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? asked in PetsFish · 9 years ago

How do you convert from freshwater to salt water?

I'm not planning on doing this anytime soon but on the off chance i wanted to convert my 55 gallon freshwater tropical tank to a saltwater tank, how would i go about doing it? At this point the tank has a sand bottom, would that need to be changed if i converted or could i keep it?

4 Answers

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  • ?
    Lv 6
    9 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    The sand would need to be changed to argonite sand and you will need about 55 lbs of live rock (this is one of the most expensive parts of a SW tank). Ocean sand (the stuff you buy) will keep your pH where it needs to be and usually still have beneficial organisms in it. For a 55 gallon you really should have a sump but I do know a few people who get by without one. You will need a protein skimmer, a powerhead or wavemaker (SW tanks need lots of water movement), and probably a better filter. If you want to keep corals then you will need to upgrade your lighting (to what depends on what you plan to keep). The absolute first purchase I would make, though, would be to buy a couple of good SW aquarium books. SW aquariums are too expensive and fragile to go into without research (unless you like throwing your money away on dead fish, that is).

  • 9 years ago

    You would have to change it and get live sand live rock salt mix new lights its like starting all over again saltwater and freshwater are like night and day the 1st thing you would need is a good book on how to set up saltwater

  • Anonymous
    4 years ago

    i could recommend you particularly examine what you're doing. common aquarium salt won't make it a saltwater tank. you ought to purchase marine salt. And a saltwater tank is a conventional cost. you elect sand, stay rock, marine salt, the perfect filtration, and additionally the perfect lights. i'm no longer being recommend in any way, only giving some suggestion. I researched for some 3 hundred and sixty 5 days and a a million/2 till now i began out a saltwater tank.

  • Anonymous
    9 years ago

    You would need to go to the pet store and buy special salts. Ask your local pet store employee for steps to take.

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