[dbeatty1954]

Hello all, new to the site and just wanted to reach out to those of you more knowledgeable than I am to ask some questions. I have a Coralife Biocube 29 gallon salt water aquarium which I am planning to convert to a planted freshwater community aquarium. I am looking for general suggestions or ideas about how best to proceed. I probably need to replace the original 10000k and the actinic bulbs that are currently installed. Should I replace with the same bulbs? Also what about general cleanup of the aquarium prior to changing to freshwater. Also opinions on substrate. Looking at Eco Complete Live by Carib Sea. Would love to hear your thoughts and opinions. Thanks for the info.

 

[Opare]

Welcome! Some people say that light colour matters other's don't. To be safe I would just switch out to something in the 6000K range. As for substrate Eco Complete is fine but really you have a lot of choices, for me the 2 ways I go are dirted or ADA Aquasoil.
General cleanup I can't help you cus I've never been a saltwater guy.


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[dbeatty1954]

Thanks for info Opare. As for the lighting switch out the Actinic for the 6000k bulb, thus having two 6000k bulbs or keep the actinic and change out the 10000k to a 6000k. Have a great day.

 

[Veritas]

i'd switch out the 10k bulb to a 6k, giving yourself two 6k bulbs.


for general cleanup - when I converted my old 92g Corner to FW - I used vinegar to clean up the SW buildup. Be sure to rinse, rinse, rinse - as the SW remnants will cause an excess of calcium and higher pH than the typical FW planted setup.

I'm also a big fan of Eco-Complete. I used to be a fan of dirt-bottom with a cap....but I tinker with the scapes too much and it gets super messy.


good luck! post pics!

 

[dbeatty1954]

Thanks for the info Veritas. I was leaning that way based on what I have read and heard from others. Once I get started I will post pics, maybe even a before (saltwater) and afters (freshwater). Have a great day.

 

[dbeatty1954]

Well forgot to take pictures of the tank setup as saltwater. Guess I was too excited to tear it down and start cleaning. Guess the trip to Marine Aquarium Warehouse in Tampa got me wound up to get started. Tank is clean, but soaking pumps and powerheads in vinegar to get the coralline algae off of everything. Probably fill tank with water and let run to flush everything well. I will just use floss to catch any particles that might be left. Probably a week or so before I start the freshwater build.