new to this place

[vonskeezy28]

hey guys/ladies, name is von. from the bay area ca. new to this forum and is currently looking for advice.

i came up on a pretty decent aquarium over the past weekend. 180 gallon tank which i believe is acrylic. it is saltwater right now and im planning on converting it to a freshwater cichlid infested tank. im planning on getting rid of everything in the tank and start "fresh" lol. still got a bunch of rocks and 3 fishes left. already given the corals away.

and for the advice. the tank right now has a filter system that is running (there are live fishes in the tank as i type) and my question is, would i be able to run the tank way it is? of course change the filters and everything inside (rocks, fishes).

just to help you guys out some, i will take some pics tomorrow of what it looks like, overhead and under so you guys could see the setup. i have no idea what everything is. i use to have an 80 gallon cichlid tank and i just used the filters that you hang on the top. the one in the tank im getting is all plumbed underneath the tank. maybe you guys could lead me to the right path and tell me what stuff is, what i gotta do to make it work with fresh, etc etc..

anybody else from the bay area?

 

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard. We are glad you found us here at AA.

 

[vonskeezy28]

here are some [moderator edit] pics. (ill take some better pics when i get back there myself, just had someone take some pics with their cell) i was wondering, instead of converting back to fresh, that i should just keep it salt. how hard would it be to maintain the tank as is? i will definitely clean up stuff around. i would need help identifying the equipment. and about how much am i looking at as far as upkeep and maintenance on a monthly basis?

 

[vonskeezy28]

Welcome aboard. We are glad you found us here at AA.

hey thanks. i am glad too. lol. alot of useful threads in here and awesome setups/fishes.

 

[vonskeezy28]

here are the better pics! cant wait to restore the tank. it used to be beautiful and my stupid self gave the corals away and bunch of other fishes thinking i was going to freshwater. well, my mind is all the way made up about keeping the tank saltwater. no need to cycle now! haha and i believe the tank is glass. it has silicone on the corners.

no idea why the water is kinda reddish?

onto the pics.








now this is what i need help on!!





and someone took the lights w/o asking.. lol

 

[Dallascowboys16]

The filtration system looks old and pretty beat up but looks salvage able. It looks like you have a protien skimmer in there which is good. Is the system on right now and if so does it look like it's working good? Also are there any power heads in there because I don't see any and I would do a 30-40% water change or larger to get rid of the red tint.

 

[vonskeezy28]

isnt the one next to the algae scraper the powerhead?

 

[vonskeezy28]

The filtration system looks old and pretty beat up but looks salvage able. It looks like you have a protien skimmer in there which is good. Is the system on right now and if so does it look like it's working good? Also are there any power heads in there because I don't see any and I would do a 30-40% water change or larger to get rid of the red tint.

also the system is running right now. how can i tell if the protein skimmer is working good? i am planning on doing a 50% water change forsure when i move the thing.