Alli. . . need some help. . . again :)

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Mr502go

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Sep 7, 2003
Messages
105
Location
Kennesaw, GA
I know I probably shouldn't have, but I changed the cartridge in my penguin, the water kept overflowing in the spill way where the inlet tube was coming out. I've had the Bio-wheel running the whole time, sooo, I'm hoping that's got enough budding beneficial bacteria on it to work right. It was just overflowing tooo much, I think it must have been a defective cartridge or something, flows much better now, but am concerned about bacteria.
 
LOL jeez; I go to a wedding and all hell breaks lose ;)

Its quite possible the cartridge wasn't defective, but was clogged up. Next time try rinsing it in tank water (like the stuff you take out in a water change). It'll help clear it, leave the bacteria alive and well, and save a couple bucks on buying one for each filter media change *grin*

In the meantime, keep a close eye on your water parameters. I'm unsure if the tank bacterial colonies have matured enough; you may in for a round of water changes. Hopefully the bio-wheel is colonised enough to deal with it.

And once that wheel IS colonised? You can change the filters as much as you want; I have yet to notice any ammonia/nitrite spikes after completely changing media (although I check every time just in case). I don't change it everytime tho; I'm cheap (but I'm not easy!) and I see no reason to buy those expensive proprietory cartridges every 2-4 weeks. One of these days I'll find sponge filter media big enough for the Emperor 400 that I run on the 55g, and I'll never change media again (least, not for ages); just rinse it out when needed.
 
Kewl good, advice, I'll check and see what my params are again when I get home tonight.

when you add bio-spira, are you supposed to put it directly in the tank water, or in filter??
 
Doesn't say. I like to put it into the filter just cause its gonna wind up there for the most part anyway, but thats a personal preference and I don't know if it really makes a difference.
 
I poured the Bio Spira directly into my filter. Actually, I poured a fair amount of it directly onto my Bio Wheel. If figure that is where I want most of my bacterial colonies to reside so that is where I placed them. Seems logical but not sure if it really makes a difference in the end. :?
 
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