gsg623

today I did my monthly tank maint.I think it will soon be time to change my filter.My question is, should I install the intended replacement now and leave the old one in the empty space inside the filter housing or vise versa??

ooibhuskyoo

What type of filter do you have? Just remember, if you switch out all the media, your aquarium might be pulled into a mini-cycle. I think it would be beneficial to keep the old filter in there for a little while until bacteria starts to form in the new filter media.

You can always also try to just rinse the filter in used aquarium water and see if that works. This prevents from all that beneficial bacteria from dying as well.

Shawnie

you can do either as long as you leave the old one there 2-3 weeks after adding the new one...then you should be good to go and remove the old

jwokmuba2

when you talk about rinsing the filter in old tank water, do you use a pitcher or somthing to get enough water to rinse it? do you sqeeze the sponge/filter? how much junk do you want to take off the sponge/filter?

btate617

Put some tank water in a bucket. Take your filter sponge put into that bucket of water and give it some squeezes to get most of the "junk" off. Then replace.

Brian

kimb

You can do it when you are doing a water change/vac your tank. I use buckets to change water, on the last one, I take out the media, swoosh it in the bucket and put it back in. Since OP tank was only started in May, you probably don't have to change the media yet. Although manufacturer's instructions indicate changing often, it really can stay in there until it is falling apart. If you decide to change it more often, follow advice from above, put a new one in a couple of weeks ahead. Good luck.

gmen4life

how many filters do you use? monthly as in pwc?

jwokmuba2

pwc

aquarist48

PWC = partial water change. I believe he is asking if you do water changes once a month.
Great information above. Rinse all of your filter media in siphoned tank water and never tap water. Personally I never clean the filter box itself but I do check the impeller assembly once a month and clean it out very well.
You can use your filter media, sponges, bio cubes until they are all falling apart. If you are using carbon in the filter then it should be changed every 3 weeks. Don't forget to rinse the new carbon first.
Ken

gsg623

Hi All,
I rinsed myfilter in old tank water and put it back in.The next morning the water from the filter wasnt flowing.I had to change the filter and their wasnt room for the old one so I had to take it out.I am checking water parameters daily and as of today no ammo.

Problem is, I'm going camping this weekend and wont be here if I get a mini cycle.
What is the better thing to do?

Craig-D

The above advice to rinse media really depends on the filter system. If you have a Marineland Eclipse system that uses rite-size cartridges, rinsing will not work. The cartridge must be replaced monthly as the manufacturer has suggested. If you don't, either you lose water flow as happened here to the OP, or the water simply goes over or around the media instead of through it. If your system has another place for the bacteria to colonize like a bio-wheel you will not have a mini-cycle. I swap out media each month on my Eclipse and have never had a mini-cycle because most of the bacteria visibly resides on the bio-wheel, not the filter media.