Hello everyone I recently decided to sell my African cichlids and make the change to Saltwater. The guy at the fish store told me to just add salt to the freshwater and let it go through a quick cycle. So thats what I did. After I added it I thought I would look online to see how long it would take to cycle and found all kinds of posts saying you should start fresh and take the tank down completely and clean it before you start a saltwater tank. Too Late... I understand the process of cycling a tank and I've kept healthy fish for over 5 years in 55 gallons and now my new tank which is a 125.
My tank is a 125 with aragonite sand
I have 2 AC110 HOB filters and 1 Rena XP3 canister filter
2 Large pieces of lava rock very porous
2 powerheads
Here is my question:
Now that I've already added the salt, even though people say to break it down and clean everything first. Will my tank be ok? I'm not worried so much about waiting for the cycling to complete because I read that the salt will basically kill everything that was in my tank before anyway because they are different types of bacteria, But I was wondering if the dying bacteria and algae from the fresh water(that died from the salt) would kick start the cycle for the salt water? What would be some of the causes for concern? I would hate to throw away the money I just spent on all this salt If the tank would be ok. Please let me know from experience if this is ok even though some say not to do it, as I've already added the salt. The day before I added the salt I cleaned all filters with tap but just rinsed the sponges and filtermedia in tank water in a bucket and did about an 80%water change. I do not have any fish currently in the tank.
Thanks a lot for any and all input.
Brian
My tank is a 125 with aragonite sand
I have 2 AC110 HOB filters and 1 Rena XP3 canister filter
2 Large pieces of lava rock very porous
2 powerheads
Here is my question:
Now that I've already added the salt, even though people say to break it down and clean everything first. Will my tank be ok? I'm not worried so much about waiting for the cycling to complete because I read that the salt will basically kill everything that was in my tank before anyway because they are different types of bacteria, But I was wondering if the dying bacteria and algae from the fresh water(that died from the salt) would kick start the cycle for the salt water? What would be some of the causes for concern? I would hate to throw away the money I just spent on all this salt If the tank would be ok. Please let me know from experience if this is ok even though some say not to do it, as I've already added the salt. The day before I added the salt I cleaned all filters with tap but just rinsed the sponges and filtermedia in tank water in a bucket and did about an 80%water change. I do not have any fish currently in the tank.
Thanks a lot for any and all input.
Brian