Fluval 405

[nymustang50]

OK.. I have a 36 bow front fish tank currently had it for about 5 years now and most of the fish inside it I have had for that almost whole time as well. Its running with a canaster Eheim Classic filter 2213-37 I believe. I'm getting a new/used tank from my uncle its a 72 bow front. He is also giving me his Fluval 405 filter but I want to replace everything inside it before I use it this way its like having a brand new filter.. Just that its used. So what I'm asking is what I should replace and with what and how much. I don't have it yet will be picking everything up this weekend sometime from his house.. Also its been awhile since I started a tank from scratch what should I do as far as cycling before I put the fish from my 36 into it. I remember when I got my 36 all I did was ran it for a week or two with no fish in it and then started adding fish but I brought water samples to local fish store for checking every couple of days. So what should I do with this one? Same thing?

 

[three-fingers]

What kind of stuff inside it do you mean you want to replace?

Like just the media?

If the 405 has been off a fish tank for a while it would be a good idea to get a new o-ring, if lest unused to dry out for a while they can sometimes be leaky when you use them again. While your at it, but some lubricant for it too.

For setting up the new tank, use old media from your eheim filter to 'clone' the bacterial colony so you can add fish straight away .

 

[onebto]

Someone should be along shortly to tell you to bin the fluval 405

Advise for the tank check the pinned topic cycling by Miss Wiggle all you need

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861

Good luck

 

[nymustang50]

What kind of stuff inside it do you mean you want to replace?

Like just the media?

If the 405 has been off a fish tank for a while it would be a good idea to get a new o-ring, if lest unused to dry out for a while they can sometimes be leaky when you use them again. While your at it, but some lubricant for it too.

For setting up the new tank, use old media from your eheim filter to 'clone' the bacterial colony so you can add fish straight away .

Yea the media and sponges.. But I dont know what ones to replace them with. And no its currently working on that 72 bow its running right now at my uncles still. So I dont think I will need o rings since it will only be turned off for maybe a day at most. So your saying I should use my old media. I dont really want to if you understand I just want to start off all fresh and new with this one. I dont care about waiting before adding fish that doesn't bother me.

Someone should be along shortly to tell you to bin the fluval 405

Advise for the tank check the pinned topic cycling by Miss Wiggle all you need

[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861"]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861[/URL]

Good luck

Ok I will wait then for more to tell me how to bin it.. And thanks for that cycling topic I was just reading that before..

 

[three-fingers]

Yea the media and sponges.. But I dont know what ones to replace them with. And no its currently working on that 72 bow its running right now at my uncles still. So I dont think I will need o rings since it will only be turned off for maybe a day at most. So your saying I should use my old media. I dont really want to if you understand I just want to start off all fresh and new with this one. I dont care about waiting before adding fish that doesn't bother me.

I don't really understand...since using new media would cost more and take longer and bring no actual benefits since it will end up the same way in a short period of time, but whatever floats your boat .

The 405 has 4 trays methinks, and the water works its way up from the bottom to the top.

So apart from the 2 packets of these you will need, I would have the top two trays filled with one big box of proper bio media like (but brand isn't important) fluval biomax.

The third tray down should have a coarse mechanical media- one box of something like this should do.

For the bottom tray you can either put more of the above, or put some cheap filter wool from your lfs cut to size (a bag costs about £1.75). If you go for the filter wool your water will look much clearer (but the qater quality will be the same), but you will have to change it every one-three weeks depending on how much debris is floating about in your tank. So the wool would be more maintenance.

If you start with new media, you are going to have to cycle the tank properly. Whether you do a fish-in you fishless cylcle, putting even some old media (provided its been running on a tank with with till the point you take it out) will speed up the process greatly .

 

[nymustang50]

So what your saying is if I use some of the media from my old tanks filter the eheim i can put the fish in right away??? Also what media in it can I should I use from my old on into my new filter?

Can I use this for as the wool? Fluval polishing pads

Also you didnt mention any carbon.. Shouldnt I have some in there?

 

[three-fingers]

You can use the ehfisynth in the bottom basket if you want, it seems to be just more expensive filter wool, looks a bit finer though so you will need to change it often.

The media you should transfer over to the new filter should be bio media, as that's where most of the bacteria are. I dont know what bio media you have in your eheim, so I cant say what you should move over.

But ifyou move all the mature bio media over, yes you can add fish instantly. Dont wait a day before adding the fish though, do it as soon as possible, because otherwise the bacteria will just die off and you may as well have used new media.

 

[nymustang50]

OK.. sounds like a plan.. Move all old media except foam over and then add fish right away sounds good.. Also one more thing should I use any water also like 10 gallons of it or 15 from my old tank and put it in as well into the new to help???

 

[three-fingers]

Putting in old water from your old tank will be completely insignificant compared to the media, so only bother if it's easier than dechlorinating new stuff .

 

[nymustang50]

ok.. found out it was a 404 instead of 405 but still good... What are these was told to put them at bottom but they dont look like the pre filter ones that you see in store.. These seem to be round and coarse.

 

[three-fingers]

Looks like biomax, put it in the top compartments.

 

[waterdrop]

Reading this thread it seems like so much trouble to move media from the eheim into the used fluval rather than just re-using some of the uncle's biomedia. It seems a misunderstanding of how valuable it is to have mature biomedia already in the type of media that fits the filter.

If the uncle's fluval has ceramic media (or sponge media that is not shredded or damaged) and the tank was a freshwater tank then there should be nothing wrong with continuing to use it and the two species of bacteria already established will be exactly the same as what would come from the eheim.

You could still begin to work in fresh media, in fact you could do 2/3 fresh, 1/3 old, say of the ceramic rings shown in the picture. That way, the one third that was retained (wet) from the uncle's house should be working at full capacity from the start I would think.

And additionally, I think that three-fingers suggestion of performing lubrication on the o-rings is an excellent idea. Many filter owners neglect this important bit of maintenance, thinking it hardly is ever needed when in fact its a really good habit to clean and rub these up with jelly each time filter maintenance is performed. They can sometimes last the life of the filter with good treatment like this.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[nymustang50]

my uncle already empty it out so all that was left inside it was those things and he told me to put them at the bottom so i did i put them at the bottom on top of the wool.. So right now I got everything running and have the filter setup like this from bottom to top wool those things in that picture then carbon my uncle had and then a box of biomax i put on top.

 

[nymustang50]

Think I know what they are. [URL="http/www.petstore.com/ps_ViewItem-idproduct-HG11340-tab-4.html"]http/www.petstore.com/ps_ViewItem-idprod...1340-tab-4.html[/URL] is that the same as normal biomax thats in the fluval boxes?

 

[three-fingers]

Yes it is the same. They should go in the top compartments or they wont work as well.