Salty Life Is Over, Time To Get Fresh.

NRS4LIF

New Member
Aug 11, 2019
3
0
1
48
PDX
As the title indicates, I am officially hanging my saltwater hat and trying on the freshwater one. Saltwater was fun for many years but it was time to leave. One of the biggest reasons why I am switching is because of the animals we keep. Corals are easy to kill and the damage to the environment through coral/fish collection is not something I can support. I know freshwater has its own host of issues but I feel it is by far the lesser of the 2 evils. I want to have an aquarium, and being a good steward to the environment and the animals I keep has moved to the top of the list. I have invested ridiculous amounts of money in aquariums and equipment so I am repurposing as much of it as I can. All saltwater live stock has gone to good homes, all aquariums have been drain and refilled/cleaned with vinegar and water. All deposits have been removed from tanks and equipment. The first aquarium I will start with is a Red Sea Reefer 525XL, it has a 108 gallon display (59x22x22) and a 31 gallon sump . I am choosing to start with this aquarium because of the volume. I am hoping the added volume will give me more stabile parameters and less dramatic swings as I learn freshwater. Some of the equipment may be overkill but it can be adjusted down.

Lights
Hydra 26HD x3
  • 6 - Cree XP-G2 Cool White (> 70 CRI)
  • 6 - Cree XT-E Royal Blue
  • 6 - Cree XP-E2 Blue
  • 2 - OSRAM OSLON Deep Red
  • 2 - Cree XP-E2 Green
  • 2 - SemiLED 415nm
  • 2 - SemiLED 400nm
Each LED is adjustable so the range is 5000K to 20,000K. I am going to shoot for 6500K-7000K. I have been using the Apogee 520 to measure PAR and I can easily hit 150 (7000K) at the bottom of the aquarium 21 inches deep & no substrate yet. I wish I had a way to measure the PUR but I do not. If I can't find a way to get these lights to work, I will sell and reinvest but I need to at least try.

Pumps
Ecotech Vectra M1
  • Pump Type: Centrifugal / DC
  • Flow: 2000 gph (7500 lph)
  • Pressure: 21.5' (6.5m)
Ecotech MP40wQD x2 (inside aquarium)
  • Flow: 4,500+ gph (17,000+ lph)
  • Communicates wirelessly with each other to create different currents
The pumps will be reduced significantly. Need to aquascape first.

Reactors
AquaMaxx XL x2
I plumbed these inline and can run multiple medias simultaneously if needed


Heater

Ehiem 300w heater

Dosing
Bubble Magus w/ extension. No idea of dosing regiment yet but equipment is available should i need it

Controller
Apex Jr will control and monitor pH, temp, and CO2 (5lb tank w/ regulator that came off calcium reactor).

Aquascaping
Manzanita wood, Seiryu stone, Eco-Complete in areas where column feeders will be and ADA Amazonia in places where substrate nutrients are required. Plants TBD and layout is currently WIP.

Anyone that has any recommendations and/or can share their experience switching from salt to fresh is totally welcome. I appreciate feedback. Today everything was filled with freshwater, checking plumping for leaks and all equipment being tested after dismantling.


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Fish Out of H2O

New Member
Jun 3, 2018
21
6
3
Eugene, OR
Great write up and planning on your system. I’m not the most experienced, but one thing stands out. I installed seiryu stone in a tank a while back and then learned they are not inert and may raise GH and KH. I quickly removed and switched out to granite. May be worth some additional investigation to ensure it works for your water, plants and fish.


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Devisissy

New Member
Oct 21, 2019
10
3
3
44
Inland Northwest
There are a group of us that are the only owners of certain coral species left as they are extinct in the wild. The coral has been fragged and passed around and continues to be passed around so that in case it fails in one tank it still has a chance, with the ultimate goal of putting it back into the reefs. Also, only collecting aqua cultured specimens and so on. There are many ways to be conscientious of the environmental impact, also help with awareness and species health, and still have a beautiful tank. Don't even get me started on fresh. Many species are invasive and even just flushing one spore or stem can have detrimental effects on local flora and fauna. Also, some of the collection practices for freshwater fishes is just as bad as collection for salt. However there is a database being made with tissue cultures so that is an excellent thing. So no it's not the lesser of two evils just different. Side note, 20 years in reef, 10 seriously with planted, planted is WAY harder. Also, you are going to want the planted version of that hydra, they are 25% off on BRS right now!
 
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JeremyDMeyer76

New Member
Oct 12, 2018
4
0
1
US
I did mostly SPS dominated reef tanks for 15+ years before getting into the planted tank hobby.

Not going to lie, so far it's been a struggle but I dont miss the salty hard corrosive water.

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