Switching A Filter Out

[soritan]

I purchased myself a new filter, an Aquaclear 20. I would like to use it, in place of my current filter.

My current tank is a US 10 gallon, heavily planted with a gravel substrate, bogwood, 3 ADFs, 7 ghost shrimp, and 1 otto (so far). My current filter is a Tetra Whisper 10i. I've set up my Aquaclear 20 and am running it in conjunction with my Whisper. I think I've read somewhere on here, that you should run the two, together, for about 2 weeks, before removing one.

Is that about right, for a filter swap out?

I may wrap the intake on the new filter with sponge of some sort, because I'd rather not have so much current in there while I'm cycling out the new filter.

I wish there was some way to speed it along.

 

[dgwebster]

I believe the alternative would be to try and swap part of your existing filters media to you new one - that way you should keep the bacteria/migrate it.

Failing that, you would need to run both because if you do a straight swap, most of your good bacteria will be lost when you remove your filter - with such small tank, i'd dare say there is a risk of poisening your fish very quickly. any more experienced people here able to offer suggestions?

 

[soritan]

Yep, I know most of my good bacteria live in my filter, and all that. I thought of trying to cram my old media into the new filter, but my old filter is long and thin, and my new filter is more brick-like.

I also toyed with the idea of cutting my old filter's sponge into pieces, and putting it into my new filter.

Being an Aquaclear, it came with a baggie of activated charcol, I could easily remove that to make room for my old filter's media. However, it wouldn't really be room for All the media, just most.

Oh! Hell.

I could also remove my NEw filter's sponge, to make room for the Old filter's sponge.

Obviously, I lack caffeine.

 

[rdd1952]

You should be fine to run them together for about 2 weeks and then remove the old one. As dgwebster said though, you could simply move all the media from your current filter into the new one. I'm not totally familiar with the Aquaaclear but I do know that whisper filters use the filter pack. Just take the pcak and put it in the new one (take the plastic thing out that holds it straight if necessary so you can fold it to fit).

 

[soritan]

Ok, so I took the sponge out of my old filter, swished it in some declorinated room temperature water to get some algae off it, folded it, and put it into my new filter. It fit once I took it off the wire frame that the Whisper used.

Part of why I wanted to trade out was that algae on the filter -- with the sponge being right next to the light, inside the filter, algae was forming on the top of my open-top filter. Very bothersome, that and the flow was totally unadjustable.

I'll keep a close eye on the water stats. I hope that being without the other catridge won't greatly effect my cycle. The whisper was 2 pieces, a foam peice, and another piece that was labeled "filter cateridge", which I think was used for mechanical filtration.

*edit: Whoa, I just removed my old filter. It's so BRIGHT in there, now. I don't think I realized how much light that internal was hogging to itself.

 

[Gazoo]

I purchased myself a new filter, an Aquaclear 20. I would like to use it, in place of my current filter.

Soritan, did your AquaClear 20 come with a free sample of a BioMax insert? If not, I think it might be worth checking out since it helps the biological filtration. I keep them in all of my filters.

 

[dgwebster]

you can still start a new sponge. a method if seen alot of recently is simply to cut your new sponge in half, and run it with half of your old. then eventually remove your old and replace it with other half of your new. effectively migrating/infecting/impregnating your new sponge.

you could also place your new sponge in the water near your filter intake - it will allow new bacteria to cultivate it. I have no idea on the recommended times to be doing this for though.

 

[soritan]

Yep, mine came with biomax. I have it installed and everything. How long is yours lasting? I have some LECA that I was going to use as biomedia for my new filter, before I opened the box and saw it came with biomax.

Those are some good ideas for starting the new sponge... I think it'd be a good idea to give one or two of them a shot, if only to make room for possible activated charcol use (you never know).q

*Edit: My algae problem seems to be going away, as well. I have a red crypt in there that was coated in BGA, and now all the BGA on it seems to be gone. The only remaining algae I have in there is hair and beard algae, and my otocinclus seems to be eating the hair algae. My beard algae isn't spreading like it was before, either. Amazing what a difference having an un-comprimised filter does to my tank.

 

[Gazoo]

Yep, mine came with biomax. I have it installed and everything. How long is yours lasting? I have some LECA that I was going to use as biomedia for my new filter, before I opened the box and saw it came with biomax.

It seems like it will last a long time like the sponge insert. I've just been swishing it in old tank water (like the sponge) to clean it. I've also been using the media to help cycle new tanks.