I Should'nt Of Done That...

[adam98150]

Being the stupid person i am i swapped my filter for a fluval 3 plus without leaving them both in a tank for a few days, my tank is cycled. How long would it take for the bacteria to manafest the new filter? And can this harm or kill the fish?

 

[kimmers318]

You might be okay since alot of the bacteria is supposed to be present in the decor and gravel also. Do you have a test kit to keep an eye on water parameters in case something starts to go down hill? With my built in filters they have replaceable filter pads so when I replace them I am essentially removing the existing filter and haven't had any issues so far. If you are really worried you could try some cycle or biospira. Not everyone believes they can work, but I started one tank with cycle and it seemed to help, another for some strange reason showed a slight spike on nitrite only (less than .25, but not quite 0) after several water changes due to illness issues and water cloudiness so I added cycle and haven't seen any readings register in 2 days.

 

[adam98150]

Ok, thanks ill leave it for a week or so and see how it goes.

 

[Raven_24]

Can't you swap the old filter sponge over and put it in your new filter? or do half and half?

 

[BHornsey]

Hi,

How long has the old filter been out? If any more than 2 - 4 hours then the bacteria will pretty much have died out

As stated, if the tank was fairly mature than bacteria will also exist in the gravel. Also, if it's a planted tank, the plants will assist by consuming some of the waste products.

However, you should brace yourself for a mini - cycle. Keep an eye on ammonia and nitrite levels for the next couple of weeks and do some daily water changes (up to 50%) if things get out of control (ammonia over about 0.5 or any nitrite reading)

Keep fingers crossed

 

[adam98150]

Ok, thanks.