Replacing Filter In Aquairum

[Rollxr]

Hi Guys had a question, so during a water change i’ll replace my filter but however i will transfer the old filter media and put it in the new filter, and both are HOB’s btw. I also have another sponge filter in the tank, my question was when i do the filter replace, will i spike ammonia?

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello. When I wanted to replace the media too, I would just squeeze the contents of the old filter onto the new one and that seemed to work as well. The bacteria is on all surfaces inside the tank, so if you lost a little during the filter media change process, it wouldn't impact the tank very much. The good bacteria goes very quickly. What's lost during the filter cleaning or replacement process is soon replenished.

10

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Hi Guys had a question, so during a water change i’ll replace my filter but however i will transfer the old filter media and put it in the new filter, and both are HOB’s btw. I also have another sponge filter in the tank, my question was when i do the filter replace, will i spike ammonia?

Nope, if you're transferring all the old filter media into the new filter, it won't spike ammonia. It would functionally be exactly the same as doing a filter clean where you swish the filter media in old tank water to rinse it out, but clean the actual filter casing/tubes etc under the tap (how I tend to clean my filters!) You'd still have the same amount of nitrifying bacteria.

If you only transfer some of the filter media, then it takes a few days for the two types of bacteria to reproduce enough to handle the same bioload as before, and that's when people can see an ammonia/nitrites spike. But if the tank is lightly stocked and has live plants, that's not usually such a concern, and if you're aware and prepared for it, you can easily manage the tank in those early days by increasing water changes and using a water conditioner that binds ammonia and nitrite, Seachem Prime. It doesn't take long for the bacteria colonies to regrow to the previous size, but it does take a few days, it isn't instant.

But since you're transferring all of the old media, you don't need to worry.