saltie conversion

[Otherone]

No. You will have to totally tear down your fresh setup. Do some googling and you will find all of the basics.


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Nothing rude about this - short and to the point with SW your 1st step is research then more research - how can anyone expect to succeed at good husbandry thru trial by fire. Starting off fresh, clean, and sterile pays dividends down the road. When things go south with SW it gets real expensive real fast.

 

[skatin707]

with SW your 1st step is research then more research

Took me and the wife a good year of doing research before we felt comfortable starting our setup. Lots of work goes into these tanks, might as well do it right and avoid mistake if possible. I've made my fair share and I'm paying for them now.

 

[Inglorious]

Not to be rude, but there are stickies at the top of the page that cover all of this in good detail.

 

[yargnits]

Depending on your current setup, it is just as simple as adding salt and fish. Of course, that is if you are planning on keeping some starter fish. I 'm not positive, but i assume you'd have to cycle your saltwater tank (not sure if the fresh BB is the same as salt BB). Before jumping in, I would suggest learning about the salties you want to keep, and setup the tank accordingly. You more than likely can reuse most if not all your current equipment, and add other pieces as you go. Hope that gives you a little more info. I kept a 55 gallon salt tank years ago, it was very rewarding. Good Luck!Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

thank you

If you get tired of answering the same questions, simply don't reply. Why do people insist in being rude. We join a forum because we have questions. Sorry for hijacking here. I am just over so many people being dicks for no reason. Sent from my LG-MS770 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

nice to see a reasonable person on a forum for a change. thank you

+1Sent from my Nexus 7

Yea, the BB for salt is not the same as that for FW so you'd have to recycle to tank. Otherwise, I dont see a problem with adding salt, wait for cycle then add fish. If it were me though i'd tear down the tank and clean it up to do a fresh restart.

thanks. thats certainly something to think about. it does raise the question about treating freshwater fish with salt though. i will have a look round now i have some useful information from a forum

Well if you did just add salt (go with kent or do Red Sea coral pro if you want to do a reef) then ALL of the freshwater things would have to die, then it would be time to start the saltwater cycle (preferably with a raw shrimp.) After the cycle is done you could get a clown or another hardy fish. Now equipment wise you you will need: 1-2 lbs of live rock per gallon, a protein skimmer, powerheads for flow, enough aragonite sand for a 2-4" deep sand bed, and to keep your options open a good t5ho unit. Also get all of this stuff BEFORE you cycle.

My .02
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thank you v much . is there any reason for the kent or red sea coral pro rather than bog stanard salt ? im sorry but i dont knwo what you mean by "then it would be time to start the saltwater cycle (preferably with a raw shrimp.)"
thank you for your detailed reply .. cant say how many times more useful it is than people saying " go search " / " go google ".

Regarding just adding salt and cycling, after the first major spike in ammonia from the majority of the fresh bacteria dying, there is a real possibility of having other ammonia spikes months down the road from disturbances in the substrate or the filtration.
You would be much better off tearing everything down and starting from scratch. Plus, you will want to get aragonite sand to promote bb growth.
Hope this helps,Sent from my DROIDX using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

thanks for your reply. you seem to be agreeing with the previous post regarding benificial bacteria being different in freshwater and saltwater. i will look into it and thanks

Nothing rude about this - short and to the point with SW your 1st step is research then more research - how can anyone expect to succeed at good husbandry thru trial by fire. Starting off fresh, clean, and sterile pays dividends down the road. When things go south with SW it gets real expensive real fast.

sorry but im not sure i agree. firstly, by asking the question i am doing research and hoping for experienced answers in return . secondly, we are expected to succeed in good husbandry just as people 20 years ago did (through trial by fire if you so wish ) and because people were unable to get reasonable answers from experienced aquarists through a forum because they didnt have them. unfortunately even though the forum is here we are aparently still unable to get reasonable answers without being told to go ask somewhere else first.

in summary, i apologise for asking here first.
thank you though, for taking the time to reinforce somone else suggesting people shouldnt ask questions on forums unless they are known or experienced.

Took me and the wife a good year of doing research before we felt comfortable starting our setup. Lots of work goes into these tanks, might as well do it right and avoid mistake if possible. I've made my fair share and I'm paying for them now.

thank you and i understand. i have done my fair share of research on lots of topics and i thought that after over 20 years of keeping fish that i might be able to find decent answers on a forum that im not actually a new member of . with this in mind i dred to think how i would feel if i had just signed up to the forum.

Not to be rude, but there are stickies at the top of the page that cover all of this in good detail.

thanks for another helpful dont bother asking. . . which of the following should i look in after i have searched the whole of the internet and finally coming to ask experienced aquarists on mfk from around the world for experienced answers ?

Sticky: seahorses

Sticky: Bubble Algae: Descriptions & Controls

Sticky: Helpfull Links

Sticky: Cycling Methods & Procedures

im sorry to say that after experincing similar on other forums that its sad to say that new aquarists are at the very least put off from asking questions. i now have no wonder that many people struggle in silence not wanting to post and fearing of being flamed or told to search .

a very poor show indeed.

but thank you for all the helpful comments. i will certainly take these in mind as im setting up my salty aquarium especially the regarding the bacteria but i think i might be more inclned to ask questions elsewhere.

regards.

 

[Inglorious]

Well since you were inquiring about setting up a saltwater tank the Cycling Methods & Procedures would have been a good place to start since as a current fishkeeper you should already be familiar with the nitrogen cycle. If you had any specific questions that needed answered or cleared up people would have been glad to help if you asked them. The one titled helpful links might have been...helpful as well.

 

[JASamper]

Well since you were inquiring about setting up a saltwater tank the Cycling Methods & Procedures would have been a good place to start since as a current fishkeeper you should already be familiar with the nitrogen cycle. If you had any specific questions that needed answered or cleared up people would have been glad to help if you asked them. The one titled helpful links might have been...helpful as well.

^ Basically that, I dont get why people get so easily offended really if you had the same question being asked every 2 days you might start to get annoyed.
First off tear down your whole tank remove everything! Clean the tank, scrub off all the algae and let it sit for a day, then you add saltwater. You can get saltwater premade at your lfs or make your own. Add the water, then add dead/live rock (go 20% live 80% dead for a fowlr) put up decor, then add substrate, add heater put in a filter. Possibly a sump or even a hob filter if going fish only. Now that everything is setup add a bacteria supplement to help ease the cycling process I prefer Seachem Stability but others work as well. Add a hardy fish like a Chromi or possibly a Oscellaris clown, monitor your water and almost like magic you have your very own ocean in a glass tank.

 

[Cheesehead]

In am going to have to oppose your las point, go with a fresh raw in pantyhose, if you adding a fish is cruel to them since they have to deal with the large ammonia spikes. This could cause them to die/drastically shorten their life span. Check out the how to cycle a tank sticky on the top if this forum for more in depth info.


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[JASamper]

The whole point of the bacteria is too keep the water stable while cycling, its the same stuff major aquariums around the world use to get their tanks up when they have a dead line to meet.

 

[yargnits]

Well since you were inquiring about setting up a saltwater tank the Cycling Methods & Procedures would have been a good place to start since as a current fishkeeper you should already be familiar with the nitrogen cycle. If you had any specific questions that needed answered or cleared up people would have been glad to help if you asked them. The one titled helpful links might have been...helpful as well.

and yet im not enquiring about setting up a saltwater tank. instead im enquiring abut converting an alread established tropical aquarium to a saltwater aquarium but since i have a low post count and im not known in this section of the forum .... welll fill in the blanks. it seems asking simple questions when you are not a regular poster is a flame sentance.

^ Basically that, I dont get why people get so easily offended really if you had the same question being asked every 2 days you might start to get annoyed.
First off tear down your whole tank remove everything! Clean the tank, scrub off all the algae and let it sit for a day, then you add saltwater. You can get saltwater premade at your lfs or make your own. Add the water, then add dead/live rock (go 20% live 80% dead for a fowlr) put up decor, then add substrate, add heater put in a filter. Possibly a sump or even a hob filter if going fish only. Now that everything is setup add a bacteria supplement to help ease the cycling process I prefer Seachem Stability but others work as well. Add a hardy fish like a Chromi or possibly a Oscellaris clown, monitor your water and almost like magic you have your very own ocean in a glass tank.

wow lost of strange posts and most of them are the reason im asking the question. :

^ Basically that, I dont get why people get so easily offended really if you had the same question being asked every 2 days you might start to get annoyed.
if its asked every two days then you should have no problem telling me the answer rather than going on and on . ..

In am going to have to oppose your las point, go with a fresh raw in pantyhose, if you adding a fish is cruel to them since they have to deal with the large ammonia spikes. This could cause them to die/drastically shorten their life span. Check out the how to cycle a tank sticky on the top if this forum for more in depth info.


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The whole point of the bacteria is too keep the water stable while cycling, its the same stuff major aquariums around the world use to get their tanks up when they have a dead line to meet.

yes it is . its what bacteria do . i dont really care about deadlines but why are freshwater bacteria so different to saltwater bacteria especially considering that a salt dip or a salt treatment is a reasonable action yet adding salt to a tropical aquarium and adding salt fish is not.

seems very odd.


******

^ Basically that, I dont get why people get so easily offended really if you had the same question being asked every 2 days you might start to get annoyed.
First off tear down your whole tank *****

if you have had the same question asked every two days then you wont have any problem pointing that out to me over the last fortnight will you ?

looking forward to some interesting replys

 

[Pazzoman]

I to began and ended my saltwater hobby with a freshwater tank. You should tear it down completely rid of substrate, water, fish, decorations and really clean out the filter or go with a sump (Sump is number one filtration hands down! IMO).
By sand depending on grain size smaller the grain the more compact and the less debri make it thru...however to small of grain and it will fly all over (No live sand please)
From thier add water and buy salt (instant ocean what i used) and add it, read directions of coarse. Make sure to purchase a hydrometer (I used swing arm but thier are better models). Cycle the tank using ammonia from a bottle (IMO best and fastest way). And thier you go lol.... that is basics or starting a saltwater aquarium... then of coarse if you want you can go for live rock (recommend dead/dry rock), corals and so on.

Make sure your budget is huge if you go with corals (or at least the harder to keep corals).

Any help PM as I know and remember to well your situation lol