Novice Filtration Question

[gte068w]

Hi Folks!

I'm a new member of this community and have found the forums to be incredibly helpful as I'm learning my way around aquarium life. I setup my first real aquarium back in May and aside from a few minor hiccups along the learning curve, things have gone well.

I've read conflicting advice about the filter changes from different sites so I was hoping to get some clarification from this knowledgeable community. I have a 26g bowfront tank with an Aqueon Quietflow 20, which I have come to realize is insufficient for my tank size (its what came with the kit.... yes, live and learn ). My new Aqueon Quietflow 30 will be here tomorrow so I plan to swap it out. Once a month I've been replacing the filter media cartridge.

My questions are:

1 - Should I be replacing the cartridge each month or am I essentially removing the biofilter and creating an unending cycling scenario?

2 - When I replace the actual power filter tomorrow, am I going to have re-cycle my tank?

Thanks in advance for the guidance.

 

[Canary bird]

Hi Folks!

I'm a new member of this community and have found the forums to be incredibly helpful as I'm learning my way around aquarium life. I setup my first real aquarium back in May and aside from a few minor hiccups along the learning curve, things have gone well.

I've read conflicting advice about the filter changes from different sites so I was hoping to get some clarification from this knowledgeable community. I have a 26g bowfront tank with an Aqueon Quietflow 20, which I have come to realize is insufficient for my tank size (its what came with the kit.... yes, live and learn ). My new Aqueon Quietflow 30 will be here tomorrow so I plan to swap it out. Once a month I've been replacing the filter media cartridge.

My questions are:

1 - Should I be replacing the cartridge each month or am I essentially removing the biofilter and creating an unending cycling scenario?

2 - When I replace the actual power filter tomorrow, am I going to have re-cycle my tank?

Thanks in advance for the guidance.

1.. Yes you are removing the good bacteria, you shouldn't need to replace it , just rinse gently in tank water and put back in the filter

2.. leave both filters in and running, I have just recently bought a rena xp3 canister filter and have left my internal filter in place , probably for a couple of months, that way I know my new filter is good to go on its own .. And not cause a mini cycle ..

Hope this helps

 

[Link119]

You can also mod your aqueon to use better media easily. First of all, the carbon supplied in the filter cartridge is not necessary so you can buy some polyester quilt batting (make sure it doesnt have any additives like fire retardants and anti mold stuff which is usually stated on the bag. It will be safe if the bag says hypoallergenic) and you can make your own cartridges using the old frame of the cartridge once the floss falls apart. What i have done is got a media bag of bio max and i put it at the bottom of the filter chamber, then i took some quilt batting and i cut it into squares the width of the bio holster and i rolled it into ovals and stuffed the ovals snug against the bio holster so and they are staying there.

What you can also do is get a fluval edge prefilter and put it on the aqueon 20 and then just dump a good amount of biomax into the filter and that can be a dedicated bio filter. Then you dont need to worry about your cycle being lost and the prefilter will just need to be rinsed weekly in some old tank water to maintain good flow through it for your bio filter. Then you can just use the aqueon 30 as your mechanical filtration.

 

[gte068w]

Thank you

I'm glad I asked

Thank you for both the tips on the media as well as maximizing the filter. Since I already ordered the new filter I figure I might as well use it (it wasn't expensive) but I'll definitely stop replacing the cartridge once a month and instead move to rinsing.

 

[flitabout]

I just straight take the the carbon out of the filter There is such a small amount of it in there I feel that it does more harm than good and then I use the cartridge until it falls apart rinsing it in dirty tank water when I do water changes.
I would personally run both filters at the same time. Because and it is just my personal opinion more is better for filteration unless you have a type of fish that doesn't like a lot of water movement.

 

[BBradbury]

Hello gte...

The water keeping hobby isn't an exact science, so expect several different answers. Your old filter was fine for your tank. You just needed to change out more tank water and change it more often. The filter doesn't keep the tank water pure, only large, frequent water changes will do that job. But, when you get the new filter, do a large water change and squeeze the contents of the old filter into some of the old tank water. Drop the new filter media into the old water with the squeezings. Set up the new filter and put in the new media that has soaked up all the bacteria from the squeezings.

Fire up the new filter and you're "good to go". There is all kinds of good bacteria on all the surfaces inside the tank, so any that was lost in the old filter media will reproduce to its former level in the tank in a few hours.

From now on, change out half the water in the tank at least every two weeks, a bit more often is even better. Don't feed very much and your fish and plants will be healthy.

B

 

[FishSim]

Hello gte...

The water keeping hobby isn't an exact science, so expect several different answers. Your old filter was fine for your tank. You just needed to change out more tank water and change it more often. The filter doesn't keep the tank water pure, only large, frequent water changes will do that job. But, when you get the new filter, do a large water change and squeeze the contents of the old filter into some of the old tank water. Drop the new filter media into the old water with the squeezings. Set up the new filter and put in the new media that has soaked up all the bacteria from the squeezings.

Fire up the new filter and you're "good to go". There is all kinds of good bacteria on all the surfaces inside the tank, so any that was lost in the old filter media will reproduce to its former level in the tank in a few hours.

From now on, change out half the water in the tank at least every two weeks, a bit more often is even better. Don't feed very much and your fish and plants will be healthy.

B

That is great info! I have a Marineland Penguin Bio-Wheel filter and I bought extra replacement filter cartridges. If I knew I could run with the old cartridge by just cleaning the old in old tank water I would've never spent the $ until I needed to!

 

[gte068w]

Thanks again

Thanks again for the great advice. When I cleaned the tank on Sunday I swapped out the filter cartridge so going forward, I'll keep it and just rinse it in the tank water during water changes.

Hopefully that combined with more frequent water changes will help keep the water clear and help the fish thrive. Thanks all!

 

[Ian086]

1.Don't change the media every month.
2. Just put the old media in the new filter....done, cycled