Hello,

My name is Travis and I am attempting to convert a previous Salt water tank, over to a Freshwater tank. I intend to use the old Biolife 55 filter and aswell the old powerhead 802, obviously removing old media and rinsing the tank before I fill it. I have also resealed it with new silicone and it has cured. It is 56 gallon custom made tank and it is currently on it's second day of cycling new water (fresh). The previous occupants were breeding clown fish, now removed, the intended fish upon completion will be an Oscar...perhaps two. Currently Scarface ( my red Oscar) is waiting patiently to get into his new home. I told him last night it might be a couple weeks...

:)

Please suggest anything that you know has worked for you.

Should I ad anything to the water to get the salt residue out of the filter housing?

I have read that freshwater kills all saltwater bacteria as soon as contact...does this mean I cycle it normally now and forget it was ever a Saltwater tank???

Ofcourse I removed, rinsed everything I could and have now introduced the first batch of "tapwater".

Thanks
Trav

Welcome to TFF! :D

Sounds like you've done everything right so far. :) Of course...cycle the tank for a least 4-5 weeks and test the pH and hardness to see if any salt residue is affecting the water chemistry. High pH or hardness could be buffered by lots of water changes, driftwood, and/or peat.

For your Oscar...if you plan to keep him in the 56 for good I wouldn't add another tank mate with him. Oscars are really comfortable in 100+ gallon tanks when adults. In the long run...he'll be 16 inches and producing a LOT of waste. ;) If you like cichlids, downgrade to smaller ones like Firemouths and Jack Dempseys. They can live in a tank that size for the rest of their lives.

Thanks for the post, as I welcome any and all advice, experiences, positive and negative, as I am seriously building this tank up, with high hopes for the future and well being of my fish.

As an aside to the Oscar being in the tank (Scarface) what are other types of fish that could fill into this ecosystem and perhaps be (temporary) friends for him...currently I have a Barb (Old Dirty Barb) and a pleko (Jaques Cousteau) in with him. As well I am thinking of adding a school of smaller fish in with him...perhaps more Barbs??????Someday...

welcome to tropical fish forums,

he'll think of the school of barbs as dinner,hmm what might be a good tankmate for an oscar... i dunno... but i do agree with what shadow said.

well my aim is going towards recreating a stream/river setting that Scarface might have come from (ideally)...with prey fish being accasionally taken as supper. I have created medium currents in the tank in, though have not yet started researching vegitation. I hear he would like to hide under lilly pads, and I aim to find some that are not rooted into the substrate, for he'll likely take them out instead of swimming around the stalks.

ANY PLANT SUGGESTIONS for New World Cichlids????

well, he'll probably uproot most plants, but if you'd really like some plant, either choose a freewater plant like java moss or a floating plant, i say water sprite is a great floating plant.though i myselfdont keep oscars ( or any cichlid for that matter ) i do read alot of info about them, and listen to stoies by keepers of them, and most people who really want plants in with their cichlids choose fake plants.
We have alot of cichlid keepers here on TFF and they can give you personal experience.

Since this is turning into more of an Oscar thread I'll moove it to the New World Cichlid area.

I have been researching cichlids for over a year and some of the best cichlidaholic brains to pick are right here on this forum :laugh: !