converting a 55 Gallon fresh water to salt water best way

[snapper1]

I have a 55 Gallon Fresh water Tank with ciclids and Im thinking about converting the Tank into a Salt Water Predator Tank.I like the rocks I have in the Tank they are a mix of black and White pebbles.At my fish shop I was told that I would need sand,that pebbles would mess with the PH level.Im not sure if that is trying to make a sale or not,I would like your advice on this.Should I leave the pebbles or buy sand and put it in there.I want to leave them and drain the water and add salt water,I know this will kill the ecosystem in the Fresh water tank.I was told to bleach the old base rock,Im not to sure about that.The ciclids will go into a 40 Gallon New Tank I have.How would you convert to salt water without causing to much Damage.Tank will have a grouper and a snapper thanx for advice.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a 55 Gallon Fresh water Tank with ciclids and Im thinking about converting the Tank into a Salt Water Predator Tank.I like the rocks I have in the Tank they are a mix of black and White pebbles.At my fish shop I was told that I would need sand,that pebbles would mess with the PH level.Im not sure if that is trying to make a sale or not,I would like your advice on this.Should I leave the pebbles or buy sand and put it in there.I want to leave them and drain the water and add salt water,I know this will kill the ecosystem in the Fresh water tank.I was told to bleach the old base rock,Im not to sure about that.The ciclids will go into a 40 Gallon New Tank I have.How would you convert to salt water without causing to much Damage.Tank will have a grouper and a snapper thanx for advice.

Okay, not to rain on your parade but first off a 55 gallon won't hold either a grouper or a snapper for very long, especially the grouper so you may wish to rethink that part. There are smaller preditors, like the dwarf lions that are much better suited to that small of a tank.

Secondly, the pebbles are not a good idea in a saltwater environment, for one thing you don't know what type of stone it is and how it will react and secondly the bacteria you want to encourage (to process ammonia into nitrite into nitrate) needs more porous stuff to grow on, which is why sand is often used. For another thing they will trap a lot of detrious, and cause issues that way.

Thirdly, about your base rock, what kind of rock is it? Usually, what is used in freshwater tanks is not suitable for the marine environment. It's not worth it, IMO, to use something that may or may not be suitable in order to save money then find out the hard way it doesn't work. You can waste a lot of time, and money doing things that way. Better off to buy liverock, or a mix of liverock and suitable dry base rock.

What are you planning on using for filtration?

 

[snapper1]

well lawdawg I have had many groupers and snappers over the last 3 years in my 55 Gallon Tanks and they have done rather well.Thank you for the advice with going with sand over pebbles it sounds like good advice to follow snapper1 out.

 

[Anonymous]

i understand that using the same materials used with the previous inhabitants saves money, and that is not a bad idea. things to consider would be a good cleanup of the material and an evaluation of its sutability for the environment you wish to create.. if you had ciclids i have seen people use base rock as a building block because of its ability to raise ph and keep the water hard. evaluate the materals and use what you can. if the pebels on the bottom are non reactive then the might work fine but i do not recomend using anything with a coating. next to that i would recomend picking up a good skimmer like a remora which will help you keep the water quality higher longer... didnt know what or if you had planed to use one though.

 

[Deo]

Hi,
Your freshwater materials (rocks and sand) in my opinion may be used for saltwater, why not...but it will take a long time to acclimate or cure itself to saltwater. Do you know that used stinky tires are being used to propagate/grow more corals...because over time...nature (thanks to the saltwater bacteria) clean them and make them environmentally safe for corals, corallines, clams, etc. to attach and live on. When large ships (made of whatsoever materials) sink, they become reef haven after number of years...but not in a month or two.
But if you want your new saltwater aquarium to cure fast, use rocks from the sea where the saltwater bacteria are already in.
Deo