Switching Filters Questions

[jdellman]

I want to switch from an Emporer filter to the HOT magnum pro-system, which has the bio-wheel. I am also using an Aquaclear. There is not room on the back of the tank to use all three at once, so I can not use the magnum for awhile along with the other two and then stop using the Emporer. Is it okay to just switch from the Emporer to the magnum as long as the Aquaclear is on there? If so, since I just cleaned the Aquaclear, how long should I wait before I switch? If not, can I acclimate the bio-wheel and/or filter for the magnum by leaving it in the tank for awhile, and then start using them??

Thanks for any advice.

[RyanH]

need a little more info...

How big is the tank?

How many fish do you have and what size are they?

Are you running any sponge filters in the tank?

Is your tank planted or have substrate?

What is your water change routine?

Ryan

[Sergey]

Interesting. We just went through a somewhat similar situation on the 'theory of bacterial colonization' thread.

May be, to be on the safe side, let the aquaclear run for a while to replenish bacteria,
and then fishless cycle the bio-wheel in a bucket, seeding with a sqeezing from the aquaclear's foam or a sponge, if there're any?

Regards,
Sergey.

[jdellman]

need a little more info...

How big is the tank? 75 gallon.

How many fish do you have and what size are they? 6 (4" to 5"), 4 (2.5")

Are you running any sponge filters in the tank? Just pre-filters on both filters.

Is your tank planted or have substrate? Gravel, slowly being removed, less
than 1"

What is your water change routine? 33% every other day.

Ryan

Let me know if you need any additional info.

[tpl*co]

hmmmm, wonder if the biowheels are the same size you can put the colonized biowheel from the emperior on the magnum? Then you wouldn't need the emperior.

[Cosmo]

Nope, unfortunatly the bio wheels aren't the same size :( Thought I'd try that and the ones on the stand alone that hooks to the magnum are much larger. If you haven't already bought the hot mag setup you can get the same thing with the floor standing magnum.. more power too. Don't think it's much more money either :)

It would be tuff to cycle the biowheels in a bucket.. the units are too long put together. You'd really need at least a 20 gal tank to fit them and hold them in place.

You might try floating the new wheels in the tank for awhile but you'd need to place them somewhere there's turbulence to keep a flow going over (or around them).. they'd probably grow different bacteria that way (since they're actually more of a a wet/dry system) but it could help.

You're carrying a pretty heavy bio load in the tank already, so removing a cycled filter and replacing it with a new one could be problematic (as per the thread Sergey referenced).

Whatever you do, make sure you monitor the water quality after the switch and do big daily WC's for a week or two (at least :) ) to keep the water quality up..

good luck.. let us know
Jim

[jdellman]

Thanks for the replies. I use sponges in the Emporer in place of the canisters. What do you think about just taking the sponges out of the Emporer and leaving them in the tank? Wouldn't that leave the existing colonies in the tank while the new filter seeds? If you think that is the way to go, how long should I leave the sponges in the tank?

Sorry I missed the sponge mention before, I thought the questions was asking about Hydro-sponges, since it seems everyone uses them.

[Eddie]

Here is a suggestion. It may not be attractive for the first month but maybe you could run all three just run one of them on the front. Maybe it's not possible? :o

[Alight]

Can you pull media and sponges out of the old filter and put it in the new filter? Even if you have to cut it up a bit, and just put it in a place that gets flow? If so, you're all set.

Just putting the sponges in the tank won't help unless you can get really good water flow through them. The bacteria require good oxygenation to function properly. If you're talking about running them as hydro sponges, they should work fine.

What did you do when you cleaned the AC? If you just rinsed the sponges and media with non-chlorinated water, it should not have change its efficiency much. If you replaced sponges and media, it will take a week or possibly longer to get going again.

I'd never actually replace media or sponges all at once. When you do replace, the, replace only one or the other, and put your old media or sponge in the filter somewhere for a week or so, before relying entirely on the new stuff.

Regardless, I'd measure your ammonia and nitrites twice a day after changing filters, and be ready to do emergency water changes if levels begin to go up (from zero to start with).

[jdellman]

Thanks again. When I cleaned the Aquaclean, I rinsed the sponges and the bio-bag(?) in tank water, and cleaned out the rest of the filter with tap water. I may be able to cut the old square sponges to fit the round canister, but I do not think it would provide any filtering.

What about this option- Taking the old sponges and putting them in the tank, and put a air stone under it for oxygenation, sort of a do it yourself temporary hydro sponge?

[Carol_Roberts]

so I can use the magnum for awhile along with the other two and then stop using the Emporer

Yes, that will work just fine. Run the new filter for about three weeks to be safe.

[jdellman]

Hi Carol- I am a little confused by your reply. The quote was that there was not room for the magnum with the other two. Did you mean that the aerating the sponges would be fine?

(I would do a cunfused icon, but I don't know how to do it.)

[Carol_Roberts]

LOL, so much for speed reading. My mistake.

Cut the blue cloth off the emperor and stick the blue cloth and bio wheel (if it will fit) inside the Magnum. You are keeping the Aqua clear. IF it has two sponges inside you can put one Aqua Claer sponge inside the magnem too . . . . and some of the new magnum media in the aqua clear.

[Cosmo]

Was looking thru a catalogue last night and noticed the HOT Magnum came with just the single bio wheel, which probably would hang onto a bucket to be cycled... now finding a way to hang the hot on the same bucket could be a trick though.. lol The Magnum comes with the double wheel which is what I was thinking when I posted before. I'd be amazed if the bio wheel would fit in the HOT, but hey... I've been wrong before (read above.. lol)

If you could think of a way to slow the water over the bio wheel of the emperor that would force the AC to pickup more of the bio load. Unfortunately, I think the flow switch only effects the water flow thru the pads and not the flow over the wheels :confused:

Still not sure what you're gaining by switching from the emperor though, the HOT doesn't hold much more media and has a similar flow as the E280 :confused:

Jim

Jim

[jdellman]

I'm not sure what I am gaining either. :) My thought was that the magnum's micron filter would get rid of the small particles, since I have sponges in both the aquaclean and emporer, and apparently the sponges are too porous. I think I will just use the magnum (without the bio-wheel) in addition to the other two filters.