Filter Advise Please

[Gilli]

Not really new to the hobby but I posted this in the tropical discussion section but no one seems interested in answering so I hope I have more luck here!

OK so a panick on my part where I thought one of my fish was sick thankfully turned out to be nothing, but the good thing was it made me go out and by a small tank,filter, heater, temperature gague and a few plastic plants for a quarantine tank.

My main tank has an undergravel filter so I know nothing about other kinds. I have purchased a Stingray underwater filter and have it running in my main tank ready for an emergency. My questions are will it take 6 weeks before it can be used (as I know my tank took around 6 weeks to cycle). How will i know when its ready?

Also reading the instructions it has 2 sponges in it and 2 carbon filters which it says I should replace one sponge and one carbon filter once a month - is this recommended?

How often should I clean the filter? I know I have to rinse the sponges out in tank water only but what about the actual filter - the same?

when I return the filter to the main tank again do I need to do anything before hand as I know I have to disinfect the quarrantine tank, heater, plants etc?

 

[mark.w.jones]

Run the filter in your main tank when it's not needed in your smaller quaratine tank otherwise there won't be any beneficial bacteria within it. You need to move it to your main tank now as leaving it running in an empty tank does nothing to help cycle it. If possible get rid of the carbon and replace it with another sponge. Carbon is not really needed and the extra sponge will provide more space for bacteria to colonise. Cleaning wise, squeeze out the sponges in old tank water once a fortnight when you do your clean. Sponges need replacing only when they fall apart not every few months as it says in the instructions. If you throw the sponge away you throw away all your good bacteria.

 

[OldMan47]

3 or 4 weeks should be enough to get the filter fully cycled. The only way I know of to find out would be to try it in the hospital tank with some ammonia and see how well it performs. You won't be able to tell in an already cycled tank.
If you use it in a quarantine mode on your small tank, you could return it directly to the main tank when you are ready to move the new fish in. If you are using it as a hospital tank filter and the fish don't recover, I would tear it down completely and disinfect the filter, then dry it thoroughly because very little that affects fish will survive being dried out. After that you can start bringing it back to a cycled state by putting it back in the main tank. There will be a gap of a few weeks but that should not be a problem because you seldom need to deal with illness that often that it wouldn't be ready in time.
Be aware that when you are using medications, many will advise you to remove the carbon while it is being used and then put the carbon back when the treatment is finished. I would remove the carbon now and use the available space for more sponge or similar biological media. When you use the filter after the treatments you would have fresh carbon to use. Since carbon quickly becomes ineffective, it will be best to always have fresh ready to go.

 

[Gilli]

Thank you for your replies. The filter is already in my main tank as I said Jonesy - I do understand the bacterial build up process and the need for cycling - im just not familiar with this kind of filter.

I had already removed the carbon cases and thanks for the tip - I will buy some sponge and put that in the cavities for extra bacteria!

Still need to know how do I clean the actual filter box - do I just rinse in removed tank water as the sponges or do I need to scrub it under the tap?

 

[OldMan47]

Most of the filter box can just be rinsed in tank water but I would use a small diameter bottle brush to get into the area where the impeller drive goes. That area has fairly tight clearances and needs to be kept clean or the impeller will stop turning.

 

[Gilli]

Thank you very much for your help!