Going From A Power Filter To A Canister, With Fish

[Squeegeatc]

The day is here...the 125 gallon made it safely and we are moving it in tonight.   Decor starts tomorrow, using all of the old and some new sand.  I realize we have a new problem.   The new filter was called a canister by Brother in Law, but has the balls like a Wet/Dry filter.   So I'm pretty sure it's a Wet/Dry. 
 
The plan is to move all plants/substrate/decor/fish at the same time.  I know the power filter I have won't be adequate to tend the volume of water, and the wet/dry won't have the bacteria.   I am pretty sure that I can run both simultaniously, and this will hopefully allow the bacteria to grow in the WetDry.   In the mean time, the power filter will ensure that my ammonia levels stay level.  
 
Am I correct???

 

[DrRob]

Slightly confused with the terminology. The name of the actual filter may help, or photos of that or the media. Some balls are indeed designed as submerged media.
 
To try to clear up from what I can grasp, if you run both filters then they should be able to handle whatever bioload they were previously handling, give or take a small amount of hit from being messed with and assuming they've not dried out or been kept stagnant for any length of time.
 
Over time the bacteria would gradually spread across all of the available surface area, preferring the better spots with the right levels of nutrients/flow that they like. This can be a pain, as it can mean that taking away one filter can take half of the bacteria in one go, which can be a problem. I've done it before though with introducing a new filter by gradually removing media from the old filter, forcing the bacteria to gradually colonise the new one more. I moved the old filter onto another tank when it had about 1/3 of it's media left.

 

[Squeegeatc]

The new setup is still in the back of the pickup truck. Waiting on men to get off of work for grunt labor. The newer filter has been dry for months. So the biofilter portion there is shot. I see your point about suddenly taking half of the biofilter away. I think slowly removi g the 2nd filter media may be the way.

I also thought about just sticking the old media into the new filter. But until I get it out and look at it, I am not sure it is a viable option.

 

[Squeegeatc]

Here is the filter.  Any ideas??   I think I can probably stick the current media inside it.

 

[KieranBoyne]

Ive never seen a filter like that in my life.... Sorry i couldn't be of any use. But i wanna know what the heck that is lol

 

[thefishmesswithmywater]

I am sure once the filter is running you could add old filter material to the balls to help start the process, just like any filter. The bio balls are different and require maintenance but different to other filters.
This link may help http/www.aquariumfilterguide.com/freshwater/wet-dry-filters

 

[malfunction]

Looks like a sump filter. I don't there'll be any issues with running it alongside your internal filter and once colonised, it'll become much more efficient than you power filter. You probably could place your existing media inside without any issues, however, just to be safe I'd recommend transferring it across bit by bit. I'd personally transfer a third of the media at every two weeks.