I Need To Replace My Pump

[mossonthemoon]

I need to replace my pump, and was about to order the same one but thought I would ask advice first. I have a Juwel Rio 180 that came with a Juwel Bioflow 600. 600 litres per hour sounds good to me for a 180 litre tank, but to be honest I'm not really sure about these things. The tank has built-in housing for the pump, filter media, heater, etc. Should I stick with the same pump?

I also just read someone here saying "You should never change what is in your filter despite what the manufacturers say..." I was planning on getting all new media and gradually replacing it (or perhaps even doing so right away considering the circumstances (you can see the tank disaster post from almost a week ago). It has been fairly stagnant because of what happened and I have a quarantine tank so I can do a cycle without the fish in the big tank once I get the pump, and I guess it shouldn't take too long since I have all of the wood, rocks, etc. Is this still a bad idea? And once the filter is going, should I really never change the media (I know carbon must be changed if used). My filter tends to have 1x Poly Pad, Carbon Sponge, Nitrate Sponge, Coarse Sponge, Cirax, 2x Fine Sponge, but we didn't always have carbon in there.

 

[Mikaila31]

I don't know anything about that pump. As far as media replacement, you can as long as you do it correctly and gradually, but its really not needed. I have a canister filter that has been running for 7 years and still has a lot of its original sponges and media. IMO the only time I would change media is if its either a polishing mat/fiber or you want to switch to a different type of media. There is nothing wrong with changing media it just doesn't need to be done honestly. Doing it just to do it is more a waste of money then anything else.

 

[mossonthemoon]

Thank you, that's good to know. The reason I was thinking of doing it now is because the tank was left stagnant for about five months. This was completely out of our control. As far as I remember there was a water change just before that and everything was very good (this was a planted tank). When we got back to it we were shocked to see four live fish, but no airflow. The pump needs to be replaced and I don't know how long it was dead, so as far as I am aware, no airflow might mean anaerobic bacteria are present, which would be very bad (I assume).

Disregarding the brand, is 600 litres/hour a good level for a 180 litre tank?

(By the way I have no idea how I managed to post in this section. I must be tired.)

 

[Mikaila31]

Thank you, that's good to know. The reason I was thinking of doing it now is because the tank was left stagnant for about five months. This was completely out of our control. As far as I remember there was a water change just before that and everything was very good (this was a planted tank). When we got back to it we were shocked to see four live fish, but no airflow. The pump needs to be replaced and I don't know how long it was dead, so as far as I am aware, no airflow might mean anaerobic bacteria are present, which would be very bad (I assume).

Disregarding the brand, is 600 litres/hour a good level for a 180 litre tank?

(By the way I have no idea how I managed to post in this section. I must be tired.)

yes 600 liters is good for a 180 liter tank.

Its not only you lol. I was caught off guard just now when I realized my reply was in this section. XD