switching for salt to fresh

Hi im switching a 55 gallon from saltwater to freshwater. my question is if it stays a bit of salt in the water will it kill the fish. and i want to keep my send bed will that be a problem? Thanks

 

HMM, I'd so no on the salt, as alot of FW tanks add a "little" bit of salt to their tanks. The sand bed sounds like it may be a bad idea though. I'm guessing all the saltwater bacteria and critters are gonna die and make it a nightmare. But maybe ya can rinse it real good and reuse it. Some one else will chime in I'm sure.

But I'd clean the heck out of the tank and definitely sand if you reuse it. I'd get new, $25 shipped from reefrocks.net

 

It isn't that you reuse the sand, it's what's in the sand that'll be the problem. The bacteria that process nitrogenous waste in saltwater and fresh water are not the same. This means the saltwater bacteria and anything like worms will die and you'll have quite the cycle for your freshwater tank.

 

Thanks so ill let the tank cycle empty for a while. But the salt doesn't go away will that be a problem?

 

No, you can run small parts of salt in the water and it'll be just fine. The salt will go away with more water changes. I would flush everything out with fresh and that should take care of a good chunk of it. Definitely rinse the sand and what not.

 

Check the salinity after. Brackish water fish like mollies & guppies would be fine either way. You could always start with them. Over time the salinity will come down with water changes. My guess is you won't find much to begin with, maybe 1-2 PPT at the most!

 

Research the fish you want to keep. Some have a very low tolerance for sea salt. The "salt" for FW tanks is a completely different product than marine salt mixes.

I wouldn't recommend reusing the sand. It would be like reusing it in a new SW setup, only worse.