Converting 54 gal saltwater tank into South American Biotope

[mattjm1121]

hey all,

i have a couple of questions regarding my salt-to-fresh tank conversion.

1. will the dry salt creep pollute my freshwater? i've removed most of it there's still some.

2. can i use the bioballs that were used for saltwater?

3. what other precautions should i take before i actually begin to add livestock?

thanks in advance

[Sean Buehrle]

hey all,

i have a couple of questions regarding my salt-to-fresh tank conversion.

1. will the dry salt creep pollute my freshwater? i've removed most of it there's still some.

2. can i use the bioballs that were used for saltwater?

3. what other precautions should i take before i actually begin to add livestock?

thanks in advance

Clean the salt off with water and a razor blade, rinse.
A little salt won't hurt anything.

Put the bio balls in the washing machine , no soap. And then rinse them in the sink just to make sure no soap is on them.

Wash out your trickle filter.

Cycle your tank and filter with pure ammonia.

Your good to go.

[mattjm1121]

Clean the salt off with water and a razor blade, rinse.
A little salt won't hurt anything.

Put the bio balls in the washing machine , no soap. And then rinse them in the sink just to make sure no soap is on them.

Wash out your trickle filter.

Cycle your tank and filter with pure ammonia.

Your good to go.


great advice! thanks a lot

but as far as cycling goes, i was planning on using water from my 3 year old planted tank. would you recommend this, or would you suggest i just start from scratch?

[Sean Buehrle]

great advice! thanks a lot

but as far as cycling goes, i was planning on using water from my 3 year old planted tank. would you recommend this, or would you suggest i just start from scratch?

If you are planning on keeping discus and have other fish in your display, your darn right I suggest starting from scratch.

I would not use hoses or anything from a freshwater set up that you have.

You can risk it or you can sleep easy knowing you did it the best possible way.

I also suggest you buy discus from a sponsor here, you'll get a healthy fish without the worries. You can even get a filter or two from some sponsers to shorten or eliminate cycling of your tank. You would need to ask in advance for one though.

Everyone here has a favorite person to buy from, I suggest discus Hans.

He has a great name and delivers the goods, you can't go wrong.

Check out the sponsers section here and ask the other members for pics of their fish and who they got them from.

Good luck and welcome to simply discus.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Hi Sean,

When you mention to "cycle your tank with pure ammonia" how much are we talking about? I have a 65 gallon tank that was once used as a reef I too want to convert to fresh. I cleaned it out 95% of all salt and coraline algae I would like to get it up and running soon. It is usually a 3 to 1 parts water to ammonia I just want to be sure. How long should this take to cycle thoroughly?

[Sean Buehrle]

Hi Sean,

When you mention to "cycle your tank with pure ammonia" how much are we talking about? I have a 65 gallon tank that was once used as a reef I too want to convert to fresh. I cleaned it out 95% of all salt and coraline algae I would like to get it up and running soon. It is usually a 3 to 1 parts water to ammonia I just want to be sure. How long should this take to cycle thoroughly?

Get a ammonia, nitrite, nitrate test kit and start dumping table spoons of ammonia in 1 at a time till your test says 5 ppm.

Keep your tank full with fresh water from evaporation, no water changes.

It can take 4-8 weeks.

Once your ammonia disappears you add 1 ppm and wait for it to disappear, a good filter will remove 1 ppm ammonia in 24 hours.
you have to remember that ammonia is only part of the cycle, the nitrite must be watched at the same time.

Just so you know, nitrite is as bad as ammonia, so your really only 2/3 way there once the ammonia is removed.

It seems to me the nitrite dependent bacteria takes forever to come about.

Some people choose to do water changes, just remember to replace the ammonia.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Thanks Sean!

[Sean Buehrle]

Thanks Sean!

No problem :)