Go from fresh to salt

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
big Gs last statement is what i usually say as well. Most FO tanks have larger fish, IE more waste. Granted you can do water changes as much as you want, its always a plus. If you didnt get a skimmer, i dont think you would be in leaky boat by all means, just means you would have more means for good water changing habits.

Something that was not mentioned and i think i will, just because it helps, is the type of water being used. If you plan to use tap water, which is fine for FO systems, then you may experience more algae then normal, due to the Nitrate and phosphates in the water. RO systems which are highly recommened for Reef systems, are also very beneficial to FO systems as well. I use RO on all my fish tanks, Freshwater or Saltwater and I find the buildup in these toxins are less, even at the same water changing interval.

Good luck, and let us know your stocking ideas.
 
jim barry;2696322; said:
I have kept Stingrays for a few years now so i am use to doing weekly water changes of 50 gallons on a 150 gallon tank. Would this be too much to change on a saltwater given that part of the reason i am thinking of going to saltwater is i am fed up of water changes !!
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30% weekly is almost always more than i do.. but i run smaller more heavily filtered systems... i usually do like 10-15% weekly.. sometimes less (if nitrates are particularly low)

since it's a FO you only need to change the water once the nitrates get over, say, 20ppm.
you don't need to dose the tank with much of anything, you don't really need to replace ions and elements etc, although the fish do use some (bioavailable K, Na, etc)
just need to lower nitrates

if you're used to the tenacity of keeping rays you're going to be fine in SW

i've been keeping them for about 3 years now and wouldn't dare touch a ray tank with a 10 foot pole :D
 
I have always used tap water. I store it in a 50 gallon container with an airstone and heater in my garage so it is ready for the water change. I was rather hoping this stored water could just have salt added to the correct salinity and then pumped to my tank the way it always has been. My nitrates are off the scale because of the rays ! But i was hoping it would reduce with less bio load if going to salt water fish.
 
you nitrates are more then likely already high because of the tap water. Test your water right out of the tap, and then test it as it sits for 24 hours and see what the difference is.

Tap water will usually have no less then 10ppm of nitrate alread in the water, which only builds rapidly as fish waste, food and other naturals in the tank break down. Its the nitrogen cycle. Ammonia and nitrite are all broken down to nitrate, and unless you have a DSB or plenum or something else that is desgiend to reduce nitates then water changes, a source without nitrates, is the only way to get that number down.

other methods are as simple as several lbs of LR and LS, and an efficient protein skimmer. My tanks usually never get below 5-10 ppm with these methods, so i use purified RO water with 0 nitrates and a TDS reading of less then 5ppm. This is done with very good prefilters, sediment traps, and TFC membranes.
 
Thanks for the info. I have always used tap water and can't see myself going down the R.O route due to cost. So i guess i will need LR and LS with a good skimmer. What do you mean by sediment traps and TFC membranes ? My prefilter is a layer of filter wool on my drip tray which has always worked well for me.
 
RO units come with either 5 micron or 1 micron sediment filters (traps) and TFC members which is what the water is forced through to remove all impurities. TFC= This film Composit. If you dont intend to go down the route of RO, thats great, just keep an eye on your trates, because Rock, sand, and a skimmer is not always going to solve the issue. To some research on plenums, they are a tried method, although not common, have been proven to work.

good luck.
 
You can make a ro unit as I did. I just bought a 75gpd membrane from ebay put a sediment filter and a carbon canister in front of it and works fine for me. the sediment and carbon canisters you can get at Menards, HD, Lowes. For less than 120.00 you can have a 75gpd ro unit without di though.
 
for about 120 you can get a coralife unit as well, which would be mostly the same thing. You wouldnt have 75 gpd, but as its been mentioned before, the more GPD, generally the less contact time with sediment and carbon blocks, which equal either more work for the membrane or a poorer quality water production.

of course this only matters on smaller 3 and sometimes 4 stage systems. if you ran two stages of each then youd probably be in the same boat as the slower less staged filters.

just random info lol

also on my last post, i had a type TFC is Thin film composite, not this film lol.
 
What do you mean by sediment traps and TFC membranes ? My prefilter is a layer of filter wool on my drip tray which has always worked well for me.
 
lR rubble... lol nvm more than 1 page
 
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