Fluval external filter

[Aron]

So I bought an external filter and wish to swap it with an internal filter from my main tank. The thing is I bought the external one second hand off someone who had had it running for about six month. My question is, it was switch off and then just the water emptied for a day and transported and then refilled and set back up the next day. No filter media was removed or changed. Will the beneficial bacteria have survived this long or will I have to re-cycle it!? I can't really tell by testing the water as I am leaving the internal one in until the external one is working. Thanks

 

[Aron]

Anyone!? Where's Jetajockey when you need him!!

 

[Scouser]

How long was the filter dry for?

BB start to die off quickly so a matter of hours will see a huge die off, at least in my experience.

The best thing to do IMO is to treat it like a completely new filter

Hope that helps!

 

[Aron]

Cheers, I will leave it up for a month or two before taking out the internal to be sure then?

I have seeded it with about 10% cycled filter media, I don't know how much good this will do!?

It wasn't dry exactly, the media was still moist but it had sat unplugged and drained for about 24 hours.

 

[Scouser]

Cheers, I will leave it up for a month or two before taking out the internal to be sure then?

I have seeded it with about 10% cycled filter media, I don't know how much good this will do!?

It wasn't dry exactly, the media was still moist but it had sat unplugged and drained for about 24 hours.

I would run in for a few weeks, 4-6 to be safe

Seeding helps a bit, but as I said they tend to die off fairly fast, and being a slow growing bacteria it'll take a while to replenish the colonies that've been lost.

Congrats on the new filter though

 

[Aron]

Haha, thanks. My first external... Been excited about removing the big box for a while now!!

 

[Scouser]

Be sure to let us know how it all goes?

 

[Fishy Aston]

Good Stuff

Enjoy the cycle

 

[Aron]

My water test results came back pretty good today, looks like pH 7.8, 0 ammo, 0 nitrite and something low like between 0-20 nitrate. Well I don't know if I just got lucky or if the seeding helped a bit but that's around a two week cycle so far. Will keep an eye on the numbers and test again later in the week!