirl,

After posting, I did a Google search on the subject and found a few sights with the info that I needed. They all say tha same thing. All of my equipment can be used, pumps, filters heaters etc., so long as they are saltwater safe (non corrosive). I can use the same sand as a substrate and the bio-filtration is fine. All of the the sights said that the bacteria is the same. The only thing I would have to add is a protien skimmer and change my lights when I decide to add LR. They reccomend a complete water change and said I could possibly have a spike, but with the bacteria already established. it would be a very short cycle.

It's good to see you are still here. I am a past member (Gleeman54). I don't know why, but I haven't visited A/C for some time and when I did, I could not log in with the same user name.

This post is long enough. I just want to say Thank You for your help.

[OrionGirl]

Welcome back! We went through a systems upgrade a while back, and most everyone had to re-register as a result.