converting salt to fresh water

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SmackDog

Registered Member
Dec 2, 2005
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0
0
Hello,
I have a 30 gallon reef tank that I would like to convert to a fresh water tank. I recently moved and there is not a very good LFS for salt water tanks. I have been able to find good homes for all of my former inhabitants and now am wondering what I need to do in order to convert this tank to a fresh water tank?

I have a 4-5 inch sand bed and about 50 lbs of live rock in the tank. Can I keep these in the fresh water tank? Will it disrupt the pH of the tank in fresh water?

I would like to start a cichlid tank for further information. hehe

The lights I have onthe tank are VHO and they are ~225 watts worth. 1 bulb is actinic blue.

If anyone can help me with this I would appreciate it.

Thanks,

SmackDog
 

OrionGirl

No freelancing!
Aug 14, 2001
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Poconos
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Sheila
The sand bed and rock should probably be pulled and either completely replaced, or cleaned very well. The problem will be that both host a huge variety of bacteria, but also a large number of organisms, like various 'pods', worms, stars, sponges, corals, algaes etc--and if you don't pull them out, they will die in the FW and decay, causing problems in the FW setup. So, rinsing all the organics as well as the salt clear will require a lot of work--probably more than it's worth, IMO. Second concern will be to identify what type of sand and rock you have, and if it's compatible with the cichlids. Some, like African Lake cichlids, prefer hard water, and the sand, and live rock, if both are aragonite (common for SW setups) will be fine--but it might not work for South American cichlids, which tend to prefer softer water.

The third thing to consider will be the species of cichlids you want--even if they prefer the hard water, you might not be happy giving them a sand box. Many cichlids are serious diggers, and that sand will end up on everything in the tank. If you have a fine grained sand, like Southdown playsand, this will result in some serious clouding of the water.

Lastly--the lights. With those lights, you could have plants--but the cichlids may destroy them, again, depending on the species. If you don't want plants, I'd probably swap out for a lower watt bulbs, simply to reduce the heating and cost issues associated with VHO's.
 
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