How To Change A Filter?

[razer121]

hi guys im a bit stuck here, at the moment im running a interpet ph1, its a very annoying and NOISY filter...so ive got my hands on a fluval plus 2 which makes hardly any noise at all! but im stuck because i dont know how i would change them over, ive had the tank running for approx 2 weeks so its still cycling mind, and also i do think i have an ammonia spike atm which im slowly trying to destroy.....so any help would be great!!

 

[AdAndrews]

take all the media out of the current filter, stick it in the new one and run as normal

problem solved.

 

[razer121]

take all the media out of the current filter, stick it in the new one and run as normal

problem solved.

i did think of that but there a VERY different shape and i cant just swap them over.....

 

[arobinson1984]

If they are sponges then just cut them with scissors to the best shape you can to get them to fit in the fluval

Andy

 

[AdAndrews]

take all the media out of the current filter, stick it in the new one and run as normal

problem solved.

i did think of that but there a VERY different shape and i cant just swap them over.....

cut cut the sponges up(not too small) and stick them in

 

[razer121]

ok, im going to trust you guys as i dont know what im doing lol, but i do have room inbetween the fluval's to filter foams, theres a gap of about 1 cm between them, would it be ok if i just put the cut up filter media in there?

 

[marcybeth0281]

Is there any way you can cut the old media sponge to fit the new? Can you take a nylon stocking and fill it with some of the media from the original one?

It's hard not knowing the specific filters you have. I know they all have a somewhat different shape - but the nylon stocking trick can usually be helpful when dealing with two types of sponges/media/such.

 

[razer121]

i dont know about this nylon stocking trick??? could you give abit more details on it? all i know about my filters is that one is an interpet ph1 and the new one is a fluval plus 2....

 

[rabbut]

To answer your previous question, yes you can just put the old filter's media into the gap between the filter foams in the new Fluval

 

[Geoff1991]

Just something to watch out for,

When i changed my filter, i think i still had a very minute mini cycle. I was told this is because i lost bacteria actually living ON the filter housing.

 

[marcybeth0281]

it seems like you'll be fine just stuffing the sponge pieces in based on what the others have said...

but FYI - instead of buying expensive filter refills of carbon and ammo chips and whatnot, I just buy both in bulk and stuff them in a rinsed knee-high pantyhose (nylon) and tie up the top. you can mold it to be round or flat, or whatever shape you need for your filter. i also use the nylon trick when speeding up the cycling of a new tank. I take some rocks from an established tank and put them in the nylon and sit it in the new tank - helps spread the old good bacteria without having to spill rocks everywhere.

 

[razer121]

now i get nylon trick!!! thank you lol, well i of course am not going to do this tonight its to late but im intent on switching them over tomoz, thanks for all the info guys!

 

[rabbut]

I'd argue that you don't want to use Ammochips. It's a chemical media that will out-compete and kill the beneficial bacteria. Carbon may be worth having lying around, but it's expensive to run permanently. Carbon does most of it's work in the first 12 hours it's in...

Floss is well worth bulk-buying though.

As a tip, sock Ammochips in salted water and you are use them again as new. The salt sucks the ammonia out of the chips, letting you re-use as many times as you realistically will do. I only ever use them when I have to set-up a QT tank without mature media...

There is a lot of bacteria in the gravel. Unfortunately, it isn't the filter bacteria in there, unless you happen to run a UGF (Under Gravel Filter). The bacteria that colonises the gravel breaks solid waste into Ammonia (and other things) for use by plants or filter bacteria. Adding them may help your tank mature, but it won't help the cycle along

All the best
Rabbut

 

[razer121]

ok, im still pretty new to this so im not sure what sock Ammochips are...or how to use them and such, i dont have gravel btw.......i have sand, does that make a difference?

 

[rabbut]

Basically razer, all you need is the old filters media inside the gap in the Fluval's sponges The mention of Carbon and Ammochips were to warn marcybeth off using them on a permanent basis, and a little money saving tip for them if they do opt to run their filters with those media's. Call it a mini-thread hijack sorry about that if it's caused confusion...