Replace Filter During Cycle?

I just moved our koi Betta from a 2.5 gallon to a 5 gallon (Aqueon minI bow). He's loving it! I started the tank with Prime, let it run about 36 hours, added Tetra Safe Start, and then slowly acclimated him within 2 hours. It's now been 48 hours.

Unfortunately the filter cartridge now appears to be clogged or unable to pass water through it. I did a quick test with a new filter cartridge and the water flowed normally, before putting the original filter back. Is there a way to replace the original filter cartridge with a new filter cartridge, *without* harming bacteria populations?

Image shows the water bypassing filter and going down an off-shoot. I've placed a structure there because it's creating a strong current.

Thank you very much!

 

That’s one of the reasons I replaced this filtration system with a canister filter. Their are not really any adjustments you can do to increase water flow and once the good bacteria colonize the pad it becomes too Dense and half of the water bypasses the filter. You need to replace the filter pad with a new one so you have most of the water go through it but what I used to do is cut off a few pieces of the old filter floss and lay it on top of the new filter. That way you aren’t losing a lot of the good bacteria and you can populate the new filter with good bacteria faster

 

The bacteria population literally lives on the filter cartridge. So replacing it will completely reset your cycle.

What you can do is rinse it off, though. Rinse it in used tank water. So, like, when you do a water change. DO NOT rinse it off in tap water, as the chlorine in tap water will kill your bacteria.

 

Just cut the fiber off the used cartridge and put both that fiber and a new cartridge in your filter housing. Make sure to put the used fiber in front of the new cartridge. Meaning the water will flow through the used fiber first. The bacteria on the used fiber will help seed the new cartridge.

 

That’s one of the reasons I replaced this filtration system with a canister filter. Their are not really any adjustments you can do to increase water flow and once the good bacteria colonize the pad it becomes too Dense and half of the water bypasses the filter. You need to replace the filter pad with a new one so you have most of the water go through it but what I used to do is cut off a few pieces of the old filter floss and lay it on top of the new filter. That way you aren’t losing a lot of the good bacteria and you can populate the new filter with good bacteria faster

I see canister filters sit outside the tank - does your betta require a baffle for the input/output areas of the filter? I appreciate the info

 

I will be housing a dwarf puffer but I use the fluval 106 which has and adjustable flow rate so if you angle it towards the wall and keep it low a baffle isn’t needed. But with dwarf puffers like moderate water flow so I keep it almost all the way up.

 

I will definitely check this out, then! My current system out of the box seems pretty counterintuitive.

 

The bacteria population literally lives on the filter cartridge. So replacing it will completely reset your cycle.

What you can do is rinse it off, though. Rinse it in used tank water. So, like, when you do a water change. DO NOT rinse it off in tap water, as the chlorine in tap water will kill your bacteria.

Awesome I am going to try to rinse the original with his tank water and see if this helps the flow. Thank you!