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| Fresh Water Forum For all your Freshwater Aquarium questions |
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| | #1 (permalink) |
| Tunicate | Hi Folks, I have a 90g salt water tank which I'm considering converting to either an African Cichlid or South American setup. Can I utilize the sand bottom currently in place (thus maintaining some bacteria for cycling) or do I need to perform a complete tear down? |
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| | #3 (permalink) | |
| Frequent lurker ![]() | Re: Fed up with salt water The denitrifying bacteria in salt water are not the same as those in fresh water, so there would be no benefit from trying to keep them.
__________________ Rick My 75 gallon Quote:
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| | #4 (permalink) |
| 8 left feet... | Re: Fed up with salt water If you do SA cichlids, the sand could cause some trouble with maintaining a lower pH. Personally, I would much rather have some kind of gravel over sand with a FW tank because it is much easier to keep clean. I say dump it and start over.
__________________ Mark My tank thread... Octoman's 55 gallons of euphoria Tank build... 55 Construction |
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| | #6 (permalink) | |
| Smile Maker | Re: Fed up with salt water Quote:
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| | #8 (permalink) | |
| Smile Maker | Re: Fed up with salt water Quote:
We can help you master the art of reefing if you are still interested! | |
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| | #9 (permalink) | |
| Sea Pen | Re: Fed up with salt water Quote:
When Sas gave me his salt water tank to convert to a Cichlid tank, we threw away the gravel and basically start from scratch. We were lucky because we have a koi pond and we took the gravel from the pond for cycling. | |
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| | #10 (permalink) |
| Manta Ray | Re: Fed up with salt water SW bacteria is different from FW. So dump the sand. And theres nasties in there anyway. Also, the darker the sand, the better the colors of your fish will look. Chichlids prefer sand, so medium to dark brown or even black sand will be good. Don't go to fine or you'll vacuum it up. Also, watch out for sharp pebbles. You'll also want a lower kelvin light bulbs. And totally new filtration. A Eheim Pro will do you good.
__________________ Paul `EM My new 48" reef chronicle; http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...chronicle.html My new planted; http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...-planted.html# Make it idiot-proof and someone will make a better idiot. I'll make the whole damn world jealous if given the money to do so. Don't make mistakes and learn from them, read and learn how to avoid mistakes. a)Fix the damn problem b)live with it -But absolutely no b*tching |
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| | #11 (permalink) | |
| Golden Moray | Re: Fed up with salt water i would think about that heavily before making the change. I did that when we moved into the new house, after 2 months i was so mad with myself, bored with the set up & trying to figure out a way to tell my wife i wanted to buy the equipment to go back to SW. Please take to heart the offer of help from the RS family, i annoy so many people on this thread but they keep advising me on what to do. i would hate for you to go through what i did.
__________________ PROUD PITBULL DADDY Quote:
JoJo's Chronicle REEF SANCTUARY'S WEIGHT LOSS CHRONICLE | |
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| | #12 (permalink) |
| Harlequin Tuskfish | Re: Fed up with salt water Dont go... this hobby has its ups and downs. Take me for example in the last few weeks my tank was full of bryopsis and a bit of green hair algae, a few bits of bubble algae. And i thought i was doing everything right. RO water, weekly water changes, all 75lbs of live rock, plenty of flow, limited feeding, low light cycle, and still algae. i was frustrated. i stepped back for a moment and asked myself if i tore down the tank or put FW in it would i be happy... the answer was no. i want to succeed at this. So i got back to it. Did research asked plenty of questions here and i seem to be back on track. I know i will have more hurdles. I may have one as im typing this (Alk problem) but everyone here will help me through it and they will do the same for you. Sometimes the problems arent fixed overnight, or even in a weeks time, but eventually it all works out. Please just give it one more thought through before you throw in the towel.
__________________ Dennis ________ http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...journal-3.html 55gal AGA w/ built in overflow 15 gal acrylic DIY sump/fuge 75lbs Fiji Live Rock 45lbs of Live Sand 1-1/2inch (1) 96 watt Super Blue Actinic Power Compact (2) 96 Watt 10,000k Power Compacts (2) Ebo Jager 200 watt heaters Seaclone 150 Skimmer (2) Hagen 50's Power Heads for flow (2) Hagen 70's Power Heads for flow (1) Hagen 70 Return Pump DIY ATO system (5 Gal) Algae Scrubber w/(4) 9watt 67k Bulbs TLF 150 Phosban Reactor 12X turnover rate 1 Ocellaris Clownfish, 1 Firefish, 1 Blue Hippo Tang, 1 Black and White Goby, Neon Green Hairy Mushrooms, Red Zoanthus Polyps, Sand Sifting Starfish, Emerald Crab, Various Snails and Hermits |
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| | #13 (permalink) |
| Golden Moray | Re: Fed up with salt water We all understand your frustration. There are probably many of us that have had the same problems that you are having now. We can also probably help you succeed if you want to. I would take what Jo Jo has said to heart. Don't make a snap decision, give it some real thought. Do you want to give up because you are frustrated? If so, I suggest regrouping telling us as much as you can about the problems you are having and let us try to help. You might even want to read Melanie's chronicle. |
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| | #14 (permalink) |
| Reef Shark ![]() | Re: Fed up with salt water As many readers have already told you, the bacteria in the tank won't be of much help if you switch to freshwater, BUT, if you rinse it well, the sand should be fine to use in an African Cichlid tank. Lots of cichlid keepers used to use fine crushed coral in their tanks as a buffer, pumping up the pH and carbonate hardness for their little beauties... Definitely check into that further, as the practice MAY have gone by the wayside along with undergravel filters... Cichlid-Forum ::
__________________ Intelligence is not knowing all the answers, but knowing where and how to find them! www.google.com |
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| | #15 (permalink) |
| Torch coral | Re: Fed up with salt water Sand can be problematic with some Africans, but is imo essential for keeping others.Large Mbuna and Frontosa for instance can wreak havoc on filters by stirring sand into solution.But keeping stuff like Furcifers and Enantiopus and other mound builders without sand is missing the most interesting part of their behavior.As long as the sand is well cleaned it's fine as far as water quality is concerned.
__________________ Life is a comedy to those who think and a tragedy to those who feel.HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! |
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