Converting 24 Aquapod from reef to fresh

[ouspeedbump]

I have a 24g Aquapod that I have had running as a reef tank for about 3 years now. I really loved it, had a pair of black and white clowns that, after raising them from babies, were finally showing signs of becoming a mated pair, a great clean up crew, and some hydno, zoas, etc. I moved to a town 1 1/2 years ago where there is only one shop that has any SW supplies at all, but they are mainly FW and pet grooming. Prices are astronomical!

Well, my roomie was trying to be nice and change the carbon. She didn't rinse the bag out (she used dishsoap on it, too) and it killed everything in the tank except for the bristleworms, which I swear could live thru a nuclear holocaust.

I can't afford to start completely over, especially in this town, so I have decided to convert it to a FW tank. Anyone know what I need to do to make it work? My main concern is filtration. I also plan on washing out the crushed coral base I had in the SW setup and using it instead of pebbles. Any thoughts on that?

Any ideas and suggestions will be much appreciated!

 

[Lotus]

Sorry to hear about your fish

Yes, you can use the Aquapod as a freshwater tank. You'll need to remove all the rock and sand, and use a freshwater substrate. If you're planning to get plants, one of the plant substrates like Eco Complete or Flourite would be good. Crushed coral will raise the pH of the water in a freshwater tank, which isn't usually a good thing. The filtration will be fine. Just use new carbon and rinse out any bioballs or other media well. If you're going to keep plants, change the light to a 6700K or a 10,000K bulb.

 

[rcjester]

Well it sounds like you're almost starting over as it is. Converting from SW to FW is pretty much a complete change. Like Lotus stated, don't use the crushed coral, or you'll run into more problems down the road. You will have to use all new carbon filtration as the biological makeup will be very different from you SW tank. Sorry to hear what happened to the SW. I lost a 55g SW a few years back, and I'm finally starting over just with a FW myself right now.

Welcome to the Forum - You'll find a great deal of information here, and people that are willing to help with everything.

Hope everything works out.