New Filter

[PrettyDiscus]

I was planning on taking all of my fish to the lfs because i was going to add some Discus later on. The problem i have is that i want to change from an internal to an eheim 2028 external and i dont know how to transfer the beneficial bacteria. There will be no fish in there to help it cycle. My other question is that Discus like a matured filter but whilst my internal is nearly a year old this new one will only be about 6 weeks old. can someone help please?

 

[KimA]

I was planning on taking all of my fish to the lfs because i was going to add some Discus later on. The problem i have is that i want to change from an internal to an eheim 2028 external and i dont know how to transfer the beneficial bacteria. There will be no fish in there to help it cycle. My other question is that Discus like a matured filter but whilst my internal is nearly a year old this new one will only be about 6 weeks old. can someone help please?

Hi,

Don't know what internal you have, but you could add the sponges into the new filter, or keep your existing filter running alongside the new one for a few weeks. Plus, I believe it'd be best to keep a few fish in there right until you get your Discus.

 

[Irf]

As KimA has already said really.....

Option 1 - put your freshly used filter sponges from the old unit into the new one. If they don't fit, just cut them to shape.

Option 2 - run your new filter in parallel with your old one for several weeks (this is what I'm doing).

In both cases you must either add the discus immediately after you remove the original fish, or you must keep the bacteria fed by adding small amounts of pure ammonia (after the original fish have been taken away.

Regards,

Irf.

 

[PrettyDiscus]

As KimA has already said really.....

Option 1 - put your freshly used filter sponges from the old unit into the new one. If they don't fit, just cut them to shape.

Option 2 - run your new filter in parallel with your old one for several weeks (this is what I'm doing).

In both cases you must either add the discus immediately after you remove the original fish, or you must keep the bacteria fed by adding small amounts of pure ammonia (after the original fish have been taken away.

Regards,

Irf.

Could i do that by putting a pinch of fish food in every day?

 

[Irf]

If you mean adding the ammonia, it's not really that simple. Adding bits of food is often advocated, I believe, but I don't think it's enough to keep the bacteria fed for long. Far better to get some pure ammonia solution from a hardware shop (are you in the UK?). The use that. However you must not dose the ammonia too highly!!! That will ceate more problems that you currently have.

When fishless cycling you aim to add enough ammonia to get a 5ppm solution in the water, but I'm not sure about keeping them fed. Perhaps someone more expert can help out here?

Irf.

 

[PrettyDiscus]

I will just run the two filters together with the fish still in there. I hope that will work.

 

[Iron Man]

I would suggest taking the old media out of the internal filter and like was suggested putting it in the new Eheim even if you have to fit it in there. That will solve your problem. Do that while the current fish are still in there and keep them right up until the time you place the discus in there, within a day's time at the most. In other words I wouldn't let more than a day go by between taking the old fish out and putting the new fish in.

 

[PrettyDiscus]

okay but i though eheim have different types of filter media. So when i add Discus i will need to change all the media because i though eheim have different types of sponges compared to internals.

 

[KimA]

okay but i though eheim have different types of filter media. So when i add Discus i will need to change all the media because i though eheim have different types of sponges compared to internals.

Hi,

They do have additional filter medias - but still have the blue sponges the same as other filters, so you just need to put your current filter sponges in with the new Eheim ones (bit of a squeeze, but they'll go)

 

[Iron Man]

It doesn't matter what you put in the Eheim as long as its good filter material and gets the job done. What comes with the filters and what they recommend for them is great but its not set in stone.

I have an Eheim 2217 classic and I have their mechanical sponge, 9 old fashioned nylon pot scrubbers, and pillow stuffing for polishing....and that's it. I got rid of their "default" filter material, the material it came with, long ago and am doing just fine.

Knowing the filter you have you won't have to take out their material in order to fit the internal sponge in there, even if you have to cut that sponge up or squeeze it in there.

Don't be afraid of the Eheim filters....they are very versatile and high quality.

 

[PrettyDiscus]

okay thanks.