Using a Freshwater tank for Saltwater

rainsong · 06/10/2021, 10:12 AM

I am new to saltwater tanks.

I have a 150 gallon acrylic tank that I am currently using as a freshwater planted tank. I am in the process of taking the tank down to convert it to a saltwater tank.

Are there any special cleaning/disinfecting tips? Or any special DOs and DONTs?

Thanks!

Anemone · 06/10/2021, 11:16 AM

No, not really.

Other than, "Don't scratch it!"

Seriously, simple cleaning with water should suffice, but if you are worried, you can use a 10% bleach solution soak, then rinse, then air dry.

Kevin

Kevin

kfisc · 06/10/2021, 11:21 AM

People do this pretty often. The main concern is whatever treatment (especially those with copper) you had been using in the freshwater tank may have left residue. But a rinse with a water and bleach solution (light on the bleach, like a capful for a gallon or so) and drying it well should do the trick.

You were probably planning that, anyway. Some rinse further with RODI just to be extra cautious.

Good luck!

Michael Hoaster · 06/11/2021, 07:34 AM

Welcome to RC, rainsong!

As stated above, there's not much to do, switching over to saltwater. Just a basic cleaning.

I have bounced back and forth with fresh and saltwater versions of my acrylic 180 gallon tank. Currently, I'm running a Planted Saltwater setup, combining what I learned from both sides of the hobby. My thread, "Weeds", down in the Macro Algae Section may interest you. Come by and check it out. Here's a taste:

rainsong · 06/12/2021, 07:38 PM

Woah!!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

SantaMonica · 06/20/2021, 08:37 PM

Another successful conversion coming

Sk8r · 06/20/2021, 11:11 PM

Things you will (ideally) need: a downflow box, partitioned sump, skimmer, heater, autotopoff with reservoir, refractometer, various hoses, hose clamps, and good tests for alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium. Re metals, salt water is very aggressive with all metals except noble metals and aluminum, so no hose clamps underwater, no copper (poison), and you do have the choice between a submerged vs non-submerged pump. You can look up all of these. Most spendy things are your skimmer, pump, and sump, but you CAN use an ordinary aquarium as your sump, gluing in partitions that give you room for your skimmer, and a way to keep any moss you might have in your sump (or stray fish) from getting into your pump. For skimmers, the most efficent ones produce a fine foam, and sit in the sump. Since they have a habit of overflowing under some conditions, this is not a bad thing.

Fiish · 06/20/2021, 11:35 PM

Excellent size to start in saltwater, the bigger the better, by the way, if you are thinking of placing canisters as filtration for salt water you better forget that idea, a sump is ideal, it's also quite fun to configure and put it on going.

rainsong · 06/21/2021, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sk8r

Things you will (ideally) need: a downflow box, partitioned sump, skimmer, heater, autotopoff with reservoir, refractometer, various hoses, hose clamps, and good tests for alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium. Re metals, salt water is very aggressive with all metals except noble metals and aluminum, so no hose clamps underwater, no copper (poison), and you do have the choice between a submerged vs non-submerged pump. You can look up all of these. Most spendy things are your skimmer, pump, and sump, but you CAN use an ordinary aquarium as your sump, gluing in partitions that give you room for your skimmer, and a way to keep any moss you might have in your sump (or stray fish) from getting into your pump. For skimmers, the most efficent ones produce a fine foam, and sit in the sump. Since they have a habit of overflowing under some conditions, this is not a bad thing.

Excellent information…. Thanks!!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sk8r · 06/21/2021, 10:23 AM

One other thing---evaporation is a good thing in saltwater if you're keeping corals, because you can put a calcium supplement in your topoff (fresh) water, and the evaporation rate keeps it feeding in via the autotopoff. My 50 gallon tank evaps a gallon a day. This does mean you need a lot of very pure fresh water including your very first fill, because the list of bad things in the water we drink is extensive, and evaporation causes buildup of those things in the aquarium. To produce water this pure, get a 4-cylinder ro/di filter (check our sponsors) and use that for your topoff. It strips out everything but the H's and O's in H2O.

rainsong · 06/21/2021, 11:42 AM

So far, I have ordered a Lifereef SVS2-24 skimmer and purchased a used BRS 6-stage RO/DI. I plan to order a baffle kit for my 40 gallon breeder.

Thanks for the good info.

BigDave · 07/01/2021, 07:30 PM

The hardest part about making the switch is figuring out how to get the water to the sump.

Most of the people I know that swapped either drilled, or had their tank drilled for a BeanAnimal overflow. It worked well for me when I had my saltwater tank running.

I went the other way recently and went back to freshwater. My latest house doesn't have the room for the larg 120 gallon Cube'd reef I used to run.

Dan. · 07/15/2021, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rainsong

So far, I have ordered a Lifereef SVS2-24 skimmer and purchased a used BRS 6-stage RO/DI. I plan to order a baffle kit for my 40 gallon breeder.

Thanks for the good info.

Love Lifereef skimmers!

Vinny Kreyling · 07/29/2021, 08:45 AM

Unless you know the person with the RO unit I would replace all the filters & membrane.

SantaMonica · 07/30/2021, 04:46 PM

I recently sold a Maxcap 180 that was ten years old, with the high-rejection rate membrane option, and it was still outputting .002

06/10/2021, 10:12 AM	#1
rainsong Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2021 Location: Seattle area Posts: 6	Using a Freshwater tank for Saltwater I am new to saltwater tanks. I have a 150 gallon acrylic tank that I am currently using as a freshwater planted tank. I am in the process of taking the tank down to convert it to a saltwater tank. Are there any special cleaning/disinfecting tips? Or any special DOs and DONTs? Thanks!

06/10/2021, 11:16 AM	#2
Anemone Cloning Around Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Valencia, California Posts: 25,267	No, not really. Other than, "Don't scratch it!" Seriously, simple cleaning with water should suffice, but if you are worried, you can use a 10% bleach solution soak, then rinse, then air dry. Kevin Kevin __________________ Back in the pool, swimming with the sharks... Current Tank Info: Red Sea 425XL w/Kessil AP700, Vertex 180i Skimmer, 2 x Vortech MP40s

06/11/2021, 07:34 AM	#4
Michael Hoaster Registered Seaweedist Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 5,807	Welcome to RC, rainsong! As stated above, there's not much to do, switching over to saltwater. Just a basic cleaning. I have bounced back and forth with fresh and saltwater versions of my acrylic 180 gallon tank. Currently, I'm running a Planted Saltwater setup, combining what I learned from both sides of the hobby. My thread, "Weeds", down in the Macro Algae Section may interest you. Come by and check it out. Here's a taste: __________________ As many naturalists and environmentalists have suggested, we should set aside our arrogance, our desire to conquer and control everything, and walk hand in hand with Mother Nature. -Walter Adey Current Tank Info: 180g Seagrass Sandbar Lagoon, START DATE November 28, 2018

06/20/2021, 08:37 PM	#6
SantaMonica Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Santa Monica, California, USA Posts: 2,511	Another successful conversion coming __________________ Inventor of the easy-to-DIY upflow scrubber, and also the waterfall scrubber that everyone loves to build: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1424843

06/20/2021, 11:11 PM	#7
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Things you will (ideally) need: a downflow box, partitioned sump, skimmer, heater, autotopoff with reservoir, refractometer, various hoses, hose clamps, and good tests for alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium. Re metals, salt water is very aggressive with all metals except noble metals and aluminum, so no hose clamps underwater, no copper (poison), and you do have the choice between a submerged vs non-submerged pump. You can look up all of these. Most spendy things are your skimmer, pump, and sump, but you CAN use an ordinary aquarium as your sump, gluing in partitions that give you room for your skimmer, and a way to keep any moss you might have in your sump (or stray fish) from getting into your pump. For skimmers, the most efficent ones produce a fine foam, and sit in the sump. Since they have a habit of overflowing under some conditions, this is not a bad thing. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

06/10/2021, 11:21 AM	#3
kfisc Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 2,020	People do this pretty often. The main concern is whatever treatment (especially those with copper) you had been using in the freshwater tank may have left residue. But a rinse with a water and bleach solution (light on the bleach, like a capful for a gallon or so) and drying it well should do the trick. You were probably planning that, anyway. Some rinse further with RODI just to be extra cautious. Good luck!

06/12/2021, 07:38 PM	#5
rainsong Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2021 Location: Seattle area Posts: 6	Woah!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

06/20/2021, 11:35 PM	#8
Fiish Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Mexico Posts: 202	Excellent size to start in saltwater, the bigger the better, by the way, if you are thinking of placing canisters as filtration for salt water you better forget that idea, a sump is ideal, it's also quite fun to configure and put it on going. __________________ Lalo J.

06/21/2021, 10:23 AM	#10
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	One other thing---evaporation is a good thing in saltwater if you're keeping corals, because you can put a calcium supplement in your topoff (fresh) water, and the evaporation rate keeps it feeding in via the autotopoff. My 50 gallon tank evaps a gallon a day. This does mean you need a lot of very pure fresh water including your very first fill, because the list of bad things in the water we drink is extensive, and evaporation causes buildup of those things in the aquarium. To produce water this pure, get a 4-cylinder ro/di filter (check our sponsors) and use that for your topoff. It strips out everything but the H's and O's in H2O. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

06/21/2021, 11:42 AM	#11
rainsong Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2021 Location: Seattle area Posts: 6	So far, I have ordered a Lifereef SVS2-24 skimmer and purchased a used BRS 6-stage RO/DI. I plan to order a baffle kit for my 40 gallon breeder. Thanks for the good info.

07/01/2021, 07:30 PM	#12
BigDave Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Wylie, TX Posts: 473	The hardest part about making the switch is figuring out how to get the water to the sump. Most of the people I know that swapped either drilled, or had their tank drilled for a BeanAnimal overflow. It worked well for me when I had my saltwater tank running. I went the other way recently and went back to freshwater. My latest house doesn't have the room for the larg 120 gallon Cube'd reef I used to run.

07/29/2021, 08:45 AM	#14
Vinny Kreyling Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Miller Place, NY Posts: 7,206	Unless you know the person with the RO unit I would replace all the filters & membrane. __________________ 250 gallon mixed reef, 2 Reefbreeder's Photon V 2, Deepwater BLDC 12, DAS EX-3 Skimmer, MTC mini cal, 2-3/4" Sea Swirls, Aquacontroller & 6 Tunze pumps.

07/30/2021, 04:46 PM	#15
SantaMonica Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Santa Monica, California, USA Posts: 2,511	I recently sold a Maxcap 180 that was ten years old, with the high-rejection rate membrane option, and it was still outputting .002 __________________ Inventor of the easy-to-DIY upflow scrubber, and also the waterfall scrubber that everyone loves to build: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1424843