Switching from fresh to salt

[craig2121]

Hey all!! I've been keeping a freshwater tank for over 5 years now and am ready to take the leap into saltwater. I currently have a 72 bow front w/ african cichlids. My question is on converting to saltwater what are the necessary steps. I currently have a sand bottom and was wondering if this can be kept or does it need to be changed up (excuse my ignorance on this topic as this is new to me). I have read that many people use play sand from Home Depot (that is what i used for my fresh). I am using an aquaclear500 filter at the moment. I plan on doing a fish only setup.


Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Feel free to flame me for my ignorance on these matters as i am definitely a noob.

[OrionGirl]

No flaming for being a newbie! It's a correctable condition. ;)

The sand you have will work just fine. Are youplanning on emptying the tank and completely recycling, or converting the water to salt? If you have bracksih fish that will be moving to marine, the latter will work. Otherwise, I would empty the tank, and start with new saltwater, and completely cycle with cocktail shrimp or uncured live rock.

Do you know what kind of tank you want? Reef, Fish only with live rock? Lighting may need upgrading if you want a reef tank.

[craig2121]

I was going to empty the water and start from scratch. I am going for a fish only setup. Do I need to mix live sand in w/ the sand I have? In terms of lighting I have a 50/50 that I am currently using. What else will I need besides salt of course? Do I nee the live sand? Do I need a protein skimmer right of way?
Thanks for the repy btw.

[OrionGirl]

Fish only, with live rock? I would encourage you to add live rock--it is the best biological filtration you can get, and it provides a more natural look to the tank in addition to cover for the fish.

Live sand--if you get a pound of two from a reliable source (ie, not the bagged stuff that's sitting on the shelf at the LFS), it will spread onto the rest. If you get really good live rock, most of the critters will spread into your sand--you'll need to add a few of the larger sand bed fauna, but the worms and bacteria will be imported on the rock.

50/50 for a FO tank will be fine. If you want to go to a reef, you'll need to look at what wattage/type of bulbs you have--NO lights won't cut it.

[craig2121]

Fish only w/ live rock. So I need only 1 to 2 pounds of live sand for a 72 gallon? Should I wait to add live rock until after cycling? Otherwise won't the ammonia spike kill everything. Should I follow the sticky thread on cycling the tank following addition of live sand. I know I have a lot of questions but I like to have all my info before starting such a large and expensive project. When do I need to add the skimmer? I also will be using a powerhead and have a second filter (Penguin 330) that I could use in addition to my Aquaclear500 if this would help.

[OrionGirl]

Yes, a high spike will kill some of the organisms. I prefer to do things in halves--add a base of dry sand and rock, add a handful of sand from a healthy setup, initiate cycle with some cocktail shrimp. Once ammonia hits 0, add another handful of sand (no critters, but lots of bacteria). Once nitrites hit 0, add sand organisms and live rock. Monitor for a couple weeks, then start adding fish and other critters. It's slow, but works.

There are several good books--mentioned in the cycling thread by Jason A-- that will help you out. There's also a thread in the Marine Archives that lists a number of books.

[craig2121]

One last question...at what point do I need to start using a skimmer? After the cycling and fish have been added or from the beginning?

[Gealcath]

If you can keep things under controll a skimmer isnt needed (a skimmer isnt required for salt water, although it does help, but for FO live rock and a DSB will do the job without a skimmer)