Filtration Question

[Moon]

I have a 125g that had a bunch of Tropheus Moori. I sold all of them last weekend and in the process of cleaning the tank for discus. The tank has a wet/dry system for filtration.
The question that I have is: Can I use the wet/dry filter that I used for African Chiclids for discus?
Or do I need to strip the filter elements, sterilize and reseed it.

Thanks
Joe

[kaceyo]

Hi Joe,
it sounds like you've already taken the filter offline. If the filter hasn't been running for a week then you'll have to recycle it. Even if it's been running without fish the bacteria will have died off with no ammonia/nitrite to feed it. Since your going to need to cycle it anyways it would be a good idea to completely clean the filter and the media (bio-balls or whatever) before starting to cycle it. HTH,

Kacey

[Carol_Roberts]

Were all the africans healthy? IF yes, rinse the media in dechlorinated water and do a fishless cycle with clear ammonia. If may cycle fairly rapidly.

[Moon]

The filter is still running. I have some fish in it to keep it cycling. I am hoping to remove all the gravel and rocks, clean the tank out (not sterilize it) and add a couple of sponge filters and then add about 10 jouv discus. My concern is that if there was some sort of pathogen in the filter that the Africans were immune to that might attack my healthy discus.
Joe

[kaceyo]

Joe,
When I first started posting here and was preping for my 1st discus in many years, I asked basicly the same thing. I had a tank with a Knifefish, Hatchets, a large Raphael and assorted bottom feeders. They were all healthy and there had been no illnesses in it for over a year. I asked if I could use media from that to seed my new filter and was told by virtualy ALL the mods not to risk it. The possibility of contamination, even with healthy fish, was too high. So...it comes down to your choice in the end. I wouldn't risk it. Good luck and keep us posted.
Kacey

[Carol_Roberts]

What I do after removing healthy discus from the a tank is clean it and the filters, then keep the filters alive with ammonia for a couple of weeks (no fish in tank) Do a 99% WC 24 hours prior to discus arriving.

Safest way is fishless cycle in sterilized tank.

[Moon]

Thanks Carol and Kacey. I will do as Carol suggests. I will clean the tank with bleach and just use the cleaned tank with seeded sponge filters for my discus. In the meantime I can cycle the filter with ammonia seperately before connecting to the tank.
Joe