Switching Tropical Tank Filtration Method

[tekopikin]

Hello all,

I'm new to fish keeping and have been at it for just over a month. I have a 65 litre planted community tank with various fish. But after three water changes and filter cleans I decided the best way forward would be to invest in an external filter. I had my Fluval 205 external filter delivered today

However I need some advise on how best to tackle this change over as I am afraid my biological media in the Fluval filter is too 'clean' to start out with.

How best do I tackle this problem? My internal filter an Aqua-Flow 200 is foam based and filled with activated carbon (in the centre). Can I somehow transfer the activated carbon into one of the media baskets to help 'seed' other media? Is this a good plan? Any advice would be welcomed.

Thanks in advance...

 

[the biffster]

run them side be side till the external is matured
it would also help to squeeze you internal sponges
in to your external sponges does your internal filter
have any ceramic media in it

 

[JoshuaA]

I did exactly what you're preparing to do in the last week.

I had a Fluval U1 filter sponge+ceramics that I added, I upgraded from a 40L (really about 30L) tank that had been set up for about 5 months. I upgraded my tank to a Juwel Rio 125 and tried to use the juwel internal filter however after placing the sponges in nothing happened at all! I transferred all fish and plants over and monitored it carefully hoping the filter would pick up. Anyway I found a great deal for £59.99 on a Fluval 205 brand new so I bought it.

What for mine was clean out the crap left on the bottom especially from my apple snail daily with a siphon and then I transferred the fluval u1 sponges which were left in the Juwel filter box into my 205. I gave my sponges a good squeeze to remove most of the crap to combat clogging of the filter.

Positioning the sponges... I opened the 205 up and ignored the "Polishing" pads (first stage with the 4 white sponges) then with the 3(1) baskets (1) being the very small one which goes inside the other. I placed the sponges in small wedges (cut up to increase surface area) in the very bottom basket and then inside the small basket I placed the ceramic media from my U1. Then the two remaining baskets were filled with the Biomax that came with the filter.

Over the first week Ammonia began to drop within a day or so (I kept using Prime and did water changes, dosed my plant ferts as usual though even though the WC were wasting it. After 4 days of the 205 being on the Ammonia was zero. I never however so a Nitrite spike, only an ammonia one funnily enough.

I don't have much experience in this at all but I think a total transplant might not be the best in your case unless your filter clogs too fast then it may well be a better idea to transplant to the 205 entirely.

I'm very satisfied with this filters flow rate and make sure if you do place the sponges in the 205 you cover al gaps so the water flow MUST go through your mature sponges. If your fish stock hasn't changed but your flow rate has increased in theory it should be efficient enough to clean it.

After reading a lot about this before I did it myself I found that some people didn't suffer any spike and some did. However using a water treatment that neutralises and detoxifies Ammonia and Nitrite would be a good idea throughout. I would advise not putting the carbon in but because that has such a large surface area because of the process carbon must go through to become "Activated" It would be wise to include that as it no doubt has a huge amount of bacteria also.

Good Luck, don't rush into it and sorry about the poor quality post as I was in a rush to type it!

 

[tekopikin]

Thanks for the tips guys,

Much appreciated. I think I am going to take biffster's advice and run them side by side till the Fluval system gets properly seeded.

 

[gunman]

I just noticed this post and I've just posted a similar question . Although, I'm swapping tanks at the same time.

 

[JoshuaA]

I just noticed this post and I've just posted a similar question . Although, I'm swapping tanks at the same time.

That's what I did, I can't see any problem occuring if you ensure the sponges are sealed and forcing water to flow through them. Putting them as close to the start of the water flow would most likely be the best idea as well as it will seed every piece of media further down the filter better.

Of course the method you use is up to you, I had relatively low fish stock in relation to plant mass which I believe helps an extreme amount.

 

[gunman]

Fist off, sorry, this may be a bit of a hijack but it is related. I have just bought a fluval 305, it is new but the guy snapped the impellor shaft so I have ordered a new one. I have looked and there are 4 foam pads in it, they look the same size as the pads in my internal fluval 4plus. I'm now wondering do I have to run both? If I remove the 2 mature pads from the internal, fit them to the external, surely I have the same bacteria as I would start with anyway running them both?

 

[JoshuaA]

I thought it was only the 105 and 205 which had the fragile ceramic shaft.

I imagine there is more to transplanting media however I would still suggest slicing the sponges and using them in the insert trays as it forces the water go through them. Where as the vertical slide the majority of the water can easily avoid. I don't know why vertical sponges looked like a good idea.

 

[Gvilleguy]

I have a 205, and I have two suggestions:

1. Do NOT use the carbon media at all. I used it in mine at first, and when I discarded it two months later my tank went through a long mini cycle. I replaced the carbon with more ceramic bio-media instead, so that I won't have to discard so much media at once next time.

2. I agree with Joshua on cutting up existing media into the trays. The foam/sponges on the left side of the canister are well fitted and soak up a lot of waste in my filter. I think you might have a hard time getting such a snug fit with media made for a different filter model.