Upgrading Filter

[saratogaslim]

Hi all, thanks to some helpful advice here and lots of research, I'm going to upgrade to a filter different than the one that came with my "adopted" tank. Though I do think I'll hang on to the old one for a mini-tank one day. Going to go with an AquaClear in the end, as it seems to be a nice filter for what I have (20 gallon long).

I have some questions and was hoping someone could give me a hand!

- How do I make the transition without starting a cycle again? The tank is in great shape, I don't want to chance things getting out of whack. Should I run the two filters simultaneously? Tank came with a Top Fin 20 filter, the media is carbon. I believe it needs to be changed pretty soon, and obviously I don't want to go there. I do want to get away from carbon.

- The Top Fin doesn't have room for a sponge (which I randomly have) with the existing cartridge. Unless I cut it up...should I do that, so at least one piece of mature media goes into the new filter?

Any help with a plan would be great! Want to make sure the little guys keep happy.
Thanks in advance!

 

[waterdrop]

You're going to have much better results if you move -all- of the old media into the new filter, despite it not being the ideal media you ultimately want. Running side-by-side, even with old filter washings into the tank is going to be a slower transition. I'd suggest one way to handle your problem would be to seek out one or more mesh bags. These can usually be had at the LFS or the main online sites have them. Put all your carbon into one or more mesh bags and layer these between some new layers in the Aquaclear. Since the water flow in the AC should come sideways down low from the impeller side to the bottom of the media stack and then go upward, you'd want at least some (ideally all) of the bagged mature media to be low in the AC box. That way the new bacteria that have divided off or come loose should flow upward and hopefully attach at a site on your new media.

The fact that all the media will stay with the tank and fish, despite being in a new filter should mean you will stay cycled straight through the process, although its important to test daily with your liquid-based test to be sure the bacterial colonies have not "failed" due to being disturbed by the move (that happens sometimes, but rarely, and if it were to happen you'd have to start changing water.) After a month or two you should be ready to start gradually shifting the carbon -out- of the filter by removing one of your carbon bags and removing half the carbon in it. The put the other half, still in the bag, back in and fill the empty layer space next to it with more loose ceramic media or perhaps cuts of sponge or plastic scouring pad material.

These are just my thoughts. Obviously there may be other variations or ideas members may have for you.
~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

If you are moving from a TopFin with the throw away cartridge to an AC with sponges and such in it, I really don't see a way to move the media from one to the other filter. That would really only leave the option of running both filters side by side for a period of several weeks. After that time I would try to move the old filter out and see if the new one is up to carrying the biological load alone. Run the old filter on a bucket or something with a few drops of ammonia in case you need to put it back into the tank. I really don't like doing it this way because I have had problems running 2 filters side by side and trying to have the new one cycle. That is why I suggest you keep the old filter in standby until you can prove the new one is cycled.

 

[bitteraspects]

actually, if its a filter cartridge, you can cut the padding away from the plastic housing, (or just pull it away from the frame if it is the clip on type)and stuff the filter padding into the aquaclear filter.

the other option is to just remove the filters from the top fin filter and place them directly into the tank. it will be messy and unsightly, but this way you do no remove any of the bacteria from the tank. the bacteria will then make its way to the aquaclear media, as it provides a more habitable colonizing surface (due to the oxygenation of the water flowing through it). just leave the old filters in the display for a couple of weeks, and your aquaclear will be colonized in no time.


BTW, good choice on the new filter

 

[waterdrop]

I would not think it would be too hard to cut the media materials away from the plastic frame. That is what I was thinking of.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[saratogaslim]

Thanks so much for the replies, all. I think this has given me some ideas.

In response to the "move the media," I have another question. There IS a smidgen of space in the Top Fin filter...should I cut up the sponge I have and put it in there so that it can also get going? That might be easier media to move to the AC when I get it (it's an AC brand sponge as well).

OM, thanks as well, you see my concern that one media doesn't actually physically fit in the other. But if I can cut up the media filter padding around the carbon, that might be a thought too. I had been thinking about using the Top Fin on a 10 gallon or 5.5 gallon for a betta tank, so maybe I can start that up cycling (fishless obviously), and if something goes wrong I have a filter ready to go...

Now, if I float this sponge I have in the tank, it will colonize even though it's not sitting in a filter? Unattractive as that is, I'm willing to do it if it makes the transition easier!

Thanks, everyone!

 

[OldMan47]

A floating sponge will not pick up much at all in the way of beneficial bacteria. You really need water to flow past the surface of the media for it to gain any bacterial growth. The bacteria we are trying to grow need a continuous flow of oxygen rich water and some trace of ammonia to develop. The fish already in the tank are supplying the ammonia but a loose floating sponge will not see the high flow of oxygenated water.

 

[rebrn]

I have the AC 20 and it is very easy to fit "non" ac media into it. When you get your ac filter it will come with a sponge, a carbon bag, and a package of ceramic bio media. The way it is suggested to run is, sponge at the bottom, carbon in the middle and ceramic biomedia on top. If you have all the media in the AC as per they instruct you do have a small amount of extra space to add additional media but not much. This is what I would suggest especially if you want to get a way from carbon.

Place the AC 20 sponge (the new one) at the bottom of the media basket (will make sense when you have the filter in front of you), cut away the padding from your current filter cartridge and put that in where the carbon would have gone, so in the middle, then place your ceramic bio media on top. This way you will have your old bacteria from the padding in your new filter.

Also, one other word of advice, the mesh bag provided for the ceramic bio-media pieces that comes with the AC 20 is not very good. I would suggest buying a media bag and using it for the ceramic pieces rather than the bag provided. I was only able to find a bag that was 4 inches wide by 12 inches long at my LFS, which was way to long for the AC 20. But if you get that size you can cut it down (cut the bottom of the bag not the top) then sew it back shut, took me all of 5 minutes to cut and sew the bag to size, plus I had quite a bit of extra material, I was able to make 2 additional media bags to fit the AC 20, just used some unbleached cotton string(you know the butcher twine/string) to tie the bags shut. I used one bag and filled it with extra ceramic pieces (you can buy these at any LFS, doesn't have to be AC brand, any that are rated for bio-media will do - but you can buy the AC bio-media for pretty cheap I think the AC 20 and AC 30 replacements are around $4 - I bought the AC 30 got a little extra for the same price) to replace the carbon, and the second bag I have on hand as a re-fillable carbon media bag, in case I ever need carbon to filter out meds etc.

The AC 20 is an awesome filter, I have it in my 5 gallon, I know over kill, but the only one I could find that had an adjustable flow and rated for a 5 gallon tank. None the less I love it, so glad I switched over to it. I was in the middle of cycling so I didn't have to worry about switching media, since my other filter really did not have bacteria formation. But it is an awesome filter, love mine and would not switch, you have great variety with media. My friend also has one, he didn't like the ceramic pieces it came with so he switched it out for bio balls, and yes the bio balls (I think 2 is what fits in the AC 20) do fit if you take out the carbon.