Tetratec Aps 150 Set Up

[KittyKat]

Right i managed to find a spare sponge for a filter so would i be ok to swap a whole new filter for one of her used ones? Or will that affect her tank??

That depends what her filter is. Is it one which contains a single sponge? Or does it have multiple sponges and/or ceramic media? It should be fine if you take up to 1/3 of her sponges.

I also came across some Filter Start, is this any good to start the bacteria off? Or is ammonia the best thing to use?

This is the "bacteria in a bottle" type of products which I was talking about earlier. I have not seen any proof that they do anything, but if you happen to have some, I don't see any harm in putting it into the tank, then continuing with a fish-less cycle using ammonia.

 

[Kevros]

That depends what her filter is. Is it one which contains a single sponge? Or does it have multiple sponges and/or ceramic media? It should be fine if you take up to 1/3 of her sponges.

Its not a Fluval like mine but it is a large filter so i may just cut a part of her sponge out and pop it in mine, in the hope it doesn't affect her filter?!

I will pop in the Filter Start when i get home and then at the weekend i can have a good drive about and find some ammonia to start the cycle off - my brain feels actually fried!

 

[KittyKat]

Its not a Fluval like mine but it is a large filter so i may just cut a part of her sponge out and pop it in mine, in the hope it doesn't affect her filter?!

As long as you don't take more than one third of her sponges, it should be fine because the rest should have more than enough bacteria, assuming her filter is cycled. The new bit of sponge will be colonised by bacteria within a matter of days for her.

 

[Kevros]

As long as you don't take more than one third of her sponges, it should be fine because the rest should have more than enough bacteria, assuming her filter is cycled. The new bit of sponge will be colonised by bacteria within a matter of days for her.

Sounds good, i'll do that over the weekend, one more question, do i leave her filter on whilst taking some of her sponge or do i have to turn it off whilst i open it up?

 

[KittyKat]

Sounds good, i'll do that over the weekend, one more question, do i leave her filter on whilst taking some of her sponge or do i have to turn it off whilst i open it up?

It's fine to turn it off while you take the sponge out, but don't forget to turn it back on when you are finished!