hungsta Posted January 30, 2005 Share Posted January 30, 2005 Hey guys, Just got new filters. I'm running both the new and old filters on my tanks. Just wondering how long do you guys usually leave your old filter in until the new filter is established? Thanx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canerod Posted January 30, 2005 Share Posted January 30, 2005 If your just running the two in tandem i would leave the old one in for at least a couple weeks, however if you are in a position to harvest the gunk from the old filter and put it in the new one you could probably take the old one out straight away, if the tank isn't too heavily stocked. I have only lightly stocked tanks and thats how i do things and so far its worked without any problems. hth Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.d.m Posted January 30, 2005 Share Posted January 30, 2005 i just did this very thing , after 2 weeks i took the old filter out and had a very low ammonia reading after feeding, this lasted for 5 days then went , this was at 26c so if your temp is about the same 3 weeks should see you safe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hungsta Posted January 30, 2005 Author Share Posted January 30, 2005 Thanx for the reply guys. 3 weeks is long, but i'll be patient. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CThompson Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 however if you are in a position to harvest the gunk from the old filter and put it in the new one you could probably take the old one out straight awa By “gunk” I can only assume you mean the “gunk” that the filter is there to filter out?. If this is so, this is not good practice to start a new tank. If your old filter has biological media in it, then yes, you can take this old media out and put it in your new filter, and remove your old filter from service at the same time. The “gunk” in a filter is waste produced by the fish (and/or plant matter, uneaten food and so on), and is in no way beneficial to anything in your tank. If you have no biological media in your filter, then if it was up to me, I would leave both filters running for a month. It takes longer than that for a tank itself to fully cycle, if done the old fashioned way. And I believe you would be taking a chance to “cycle” the new filters in a shorter time. If you have no biological media, get some So wait two, three or four weeks? Why take the chance? Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OscarTerror Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 is it possible to cycle with fry at all using water from an established tank? Reason being I had some unexpected fry the other day and had to buy a suitable sponge filter for the fry (my others would suck them in) so they're in their own tank now with the new filter which has been running for just over a week now, the fry seem fine and I have just been doing regular water changes.. this should be ok shouldn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CThompson Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 Let me get this right. You’ve started a brand new tank in order to use a sponge filter that doesn’t suck the young into it, as your other filter/s take the young in. And you’ve asked can you cycle a tank with young? Taking water from an established tank will not aid a great deal in cycling a tank. The bacteria that are involved in the nitrite cycle are not free swimming, they are attached to surfaces. Yes you will start the nitrite cycle by using your fry, as you would with larger fish. An ammonia spike will be equal to the amount of food/fish waste that is in the tank. Small fish = small amounts of food = small waste = small ammonia. The tank will still cycle, but babies being babies will be less equipped to handle ammonia, and more likely to die. You may be experiencing no issues at the moment, but are you checking for ammonia? Or just doing water changes and hoping for the best? You may have a ticking ammonia problem, just waiting to become high enough to kill your fish. Doing water changes will export the ammonia, which will help the fish, but will also slow the cycling down…..you’re walking a thin line. Most people in your situation may do better just getting some sort of fry saver, which sits in the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OscarTerror Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 yeh pretty much I have tried a fry saver in the past but the holes are too fine and the other fish will just pick them out through the saver, this was my only option to really try and save a few I have been doing regular water changes and using a little more prime than usual, I moved in some gravel from my established tanks to help out anything else I can do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CThompson Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 Make your own fry saver with an old ice-cream container, polystyrene and plastic flyscreen mesh. They won’t get through that. The only other thing you can do is monitor your ammonia levels. I've had fish for ....30 years, and I wouldn't do what you are attempting as there is too fine a dividing line between success and failure. In the future, if you want to start up an instant tank, keep an extra sponge filter in your main tank, and move it across to the new tank when you have young. You will have no problems doing this. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OscarTerror Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 yeh usually that is what I would have done but unfortunately couldn't do that this time, fingers crossed they'll be ok Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fausty Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 I learnt the hard way about new filters... My spare 2 foot tank with platys ect... I attatched a new canister filter, took out the old filter, and the tank cycled again... and I lost some fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OscarTerror Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 yeh usually that is what I would have done but unfortunately couldn't do that this time, fingers crossed they'll be ok just thought i'd update and let you all know so far so good fry is healthy and has grown quite a lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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