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Converting from Freshwater to Saltwater

© Winston Vaughan Schoenfeld

About every month, I get a question about converting a freshwater aquarium into a saltwater aquarium. This is a natural progression for aquarists that are interested in moving to the next level of aquariums. Most commonly, people are interested in knowing what additional costs are involved and if it can be done easily. In this article, I will try and list out a few tips that will help you to understand what components must be replaced, and what you should think about when deciding to make a transfer of your freshwater aquarium to a saltwater.

Lets start with the filtering system. The most common saltwater filtering systems are undergravel and wet/dry trickle filters. Most freshwater aquariums use a box filter or undergravel filter, so if you have a box filter you should consider replacing it with either an undergravel or wet/dry trickle filter. I have used a wet/dry trickle filter for several years and have been fully happy with its effectiveness. Depending on the size of your aquarium, you should be able to find a reasonably priced wet/dry filter for under $200.

Lighting for a saltwater aquarium can be a bit more involved. First you must choose if you are interested in having invertebrates in the aquarium. Additions such as live rock require different lighting, and higher intensities. If you are simply interested in maintaining a fish only aquarium, then you can get away without changing the lighting that you used for your freshwater aquarium. However, if you decide that you want to include live rock, etc... you will end up having to purchase a new lighting system. The lighting will depend on the contents of the aquarium, and can vary greatly in cost. For those of you interested in a fish only aquarium, your only consideration should be if you want to add an actinic blue light. This gives a blue tint to your aquarium, and really enhances some of the natural colors in the fish. As a side note, consider sticking with a fish only system for a few years and then decide if you should jump into a reef system. I say this because aside from lighting, it will cost you much less to convert from a freshwater to a saltwater aquarium than from freshwater to reef. Bottom line, unless you are interested in live rock and invertebrates, you should not require any lighting changes. For those of you that are curious about the actual cost of a lighting system for a reef aquarium, you can expect to pay between $200 and $500 depending on the size of you aquarium and the lighting options you choose.

The copyright of the article Converting from Freshwater to Saltwater in Aquariums is owned by Winston Vaughan Schoenfeld. Permission to republish Converting from Freshwater to Saltwater in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.