Replacing filter with LR

[MarkW19]

When I've got enough LR, I'm going to get rid of my external Eheim wet/dry canister altogether.

Its looks ugly, needs quite a bit of maintanence, and is the loudest part of my tank

So, basically, how will I know when I've got enough LR and bacteria in my tank to cope with the tank's bioload, without needing my filter at all? Bearing in mind, I guess the filter's wet/dry feature helps quite a bit.

The only plus my filter would give would be increased waterflow, and a place to put my rowaphos/carbon, but I intend to get a small hang-on-side filter for this purpose.

When/if I get rid of my filter (won't be for quite a while) is there anything else I need to pay particular attention to in the tank that I wouldn't neccessarily be too bothered about with my filter set up?

Can anyone advise?

 

[theatrus]

I assume you can remove parts of the media in the Eheim over time? You want to do it slowly to give the bacteria in the LR time to catch up. Maybe at most 1/8 - 1/4 of the media every 1-2 weeks, checking ammonia along the way. If you notice a rise, let it sit until the level goes to 0, and slow down on the media removal

 

[lando]

Once you have between 1.5 and 2lbs/gal of LR you should be able to ditch the filter. Do you have a DSB? I second the idea of removing the filter media slowly from the filter. Are you running a skimmer?

 

[MarkW19]

I've got about 21KG of LR in my 35gallon, maybe a bit more, which is 46lbs.

And, I'm not going to get anymore. I've got more than enough (aesthetically) as it is!

Bare in mind that none of it was bought as LR, it was dry CaCO3-based baserock.