New Filter Help.

[Jimmy120883]

I've got an established tank but the filter is on its last legs so bought a new one.
Do I put the new one in the tank with the old one and run both until the bacteria builds up on the new one?
If so how long for 1-2 weeks a month?
Not sure the Internet giving different answers.

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello. Tank filters don't do much to keep the tank water clean. They take in dirty water and just return it to the tank a little less dirty. Get an inexpensive sponge filter and an air pump to run it and simply change out most of the tank water every few days. That's all you need to do.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

 

[sharkweek178]

I've got an established tank but the filter is on its last legs so bought a new one.
Do I put the new one in the tank with the old one and run both until the bacteria builds up on the new one?
If so how long for 1-2 weeks a month?
Not sure the Internet giving different answers.

Can you use the filter media from the old filter in the new one?

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

If you can, pop the old filter media into the new one and Bob's your Uncle

 

[Jimmy120883]

Can you use the filter media from the old filter in the new one?

Unfortunately not the media is totally different.

 

[Essjay]

What kind of media is the old media? Sometimes they can be persuaded to fit eg cutting up a sponge.

Does the tank have live plants? When there are a lot of live plants there are very few bacteria on the media.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

How old is your tank? If its well established there's probably enough BB in the gravel etc to cope with the bioload until the new filter can grow its own bacteria

 

[Jimmy120883]

How old is your tank? If its well established there's probably enough BB in the gravel etc to cope with the bioload until the new filter can grow its own bacteria

That's what I originally thought, but when asked the question and looked on the Internet there was all sorts of different answers.
I've always bought the same brand of filter so never had this problem before.
My tanks very well established (years)
To be on the safe side might leave it in for a couple of days then.

 

[Essjay]

If all the bacteria were in the filter, the new filter would have to be run together with the old one for at least 2 months. At the end of that time the total number of bacteria would be the same but spread between the two filters in proportion to the surfaces available to them.

But as has been said, not all the bacteria live in the filter; they live on all the surfaces in the tank which included the grains of the substrate. And plants mean that fewer bacteria grow compared to a plantless tank.


If you can squeeze some of the old media into the new filter, it would help seed the new filter.

 

[sharkweek178]

That's what I originally thought, but when asked the question and looked on the Internet there was all sorts of different answers.
I've always bought the same brand of filter so never had this problem before.
My tanks very well established (years)
To be on the safe side might leave it in for a couple of days then.

What kind of filters are these?