Internal to External Filter

[Mr Plow]

Hello

I am after some advice. I have my 100 litre planted community tank running for about 2 months without any issues, fish and plants all doing well. It was a 2nd hand buy that came with a Fluval U2 filter that I have been using. The filter needs cleaning every few days as the flow drops which is a pain, I don't mind doing work but having to take out the pads every few days seems excessive and after a just 1 or 2 clean the fine pads need replacing (I only replace one side at a time so not to lose all the bacteria) which is becoming costly (even when not using the fluval pads). I am also concerned the filter maybe on the way out as it looks fairly old and does make a few strange noises from time to time. So I did some research and have ordered a Sicce Space Eko+ 100 external filter as reviews are positive, I will probably add some different bio media (as per Pond guru pimp my filter You Tube suggestions).

Which would be the best method to go from the internal to external, run both for a few weeks until the external has built up its own beneficial bacteria or do I take the media and sponges out of the internal and somehow add them to the new external? I don't want to risk my fish when they all seem to be doing so well. The tank is quite well planted with a substrate of Tropica aqua soil capped with medium course sand, and some drift wood pieces for decoration, so I assume that will have some beneficial bacteria built up as well as the filter. The fish are 6 x Black widow tetras, 4 x platys, 5 x bronze corys, and one 1 x bristle pleco which I dont think is a huge bio load for a 100L tank (is it??)

Any advice would be appreciated, thank you.

 

[GaryE]

I'm not familiar with your new filter, but you could transfer the media if it fits. That would save you from the constant cleaning of the filter. But running both for 5=6 weeks would also do the job. I've done both successfully.

 

[sonofagun]

I can tell you what I did.
We lost a tank to a bad leak so we transferred our filter media into the new tank filter.
We cut our old filter pads to let us put them in the new filter alongside the new filter sponges.
The new tank has been running for a week now....all ok.
Right or wrong that's how we got over it.
Before i forget have not removed old filter sponge bits as to yet.

 

[TNG]

You can run both filters for a few weeks as you mentioned, although that's not really necessary as the tank is well planted and with driftwood pieces.
With your Fluval U2, you can run it without the black carbon pads. That will reduce the running cost and the cleaning frequency. I have the U3 which is similar to the U2, just a bit bigger. I run it without the carbon pads. The foam pads have been in the filter for well over 18 months, I clean them about every 2 weeks and haven't replaced them yet.