Filter help

[Country joe]

I will be soon purchasing a Juwel Primo 70 aquarium, it comes with the Juwel Bio Flow one filter, I was thinking of using goop, or putting this filter in my cycled 125 tank, if I did this, how long would I leave it in the 125 tank, before returning it to the new tank, and could I just place it in, or would it have to be switched on.

 

[Magnum Man]

I can't give you a time... but you'll need to flow water through it for the bacteria to get a place to park, & they need some sort of water exchange, you can't just fill it, & turn it off...

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello Magnum. You could go a couple of ways. The fast way would be to squeeze the contents of an established filter onto the sponge media of the new filter. Otherwise you could put the new filter into an established tank and just allow it to run for a few weeks. I would think a month to six weeks would be plenty of time for the bacteria to establish itself in the new filter.

10

 

[Colin_T]

The new filter should be run in the other tank for at least 1 month and preferably 2 months. Two months will guarantee some filter bacteria in the new filter whereas 1 month might not.

The filter will need to be on for the good bacteria to grow in it.

The easiest way to set up a new filter if you already have an established aquarium, is to take half the filter media from the established filter and put it in the new filter in the new tank. You get an instant cycled tank and can add fish straight away, then monitor ammonia and nitrite levels for a week or two afterwards to make sure the filter has established properly.

 

[Country joe]

Thanks for that I'm surprised at the length of time amounts to 6 weeks, goop not too expensive, will have to look at would be the best, at least sticking it in the aquarium is free.

 

[Essjay]

The reason it takes a couple of months running in another tank is because the bacteria live in the biofilm in the original filter. It takes time for a few of them to leave the old filter and set up home in the new filter; then those few need to multiply.
Filter bacteria are constantly dying, and new ones being 'born' when an existing bacterium splits into two. If the fish load remains constant, the total numbers of bacteria remain constant. As bacteria slowly colonise the media in the new filter, the numbers in the old filter decrease to maintain that constant bacteria number. After a few months, the total number of bacteria is the same but split between the old and new filters.