Freshwater to saltwater

[waternut13134]

Hi all, I'm new here,I have a 56 gallon tank that is currently set up as freshwater but will soon be turning it into salt. I just purchased a wet/dry filter for it and envy thing. My main question that I have is that currently my tank has 40 lbs of live sand in it right now,I've heard I can just rinse it and use it for my salt set up? But I have also been reading a lot of people say to use aragonite instead, if possible I would like to use the current sand I have but if it will save me problems down the road I will fork out money for the aragonite. Which is the best? Pros and cons? Thank you all for your help!

 

[slice]

I don't have an answer to your question, someone here does though, I'm just dropping by to say:
Welcome to the site!!

 

[fixpc]

Most sand in a freshwater tank would be silicon-based silicon-based sand would cause a large brown algae outbreak in your tank that you will never be able to get rid of because the brown algae eats silicon and you get it a whole lot of food. You would need a sand made out of calcium for a saltwater tank if that's what you have that you should be able to rinse it out and use it again. Io not use a silicon-bass sand trust me you going to want to rip your hair out of your head if you use it also 40 pounds a sand sounds like a lot dry not alot wet make sure you know exactly what kind of sand bed you want to have in your tank a shallow sand bed should be no more than 1 inch high a deep sand bed should be more than 4 inches high deep sand beds serves purpose but can be a lot of work.

 

[waternut13134]

Thanks for your quick reply, it's the ocean naturals sand. So is that calcium based? Or is that silica? Thanks for your help
The bag did say for freshwater I believe, and it was soaking wet in the bag for the live bacteria.

 

[fixpc]

if it for freshwater it is not calcium the reason why I know it's not calcium is because in freshwater calcium we change the pH in the tank and probably kill all the freshwater fish. I am pretty sure it's silicon-based. A calcium-based sand would be very white in color.

 

[bang guy]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Waternut13134 http:///t/390347/freshwater-to-saltwater#post_3456079




Hi all, I'm new here,I have a 56 gallon tank that is currently set up as freshwater but will soon be turning it into salt. I just purchased a wet/dry filter for it and envy thing. My main question that I have is that currently my tank has 40 lbs of live sand in it right now,I've heard I can just rinse it and use it for my salt set up? But I have also been reading a lot of people say to use aragonite instead, if possible I would like to use the current sand I have but if it will save me problems down the road I will fork out money for the aragonite. Which is the best? Pros and cons? Thank you all for your help!




If the sand is pure silicon then it will be fine but it needs to be rinsed very very well. Silicon sand does not cause algae blooms. This myth comes from using impure playsand which is definately not pure silicon. If it's possible that copper medication was ever used in the tank and you are thinking you may want to keep invertebrates like Shrimp, Crabs, Snails, Coral, etc. then the sand would also require an acid cleansing and at that point you really would be better off just buying new sand.
If it were me I would start with new dry aragonite sand and then after the tank has cycled I would top off the sand with live sand freshly harvested from the ocean.

 

[fixpc]

There also benefits from using calcium base sand It reacts with water to disslove slowly releasing the calcium and magnesium which fish and inverts use, and carbonate which buffers the pH of the water. Saltwater tanks should have a pH of aroun 8.2-8.4, and while the aragonite won’t raise it this high on its own, it will help keep it around 7.8, so if your water source has a lower pH, it will help keep the organisms in your tank alive if the pH falls from where it should be. Sand is made of quartz (silicon dioxide) and is inert in water, so it won’t provide these benefits

 

[waternut13134]

So basically the sand I have in my tank is safe to use? I have not used any type of chemical besides prime in that tank.

 

[xandrew245x]

If its the sand i'm thinking it is, its packaged in 20 pound bags with water straight from the ocean. I was told to buy this sand from the guy at ***** for my saltwater tank. If this is the sand your talking about, it would be fine to just rinse it out really well, and use it again.