Filter Change Question

[BigHilda]

Hello everyone,
I'm new to the hobby. I have a ten gallon tank with one male betta. The tank has cycled nicely (I used Bio Spira and it only took about eleven days to cycle completely). I am coming up on when I am supposed to change the filter cartridge, and I am wondering about the bio-filtration that has probably built up in there. I have read in several places not to change "more than half" the media at a time, but the problem is that I have a Tetra Whisper Micro filter, and it only has one cartridge. I wanted a smaller filter so the betta wouldn't have such big currents to annoy him. Should I change just the carbon or just the floss? (It's sort of a two part filter - should I keep using the old carbon for a while and then after a few weeks replace it with new carbon after the "new" floss gets about two weeks old?) Just wanting to find some answers before it's really time to change my filter.

Thanks!
Laura

 

[Lateral Line]

You certainly don't want to replace all of the media, as you say, you will be throwing out your beneficial bacteria.

I do not use chacoal/carbon in my filters, in my opinion, it's effectiveness is way over stated. I only use some if I need to remove some chemical I have used for treatment - and that is very very rare.

If I were you, I would rinse the carbon in a little tank water, and put it back. The same with the floss, if it is really gross, replace it, but in a set up that small, I would expect it to last for months, maybe years.