Removing pre existing filters

[pennex1]

I have a 45 gallon tank with 8 2"-3" discus. Growing them out to about 4-5in before putting them into the 125 gallon tank. I do daily 50-80% water changes right now. I have a AquaClear 110, Cascade 1000 canister, and a sponge doing the filtration in the tank. Overkill filtering. The tank is already cycled.

0 ppm Nitrite
0 ppm Ammonia
5-10 ppm Nitrate
6.8 ph

I am thinking of removing all the filters and just leaving the sponge to do the work in the 45 gallon and continue to do the daily water change. Will this effect the cycle of the tank by removing the 2 of the 3 pre existing filter? Is this asking too much from the sponge? The sponge i am using is good for tanks up to 130 gallons.

Perhaps i should remove 1 filter per week to allow the sponge to catch up?

thanks

[DiscusOnly]

I have a 45 gallon tank with 8 2"-3" discus. Growing them out to about 4-5in before putting them into the 125 gallon tank. I do daily 50-80% water changes right now. I have a AquaClear 110, Cascade 1000 canister, and a sponge doing the filtration in the tank. Overkill filtering.

I am thinking of removing all the filters and just leaving the sponge to do the work in the 45 gallon and continue to do the daily water change. Will this effect the cycle of the tank by removing the 2 of the 3 pre existing filter? Is this asking too much from the sponge?

Perhaps i should remove 1 filter per week to allow the sponge to catch up?

thanks

Don't know what size of sponge you are using but if it was me, I would add a 2nd sponge (regardless the size of the existing one). I prefer to run 2 sponge in a 45gal. You can probably move the cannister filter when adding the 2nd sponge.

Van

[Darrell Ward]

It really depends of the size of the sponge. I've ran 2- Hydro Sponge III's on 55 gal. tanks with no problem. I've also ran 1- AquaClear 110. I wouldn't pull too much stuff off at once, maybe at one week intervals. If it were me as a first choice, I would probably remove the canister one week, the sponge the next, leaving only the AquaClear, since it's already cycled. Second choice, add a second sponge, run it awhile, then remove the canister, then the AquaClear another week.

[seanyuki]

You don't really need benefitial bacteria in the start.....really lol

You can have the tank running and put in discus and try to feed slowly for the first 2 weeks ...gradually reaching to normal feeding rate or the rate you prefer. By then, the biological filtration will be establishes and working effectively bi itself.

If you were to use a filter media or any equipment from another tank or another culture, you might just accidentally inoculate disease from the other fishes to your further discus and that disease may not be harmful to the existing because the fishes there already got the immune but introducing it to the new discus might just make the discus sick if not mortality.

just my 2 cents

[Darrell Ward]

You don't really need benefitial bacteria in the start.....really lol

You can have the tank running and put in discus and try to feed slowly for the first 2 weeks ...gradually reaching to normal feeding rate or the rate you prefer. By then, the biological filtration will be establishes and working effectively bi itself.

If you were to use a filter media or any equipment from another tank or another culture, you might just accidentally inoculate disease from the other fishes to your further discus and that disease may not be harmful to the existing because the fishes there already got the immune but introducing it to the new discus might just make the discus sick if not mortality.

just my 2 cents

Yeah, I agree, but way better for the novice keeper to have the extra "cushion" of a bio filter IMO, but certainly not from another tank.

[pennex1]

Thanks for all the replies and ideas.

The sponge i have in the tank was bought from Foster and Smith a while back. I just threw it in the tank to see how it works. It is pretty big. It is made by Oxygen Plus Bio-Filter 10 and measures 3-15/16" x 9" high.

I am liking the sponge more and more and hating the canister more and more. The HOB AquaClear 110 is pretty easy to clean and has a sponge and 2 pouches of ceramic media. I rather do 100% water changes everyday than dealing with the canister. The reason i want to remove the other filters and just keep the sponge is i am using a 55 gallon drum to store water, treat with Prime and age it for a day and i have a pump to transfer the water from the drum to the tank, so water change is a breeze. Don't see the reason to keep so many filter on the tank for filtration when i am doing water changes everyday.

2 sponges sounds like a good idea though. I can just keep one at each corner of the tank.

[DiscusOnly]

The reason why I like to run 2 sponges (especially when there are spaces for them) is that sponge filter do need rinsing as well. I like to rinse them one at a time.

Van