Upgrading Aquaclear Filter

[FishLover66]

Hi all, I know I'll eventually need to upgrade my Aquaclear filter from a 30 to 50 once my tank is fully stocked (learned this AFTER I purchased and set it up), but since my tank is currently on the back end of cycling (ammonia is down to zero, nitrites have peaked, and now nitrates are rising), I'm not sure if now is a good time to do it. I plan on giving my Aquaclear 30 to my daughter who has a 10 gallon starter tank with a cheapo filter. When would be the best time to do this? I'm guessing after my tank has cycled, right? And how can we successfully upgrade both tanks without compromising the beneficial bacteria?

I was thinking of cutting the sponge insert in 1/2 the long way and adding it to both filters and then maybe mixing 1/2 of my Biomax with the new one and sharing it between the two filters and giving my daughter the old carbon. I would also rinse any new media (sponges, carbon, and biomax) in my aquarium water after I vacuum the tank.

I'm thinking I should wait to do this until after my tank cycles and before I add any new fish, but since doing this may cause my tank to cycle again anyway, does it matter?

 

[thereverendturtle]

The aquaclear 30 is perfect for your tank. Who told you to upgrade? If you're just looking for more flow add a stream type powerhead.

 

[onidrase]

Just move 30% of the filter media from the old filter to the new one. It'll multiply pretty quickly. You may go through a very short fish in cycle.

 

[FishLover66]

For the size of my tank (almost 30 gallons), I thought the 30 would be perfect too, but the more research I did and the more 'fish' people I spoke with, they all say that it's better to have more filtration than less and that the specifications on filters are on the low side. And to me, the filter I have just looks puny compared to my tank and hardly even moving the water. The 50 is for tank sizes 20-50, so I would be basically in the middle of that. The 30 is for tank sizes 10-30 and I'm on the high end of that one. I'd just really rather get it done now, before adding more fish, than find out that I NEED to upgrade after I've already added all my fish.

Thanks for the information. I was going to split the cycled media 50% between my new filter and the existing one for my daughter, so I should be good with that.