Switching from cartridge intank filter to HOB

So I currently have a 5 gallon. I’m using the filter that came with the tank. It’s a cartridge style in tank filter. I am soon getting my moms 20 gallon with a HOb filter. I am getting all her media that she currently has inside so that will be helpful! I plan on keeping my 5 gallon as a hospital/quarantine tank.

My question is that right now my tank hasn’t quite finished cycling. It’s close, but not 100% so I’m wondering what I should do when I get the 20 gallon with the seeded media.
Should I just leave the HOB and run just that or should I put my internal alongside it and run both ? Is that necessary? Or is the HoB ok considering it’s already been cycled?

right now she has pot scrubbers, a fine sponge, and some charcoal in the filter. I plan on adding some of those ceramic disks/beads as a biological layer so that I have everything from chemical, to mechanical, and biological covering all my bases! maybe add in some filter floss as well to really keep the water crystal clear.

if I was to get a new bag of carbon, would I be able to safely switch out the old one while still keeping in the sponges and pot scrubbers without crashing the cycle?

also, am I correct in assuming that my filter stages should go through in the order of biggest particles first and then smallest particles last? So essentially my more media goes in first and the least porous last?

sorry if this all sounds silly, I’m new to the hobby and wanna make sure I’m doing everything correctly and that I don’t mess up her already cycled media and then have to start over from scratch!

TIA <3

 

I wouldn't worry about carbon/charcoal being in there. Most of us only use it when trying to clear out meds if we had to treat something, like i will be in a few days when done with ick treatment.

Yes, i would go big to fine, that checks out pretty well.

You can probably run just the HOB if it is cycled, but i would run both, so that way the internal filter can get cycled and stay cycled for when you need it for hospital or quarantine.

 

I wouldn't worry about carbon/charcoal being in there. Most of us only use it when trying to clear out meds if we had to treat something, like i will be in a few days when done with ick treatment.

Yes, i would go big to fine, that checks out pretty well.

You can probably run just the HOB if it is cycled, but i would run both, so that way the internal filter can get cycled and stay cycled for when you need it for hospital or quarantine.

This was my train of thought as well! Glad my logic was on track haha !

And that’s great to know about the carbon. I just assumed it was necessary or at least recommended since these cartridge filter replacements im using come with the charcoal inside already. Great to know!

Is there any other kind of media you would suggest I put inside? Or should I be ok with the sponges, ceramic disks/beads, and some filter floss!

 

That stuff all sounds perfect. The fiber will clog up fairly quick though, so keep that in mind. Usually i just use sponges. They hold a LOT of bacteria.

 

That stuff all sounds perfect. The fiber will clog up fairly quick though, so keep that in mind. Usually i just use sponges. They hold a LOT of bacteria.

Yea the fibre is something I would probably be changing out when it gets really nasty and I won’t really have to worry about the bacteria since the sponges will be holding it! I just want that extra layer to really get out as many fine particles as possible so I have clear water!

while I have you here, I’m not sure if you could help me with something else…

my parameters are looking much better after I had all my major spikes (still cycling but it’s going well) … ammonia got up to 0.5 nitrites up to 1.8 and nitrates went up to 50. So I did a water change (50%) and now everything looks so awesome…

ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0.1
Nitrates - 5
pH - steady at 7
Temp - 78

now I’m wondering… how do I get those 0.1 of nitrites down to 0. If I do another water change, will I end up stalling my cycle? or should I just wait it out and let it drop on its own (hopefully).

 

Not sure about that. I haven't had to do a cycle really in years because i keep so many sponge filters running all i have to do with a new tank is drop one of the old ones in there...

 

Welcome to the hobby Shania. For the most part you are doing great. Cycling naturally takes patience. Sometimes it’s good to have a little ammonia creep up. It just means your bio load is growing, and your tank biological power needs to grow with it. Don’t be so quick to do the water change from a small ammonia spike. Let it run its course, and I am sure it will be better for it. If you haven’t over populated your tank, then you will be fine. The point is, you want your biological processing to be at its maximum capacity, so once ammonia is introduced into the tank, it’s immediately reprocessed into nitrites, then into nitrates. That’s when scheduled water changes come into play. But that’s later. The point is, you want to get your biological processing strength to the point where you are not worried even if there is an ammonia spike because you know your tank can handle it. Now, that being said, if you introduce 6 goldfish into your 20 gallon tank, that would test any 20 gallon tank biological processing strength to the point of just breaking it. So patience… After that everything falls into place, and I hope you’ll end up enjoying your hobby even more. Good Luck.