Stacking media

Ok guys, I am slowly trying to switch out my old cruddy carbon cartridges that came with the HOB's for jacked up media instead. Trying to do it gradually so as not to cause a glitch in the cycle.. two years old.
What I've done so far-- I have the existing carbon cartridge in the TopFin filter(pic one), rinsed it out in tank water a week ago during WC. I have added some fluval sponge and on TOP of that some fluval bio balls. I have filter floss but haven't put it in yet because I am low on space I think.
Is this ok, to have the carbon pad in the front, the sponge in the back and then the balls on top? IDK gaaa

And in the second HOB, (last pic) there are TWO cartridges in there.. one is a fresh replacement one(the back one) and the one in front cartridge is older and cycled. I shouldn't have replaced the oldest one with a new one and just added different media but i already did, yesterday.. so here we are. :/ So That one is getting seeded by the front one.
In the back of both I have some fluval sponge.

Is this OK for now?

My new media products I have now on hand are- fluval bio rings
Filter floss
Fluval bi foam sponges

Thanks!!

 

That looks fine. As long as it’s in the tank it’ll all eventually get some beneficial bacteria. When you finally throw out your old stuff, do it gradually so the remaining beneficial bacteria have a chance to replicate and catch up to your bioload.

 

That looks fine. As long as it’s in the tank it’ll all eventually get some beneficial bacteria. When you finally throw out your old stuff, do it gradually so the remaining beneficial bacteria have a chance to replicate and catch up to your bioload.

ok good, lots of confusing videos online about where to put this stuff depending on where your flow is so as not to clog etc so I was unsure if this ok.. thanks
yes I'm trying to go gradual. I'd like to just stack up the new stuff all at once but know I can't. I'm going to wait about 3 weeks to a month to get rid of one of the old cartridges .. and won't clean the bio balls or sponge in that time unless I should on WC...is that enough time for the bio balls and sponges to catch up?
And should i add filter floss in both of them now just shoved on top, or wait until I have more room?

 

Here's some ideas.
Diy Media Guide For Top Fin Silenstream, Aquaclear And Other Hob Filters | 385506 | Filters and Filtration

 

ok good, lots of confusing videos online about where to put this stuff depending on where your flow is so as not to clog etc so I was unsure if this ok.. thanks
yes I'm trying to go gradual. I'd like to just stack up the new stuff all at once but know I can't. I'm going to wait about 3 weeks to a month to get rid of one of the old cartridges .. and won't clean the bio balls or sponge in that time unless I should on WC...is that enough time for the bio balls and sponges to catch up?
And should i add filter floss in both of them now just shoved on top, or wait until I have more room?

Short term you’re fine. Eventually you want the incoming dirty water to hit coarse media/sponges first, any finer media next and ceramic media last. The coarse will grab larger particles, finer the smaller, and hopefully it’s clear water hitting the ceramic media so they don’t get too gunky.

That should be plenty of time. The amount of bacteria is going to be based on the amount of available food (waste). It’ll be on every surface of your tank, including substrate, decorations, the filter itself etc. The reason there’s so much on filter media is because of all the surface area. A porous sponge has more surface for bacteria to cling onto than a smooth plastic log for example. Once you start removing old media, your remaining bacteria should start replicating now that there’s less of them to eat the remaining food (waste). The new bacteria should find their way to the new media you want no problem. The only issue would be throwing away the original media too quickly before you get an adequate amount of bio filtration to catch up.

 

Short term you’re fine. Eventually you want the incoming dirty water to hit coarse media/sponges first, any finer media next and ceramic media last. The coarse will grab larger particles, finer the smaller, and hopefully it’s clear water hitting the ceramic media so they don’t get too gunky.

That should be plenty of time. The amount of bacteria is going to be based on the amount of available food (waste). It’ll be on every surface of your tank, including substrate, decorations, the filter itself etc. The reason there’s so much on filter media is because of all the surface area. A porous sponge has more surface for bacteria to cling onto than a smooth plastic log for example. Once you start removing old media, your remaining bacteria should start replicating now that there’s less of them to eat the remaining food (waste). The new bacteria should find their way to the new media you want no problem. The only issue would be throwing away the original media too quickly before you get an adequate amount of bio filtration to catch up.

Thanks! So would the course sponge go on bottom, then bio balls on top then filter floss
on top of that or does it go back to front coarse sponge then finer sponge then balls and filter floss
I don’t know if I stack bottom to top or back to front

 

ok good, lots of confusing videos online about where to put this stuff depending on where your flow is so as not to clog etc so I was unsure if this ok.. thanks
yes I'm trying to go gradual. I'd like to just stack up the new stuff all at once but know I can't. I'm going to wait about 3 weeks to a month to get rid of one of the old cartridges .. and won't clean the bio balls or sponge in that time unless I should on WC...is that enough time for the bio balls and sponges to catch up?
And should i add filter floss in both of them now just shoved on top, or wait until I have more room?

I didn’t see the filter floss question. That’s dealer’s choice lol. If you add it, it should be after the coarse media (assuming the filter floss is fine). I personally only run coarse sponges in my filters but I also have tiny particles in the water column sometimes. Depends how “clear” you want your water.

 

I didn’t see the filter floss question. That’s dealer’s choice lol. If you add it, it should be after the coarse media (assuming the filter floss is fine). I personally only run coarse sponges in my filters but I also have tiny particles in the water column sometimes. Depends how “clear” you want your water.

Haha gotcha
Is it bottom to top or front to back

I mean back to front
Bottom to top or back to front?

 

Thanks! So would the course sponge go on bottom, then bio balls on top then filter floss
on top of that or does it go back to front coarse sponge then finer sponge then balls and filter floss
I don’t know if I stack bottom to top or back to front

I believe it goes back to front. I’m assuming based on the pic without know your filter. Water comes in through the inlet by the impeller. It will leave the impeller area and go into the back of the filter where the coarse sponge would be. Next should be filter floss and then your bio balls. If the ceramic media pores get clogged up you basically lose that additional surface area.

 

You could tear the cloth off of the cartridge and place that in the filter. The plastic cage doesn't have much bb on it. Most of it is on that cloth. I would probably put it where the water comes in so it will flow through the new media.

 

I believe it goes back to front. I’m assuming based on the pic without know your filter. Water comes in through the inlet by the impeller. It will leave the impeller area and go into the back of the filter where the coarse sponge would be. Next should be filter floss and then your bio balls. If the ceramic media pores get clogged up you basically lose that additional surface area.

How long before they would get clogged up stacked as they are now? And if they do how will I know, and just rinse them?

You could tear the cloth off of the cartridge and place that in the filter. The plastic cage doesn't have much bb on it. Most of it is on that cloth. I would probably put it where the water comes in so it will flow through the new media.

Off the carbon cartridge? And just have it like free as a bird in there, thinner?

 

Off the carbon cartridge? And just have it like free as a bird in there, thinner?

Yup..... you don't need the carbon anyway. Just that lush bb cloth. Leave it in there about a month.

 

Yup..... you don't need the carbon anyway. Just that lush bb cloth. Leave it in there about a month.

Lush lol

 

How long before they would get clogged up stacked as they are now? And if they do how will I know, and just rinse them?

Depends how much fish waste you have. You'll visually see a bunch of gunk on them when it's time. Yeah, just rinsing it off in old tank water/dechlorinated water is fine. But even then if it's covered in fish waste it's probably helping you out since beneficial bacteria would probably love to start consuming it lol.