New Filter In An Old Tank

[DogFish]

I moved everything from my 10 gallon to a new 30 gallon, and have a new larger filter in the 30 as well as the old filter.
How long until the new filter is ready to take over on its own, ie, that I can take the old filter out?
Thanks!

 

[raptorrex]

I moved everything from my 10 gallon to a new 30 gallon, and have a new larger filter in the 30 as well as the old filter.
How long until the new filter is ready to take over on its own, ie, that I can take the old filter out?
Thanks!

i left mine in with both working for a month. then left the filter in the tank not running for about a week. dont know if thats right but it worked for me.

 

[DogFish]

Thanks boboboy, that seems about right - if it normally takes, what, 6 weeks or so to cycle a tank, I would think a month or more to get the new filter set up. I'm not in a rush to take out the old filter, just curious and want to know......

I moved everything from my 10 gallon to a new 30 gallon, and have a new larger filter in the 30 as well as the old filter.
How long until the new filter is ready to take over on its own, ie, that I can take the old filter out?
Thanks!

i left mine in with both working for a month. then left the filter in the tank not running for about a week. dont know if thats right but it worked for me.

 

[ox5477]

then left the filter in the tank not running for about a week

If the filter isnt running....the water isnt moving over the media.....the bacteria die.....the filter is useless and needs to be re-cycled


Its good to use filter media from an old filter to jumpstart a new tanks filter. But don't ever turn a filter off even for a few hours(unless of course your tank is fish/plantless and your just emptying it for storage). That will hurt the bacteria and may destroy your colony and stop your filter from doing it's job.

 

[raptorrex]

then left the filter in the tank not running for about a week

If the filter isnt running....the water isnt moving over the media.....the bacteria die.....the filter is useless and needs to be re-cycled


Its good to use filter media from an old filter to jumpstart a new tanks filter. But don't ever turn a filter off even for a few hours(unless of course your tank is fish/plantless and your just emptying it for storage). That will hurt the bacteria and may destroy your colony and stop your filter from doing it's job.

quite true, except the water is moving. by the curent caused by the other filter. its been discussed on forums that putting the filter media into a stocking, or some such, is a good idea. in such cases. the filter housing is not that much different!! though maybe transfering the media to another more porus container might be better.

 

[ox5477]

then left the filter in the tank not running for about a week

If the filter isnt running....the water isnt moving over the media.....the bacteria die.....the filter is useless and needs to be re-cycled


Its good to use filter media from an old filter to jumpstart a new tanks filter. But don't ever turn a filter off even for a few hours(unless of course your tank is fish/plantless and your just emptying it for storage). That will hurt the bacteria and may destroy your colony and stop your filter from doing it's job.

quite true, except the water is moving. by the curent caused by the other filter. its been discussed on forums that putting the filter media into a stocking, or some such, is a good idea. in such cases. the filter housing is not that much different!! though maybe transfering the media to another more porus container might be better.

Yes thats fine if you put the old media in the new filter to get the new media started. If you just place the media into the tank, make sure its right by the filter outflow, but preferably in the filter as it may not be enough flow from the filter anywhere else in the tank to keep your bacteria colony healthy. Key is to always have as much flow across or through the media as possible as this will keep the tank and the bacteria as healthy as possible.

I apologize as I thought you meant you just turned the filters off in the tank and let the water sit. My mistake