Filter swap

ellena

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I have a 180l juwel vision and use the internal box filter it came with. It’s constantly getting blocked up though so the flow slows to almost nothing every couple of weeks. I used to have a bristlenose (she died ) and I thought it was her waste, but it’s still the same.
It also makes a low hum sometimes which I can’t hear, but it drives hubby mad
So I bought the fluval U4 and I wondering how to do the transition. It holds a LOT less media which worries me
I could chop up some of the old media and make it fit the slide in compartments of the new filter, or remove the compartments altogether and just fill with old media. Or leave both running for a while, or do that but seed the new one.
Whatever I choose, I’ll have to reduce the volume of media at some point, so what’s the best way to do this please?
Thanks
 
I'd do a bit of both.. chop some media from the old and put it into the new and keep them running together for a couple of weeks
 
I'd do a bit of both.. chop some media from the old and put it into the new and keep them running together for a couple of weeks
I’m in the process of doing just that at the moment.
Going from the original ugly hang on internal back filter to two of those green plastic twin-foam air hose powered filters that have two canmisters for plastic/ceramic beads.
All three been running together for two weeks now. Next WC I’m gonna cut up some of the original filter foam and put it into the canisters alongside the plastic ceramic beads. Then leave everything running for another couple of weeks.
The original filter irritates me in that as well as being ugly, bulky, visible and needing a cut off stocking foot to prevent it chewing up floating plants it requires a lot of care during a WC. Needing to be removed from tank, stocking removed, completely emptied, drained of water, everything internal replaced, stocking rinsed n retiEd, rehung etc THEN it’s a carry on getting the electricity cable exiting tank at just the right angle to prevent seepage along it. Even after all of that it’s still 50-50 if there’s not an awful noise emitted for an hour or so afterwards.
Itll be kept for emergency purposes only. Horrible things.
 
I have a 180l juwel vision and use the internal box filter it came with. It’s constantly getting blocked up though so the flow slows to almost nothing every couple of weeks. I used to have a bristlenose (she died ) and I thought it was her waste, but it’s still the same.
It also makes a low hum sometimes which I can’t hear, but it drives hubby mad
So I bought the fluval U4 and I wondering how to do the transition. It holds a LOT less media which worries me
I could chop up some of the old media and make it fit the slide in compartments of the new filter, or remove the compartments altogether and just fill with old media. Or leave both running for a while, or do that but seed the new one.
Whatever I choose, I’ll have to reduce the volume of media at some point, so what’s the best way to do this please?
Thanks

Mixing both old and new filter is the quickest way for the beneficial bacteria to be transferred to the new filter.
After 1-2 months, you can discard the old filter media and replace with all new media.
But if the old filter media are still good, you can continue to use them.

Anyway, you will have to reduce the volume of media whenever you change to smaller filter unless you change to a bigger filter or use two new filters.

By the way, do you have sand or soil or driftwood that caused the filter to slow down?
If possible, put the filter higher to prevent it from sucking in the sand, soil or debris from the driftwoods.

It will be better to find out the cause of the problem.
If not, the problem will happen again even with new filter.
 
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Unfortunately, the Juwel filter is attached to the tank with silicone so it can't be moved. The only way to get it out of the tank is to saw through 8 silicone blobs. I used to have a Juwel tank and I swapped the filter.
 
It's always best to solve a problem at the root cause, rather than compensating for it externally (in this case adding a new filter). Perhaps, the inlet tube is too close to the substrate? Maybe the media is too fine and plugs too easily? Maybe there's excess plant debris stopping up the works? Maybe this, maybe that?
------
In any case, if it's an established tank (>=6 months) you can swap filters with little regard to media. It's a myth that most or all beneficial bacteria lives in the filter media. In the established tank, there's far more in the substrate.
(commercial bio-media's are rated based on their calculated or theoretical surface areas. So consider the 'acres' of surface area in the substrate - far more than in any media, in any filter!) :)
 
The Juwel filter has a white pad first in the direction of water flow. This is meant to catch all the bits of debris so it doesn't reach the sponges. Do you replace the white pad regularly? It clogs quickly and falls apart after a couple of washes so it does need replacing every couple of weeks.


This is the filter in question, the Vision 180 has the Bioflow M filter. Water is dawn in through the top vents, down through the filter media and up through the heater chamber to the pump; water is drawn into the heater chamber directly through the bottom vents; this water does not pass through the filter media.


Edited for spelling :blush:
 
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Thanks everyone :cool: The substrate is coarse sand/fine gravel. I cut the filter off the side of the tank as soon as I bought it. It was at the wrong end, in your face as you walked through the door o_O So it just sits on the media now, with a fishnet stocking round it, tied at the top. This because I had several fish jump in and get stuck!
The sponges are covered with thick brown slime when the flow slows, I squeeze/scrub that off and take the impeller etc apart and brush it down (though it never seems dirty) and then the flow is restored. I replace the white pad each time I clean it, so every couple of weeks. It’s filthy!
The tank is a few years old, so well established. I have some ceramic beads in the old filter and a bag of them in the new filter, so that might be the easiest thing to swap over :good:
 

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