Saltwater marine to tropical

[nickbloodworth]

I've just bought a Hagen Tropiquarium 88 off EBay, and the tank was used for saltwater marine.

I want to set it up for tropical, do I need to do anything special to prepare it for tropical ?

Will the BioLife filter be OK, or should I change the media in it ?

I'm also looking at putting sand in it, I can get play sand for £3 for 25KG but I don't know how many bags I'll need. The dimensions are 85cm (W) x 37cm (D) x 48cm (H). Any ideas ?

Can I get pre-washed sand ? Dreading the cleaning of the sand.........

Thanks,
Nick.

 

[Dragonscales]

I am not personally familiar with that specific tank, but it should be fine. Just give it a good wash with fresh water to get rid of any salt residue and you should be good to go.

I would also change the filter medium as it will contain salt as well. The bacteria in saltwater will not survive in freshwater so is useless anyhow.

Prewashed sand? Hmm, I wish Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I think you will find that you will have to wash it in 99.9% of cases. Speaking from experience though, it's not as bad as you'd think, just a pain due to how long it can take. Just keep rinsing it until the water clears, then rinse it a little more. You'd be suprised how much sand a tank can hold also so buy a bit more than you think you need and you should be fine (it's always good to have a little extra lying around anyhow).

 

[nickbloodworth]

I also had some dead rock with the tank, and would like to use it in my tank. If I just boil the rock, will it be OK to use ?

I read somewhere that play sand is just as good as aquarium sand, is this true too ?

Sorry about all the questions.......

Thanks,
Nick.