I do! I’m thinking some anubias varieties, Java fern, christmas moss, etc. I guess I’ll see when I get there!
I’m not getting the same filter though. I may, if I can have a betta Ef 5 in my 10gal. Since it is a 5 gal filter, will that filter be okay in a 10?
I’m planning on getting this filter-
Quiet flow
If that one isn’t going to do me very well, what filter should I use? I’ve only ever used filter cartridges though.
Ooohh honey, I'm glad you posted! Those cartridges are an expensive rip off, and encourage you to throw away your beneficial bacteria every month or so. There's no need, that's just how they make a profit. Remember that the filter is meant to sift out muck, and provide surface area for the nitrifying bacteria that processes the fish waste and keeps the water safe. You don't need ammonia remover cartridges or carbon all the time. You don't need to buy a new filter either, just some basic filter sponge you can cut to size to fit the filter you have, and ditch having to replace expensive cartridges all the time!
Helpful videos about adapting your filter and saving you a lot of money! Sponge only needs rinsing in old tank water now and then, and lasts for years.
You don't need the same kind of filter or to swap the filter over completely to seed the cycle of the new ten gallon. How many cartridge things are in the current filter? Swapping one cartridge and maybe a handful of gravel in a net bag or similar should be enough to "seed" or "kick start" the cycle in the new one.
You're basically adding live bacteria from your current tank, instead of trying to use the ones from bottles that might not be the right bacteria and might not help (patent stuff,
@Essjay or
@TwoTankAmin could explain much better!) but you're adding some of the beneficial bacteria you know you have in your current tank since it's already cycled. Make sense? Then it's just a case of growing those bacteria colonies according to your new tanks bioload needs. I've set up a seeded cycled like this in an emergency when I had poisoned shrimp, and it took about four days of nitrite spiking while those bacteria were catching up to the bioload, so I used Prime and did large daily water changes and it caught up in 4-5 days, no more spikes, and could reduce water changes.
If you do this, it isn't an instant cycle, and it's not a stable, established, fully cycled tank yet. But it is a lot faster than cycling from scratch, and most of us who already have a tank use current filter media etc to kick start a cycle, since it's such a long process otherwise!
