Switching from HOB to canister. time before I can remove HOB

[turbovr6]

I am making the switch from a penguin 400 to a XP3 in my 47gal. The tank is about a year old. I have them both running now. How long should I wait before I can ditch the biowheel system?

TIA......

[Fishyfanatic]

2 to 3 weeks. I'd do 3 just to be on the safe side though.

[ingg]

I can pretty much insta cycle a tank by keeping biomedia in my canisters, and putting it in the new filter on new tank startup.

I don't have biowheels; it has sponges/media in it that can be put in the xp3? Those seed the new filter if so, if not, run it a coupla weeks, yup.

[neilanh]

You can put the media from the HOB into the canister if you like, to get rid of the HOB right away. Even the biowheel, you can tear it into pieces (keeping it wet during the process) and put it in the canister that way. Any foam or biomedia in the HOB can go into the canister.

If you elect not to do that, I'd give it 3 weeks or so of parallel usage.

[turbovr6]

thanks everyone. I'll just be patient and run both filters for the next 3 weeks.

This XP3 is great!!! My tank was a PIA to keep clean/uncloudy. (I have a bad habit of overfeeding my fish). The water looks better than ever and I've had the XP3 running for maybe 12hrs!