Switching a Saltwater to a freshwater

[johnson5585]

Hey All,
Looking for the best way to clean out an acrylic tank that was a saltwater reef set up to make a freshwater set up. What is the best thing to use to clean out all of the salt and calcium build up caused from running a saltwater tank in order to keep it from harming the freshwater fish and set up. Also if any salt build up is left behind in the plumbing how will it affect the system.

Thanks

 

[cichlids _killer]

razor blade and vinegar.

 

[mikeandannie]

razor blade on acrylic? really? i know on glass its all good.... but acrylic i wont take a blade to it...on how to clean it i'm uncertain but i will throw a guess out there like above vinegar and just let the vinegar water sit in tank for awhile not sure how long but i think i have seen people say that often, i don't know what the ratio is for water to vinagar or vice versa, but good luck

 

[Oreo]

For the calcium, nothing is going to beat CLR. Comes in a gray plastic bottle at your local hardware or grocery store. Test a few drops on the acrylic to make sure it doesn't react with it first but you should be OK. Pour some on a rag & scrub- shouldn't take much work at all since it's good stuff. Just make sure to rinse that stuff out really well before putting fish in.

Fresh water should dissolve the salt. AFter getting the calcium out & rinsing the CLR out, I'd say fill the tank up with fresh water & just let the filter pump run the fresh water through all the lines for a couple days. Any salt that's left won't affect your fish, & should dissolve completely eventually.

 

[cichlids _killer]

OH my bad ..did read the post real good

 

[Brian Fish]

My lfs told me to use plain water to switch my 125 over. Clean real good have had no problems for 2 months fish are fine.

 

[Dan F]

I would use vinegar and a rag. Any deposits that don't come off right away will dissolve once you have the tank full of freshwater. A few mg of salt in the water won't affect anything too drastically.