Changing filter cartridge....

[Mofo2713]

I am about to change my filter cartrige and was wondering if I can just put the new one in there and take the old one out or what?

 

[Menagerie]

How long has it been since you cleaned the filter cartrige? Most of the time, it will be fine if you rinse it in used tank water.
If you are really excited about changing it, squeeze the bacteria from the established filter to the new one.

 

[Mofo2713]

Almost finished cycling the tank so it has been through a lot. Loaded with brown crud and cleaned it a few days ago and water is still flowing back down intake valve. "Squueze bacteria from old filter" What do you mean?

 

[Menagerie]

There's a bunch of crud on your filter, which is good. I don't clean the filter pads until flow is affected, which takes a month or more.

water is still flowing back down intake valve.

Hmmmm, that's not right. Even if the filter pad is full of crud, the water in my tanks still flows properly. Try unplugging the filter and take out the pad and see if gunk is in the fliter itself.

"Squueze bacteria from old filter" What do you mean?

You can take the new filter pad and rub it against the new one, this will tranfer some bacteria. However, I would not change out the pad since the tank is not finished with the cycle.