Converting salt to fresh ???

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DREW

DREW

um...um...um...Hmmmm
Jan 14, 2004
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S.E. Michigan (U.S.A.)
Hello, been awhile since i've been here. Not sure if i should post here or in saltwater forum..
I have a 29 gal. saltwater tank thats been runnin for bout 2 years with no probs. it had about 5 pounds of live rock a few hermits & 1 damsel. I want to convert it into a freshwater cichlid tank. maybe just for 2 electric yellows or so, i know its not very big for cichlids but i dont want to put a lot in there & there would plenty of hidding spaces.
My question is how to go about converting it to freshwater.? i know cichlids can handle some salt but how much ?
The tank has a deep sand bed that I will leave in. Right now everything is out of the tank except the sand & the water. Would I need to replace all the saltwater with freshwater ? I was hopping to avoid having to cycle the tank..
Any suggestions would be appreciated.....
 
Rbishop

Rbishop

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Dec 30, 2005
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I think you will find the bacteria needed are a bit different. Personally, I would drain and flush several times, inculding stirring up that DSB. I would also show some concern over organisms that may be beneficial to a SW tank, but negative for a FW tank.
 
K

khuongtran69

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Apr 11, 2007
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You definetely need to replace all the water, rinse the tank very well, even the sand. The bacteria for saltwater, cannot adjust to freshwater. Even though they are the same species they cannot change from saltwater to fresh. Unfortunately you will have to cycle the tank again. Chichlids cannot handle much salt. Although apparently a little bit is good for them. Each species has different requirements for the amount of salt they can tolerate. Personally, i do not use any salt in mine and i have never had any problems.
 
Garbage

Garbage

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Mar 24, 2007
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rbishop said:
I think you will find the bacteria needed are a bit different. Personally, I would drain and flush several times, inculding stirring up that DSB. I would also show some concern over organisms that may be beneficial to a SW tank, but negative for a FW tank.
Click to expand...
+1, if you want to be sure to have a smoothe transition with the new setup its better to be safe than sorry!:) If it were me I probably wouldnt even use the sand in the new setup just to be safe in addition to rinsing out the empty tank several times:) Im pretty confident that Cichlids wont tolerate salt all that well:dance2:
 
DREW

DREW

um...um...um...Hmmmm
Jan 14, 2004
92
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S.E. Michigan (U.S.A.)
Thanks all for the help. Looks like I'm gonna clean it all out & start this tank over then. Prob move the sand & some of the water to 20 gal long & have a mini sw tank. :rolleyes:
Thanks again.
 
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