Think I messed up! Help

[spinyboxspike]

Well I changed my freshwater 55gallon to saltwater today by adding instant ocean sea salt from the lfs. I also added aragonite reef sand on top of small pebble stone that I got from petco for when it was a freshwater setup.
I added the sand then the salt and decided I didnt like the look of the stone under the sand so I took the small stone pebbles out. Thus rustling up the sand as well and made my tank 100% cloudy and has not budged for 5 hours. I just did about a 5 gallon water change and it is still cloudy as heck and I cant see anything in it. The salinity was high before I did the change, now its right at 1.025 but cloudy! I did half a cup for 50 gallons and stopped because it was high and I ran out!


Am I going to have to drain it and buy more salt? Thanks for your help.

 

[koop171]

idk how to help but this should have been in the salf forum. Sorry I can't help.



but can I ask a question?

Why didn't you take the gravel out first?

 

[spinyboxspike]

I thought I would like the layered look but decided on the more natural sand only look. I dont know I am a newbie so I am learning. Just cant stand this cloudy tank any longer and had to ask the big dogs.

Here is the setup below
55 gallon aquarium 48x12x20
Aqueon 325 gph power filter
200watt submersable heater
Flourecent dual canopy2/15w

 

[alcohologist]

did you drain the tank at all? your first post makes it sound as though you dumped salt into a running FW tank. the sand wasn't live, was it? if it wasn't, did you wash it before putting it into the tank?
i'd run a filter sock on the tank. or stuff the filter you're using now [not sure what kind an aqueon is] with filter wool and replace when it gets clogged.

 

[spinyboxspike]

I dumped the sand in to the freshwater and mixed it with that water. The freshwater was less than a week old and I gave the freshwater fish back to my lfs and started the conversion to saltwater today. The bag says that you can put the sand directly in but I wish I wouldnt have now. I am not sure what a filter sock is or what, I know the filter has 2 white carbon slide filters in it.

 

[Reefscape]

As you added salt to an existing freshwater tank, i would drain completly, replace all filter media, start again and cycle....

So, yes you messed up a little, but, its no biggy, can be easily rectified...

 

[Dixon81]

Before you go any further go buy a big SW book and read it

 

[spinyboxspike]

It cleared up somewhat overnight, still a bit cloudy.

So why does it need drained and new water? I just put 55 galllons of freshwater in a brand new tank and filter media less than a week ago, and had two small fish in it then decided to go the saltwater route. I have been told by two lfs stores that dumping another 55 gallons in would be a waste of water, time and money (salt). Im not going to fill it up again as I also think it would be a waste.

I would never waste my money on a book when I have the internet!

 

[agreeive?fish]

Well actually you can do it thw way you are doing it..but all the microbes that were built up in the fresh water are now dead..and you will have some water parameter spikes so just let the tank sit for a week and do noting to it..... in that week the sand particles will settle/filter out of the water colum...after a week check your water parameters and do a weekly 10% water change then you can start your normal saltwater cycle process..the way you did it i have done but its not the prefered way of doing it and it will just make your cycle period longer because of the death of the freshwater microbes.... the tank i did that to ran sucessfully for 2 years before i tore it down because of an upgrade to a 210g

 

[sweeTang21]

id have to say its fine to leave it the way it is as well. The live sand will settle as said and then can be gently surface cleaned free of loss debris. I would get adding some rock while the tank is cycled so you don't upset the water parameters after everything has settled down from the cycle.

IMO i would have removed the gravel, and all the water. Re filled the tank with RO/DI water for better quality control. This type of water will really help you if you have plans for corals down the road. Either way patience is key to this hobby.

I will also second the book idea. Getting a book all about setup and maintaining the tank is a very good idea, and kind of an important form of reference.