Replacing a filter completely

[musekul]

Hi there,

I am very new to the world of aquariums and have a 4 week old, 10 US Gal planted tank with 5 guppies (for two weeks) and and Borneo Sucker (added a week ago). Everything is going really well, the fish seem to have settled in well, and it even appears I may even have the PH levels under control (after a few episodes of lowish PH) - for the moment.

Yesterday however I noticed that the tank looked a little hazy and had a reasonable amount of debris floating around - this seemed to occur pretty much overnight. After doing some brief research it appears that this is possibly just a symptom of the tank cycling (well, the cloudiness anyway), and not necessarily cause for major concern as yet. I will continue to do regular water changes and see if the 'good' bacteria get growing to take care of this cloudiness. What I did notice though, was that the filter seems to be working less than efficiently - it is one of those hang on the back ones that has one large, rectangular carbon filter that the water seeps through and cascades back into the tank. Whilst previously the water did as expected and seeped through the filter, there is now 'overflow' water spilling over the top of the filter cartridge, as well as water still flowing through it. Until now, I have not cleaned the filter out on the advice of the fish store, but it seemed a bit clogged up with green debris so i gave it a quick rinse (not too well, enough to get the large debris off), and put it back in, but the water is still overflowing.

This is getting rather long winded, sorry. So in my research, I have noticed that just about everywhere suggests that replacing filter cartridges is a really big deal, and that you should only replace one piece of filter media at a time - but I only have one to begin with. The fish store has suggested that I will need to replace the cartridge every 4 weeks or so, but wouldn't this be undoing the 'cylcing' process and in effect start the cycle over every four weeks? I am beginning to think that the fish store has given me some bad advice on the filter I have purchased, and am considering changing the filter completely to a 'multi-media' filter. And so, I am hoping that some one may have some advice on what I should be looking for, and also how best to introduce the filter to my tank without doing any damage to my fish.

Thank you greatly!
Sarah

[theodore]

If you can spot a far amount of suspended debris then the haziness is probably due to a clogged/spoilt filter instead of cycling.

A 'multi-media' filter is not a must for a 10Gal tank though it does make your life easier. Less clogging -> less frequent maintenance -> more time to enjoy your tank.

One thing you will need to do is to double-check the properties of your current filter media/cartridge - You shouldn't be using carbon for a planted tank. Sponges are the most economical choice for small tanks like yours since you can reuse them until they start to disintegrate.

Perhaps you can provide more information on your tank (gravel, type/density of plants, fertilization, etc) so that the experts here can help you out.

[|squee|]

Welcome to AQ Sarah.

Well for me, I did not use my hang-on (Ehiem Liberty 100) filter's catridges. I stuffed them with my own filter media (Biohome and ceramic rings) with a some filter wool at the top.

I do see overflowing, and sometimes I don't. It's because of the way one arranges the filter media imho. You may be right; the cloudiness is part of cycling.

If you want to change to a "multi-media" filter which I take to mean cannistor filters, you can try the Eden 301 (not sure if it's sold in Australia), or the Ehiem classic 2213. You can try getting a bigger hang-on, like the Ehiem Liberty 100 so you can stuff more media in.

Changing media won't be a problem if your tank is established and planted. Anyway, changing of media will most likely be the mechanical media, so no problem there.

[musekul]

Hi ThEoDoRe,

Thank you for your reply. I must admit that I have not identified my plants , and have blindly planted what the local fish store recommended. I also realised after my initial post that I forgot to mention that everything isn't going well in my tank, as a few of the plants aren't all that happy. From what I can gather their problems may be related to a lack of CO2 ... something I wasn't particularly keen to get involved with as my space is somewhat limited. Having said that, i was hoping to do some more planting with some grass etc.

In any case, I am attempting to attach a dodgy pic of my aquarium (you can't see the fish because the shutter speed on my camera wasn't set correctly) so you have an idea what I'm talking about. The floating matter has cleaned up somewhat since i rinsed the filter, but you can see it is still a little cloudy.
The fertiliser I have been using is Nutrafin Plant Gro and I have been putting in 1/2 a capful once a week. The filter I am using is a Dynaflo 10to30 which (from what I can see from the vague enclosed booklet) has a polyester pad on one side, and carbon on the other. It's called a 'Blueline disposable filter cartridge'. It has a box at the back which the filter cartridge fits diagonally across - is there a way that I can effectively use other media fitted into the same box that you know of?

Thank you very much for your assistance!

Hi Squee,

Thank you for your reply - so are you saying that I can pretty much just go and buy some varying filter media and stuff the box with it til it's full? Please excuse my ignorance if this is not the case ... as I have said, I am very new to all this.

Many thanks,
Sarah

[Shiv]

hi,
try to remove the carbon & use sponge instead. do water changes regularly along with filter cleaning. but once your filter is set (i.e. the bacteria has grown) see to it that you are cleaning the sponge only when needed (about once a month) also dont scrub the sponge thoroughly, let some bacteria remain to start the process all over again. dont do water changes & filter cleaning at the same time.

[|squee|]

Thank you for your reply - so are you saying that I can pretty much just go and buy some varying filter media and stuff the box with it til it's full? Please excuse my ignorance if this is not the case ... as I have said, I am very new to all this.

Yes you could. As long as it does the filtration job .

[evolim83]

Terence, i think you are referring to Eden 501, right?

And Sarah, IMO, its good to replace the filter media with commercial one like BioHome and Mr Aqua ceramic rings. These media can cultivate much more benefitical bacteria.

Another thing is that your substrate is rather thin given the fact that you have stem plants in there.

[|squee|]

evolim83, no I'm referring to general filters. I tend not to use the prescribed filter media that comes with the filter (especially true for my Ehiem Liberty).

[musekul]

thanks for the advice all ...

I will set about getting my hands on some new filter media, however I am still a little confused about which media I should choose between sponge, ceramic rings and/or anything else (and carbon's a no no?). Is it worthwhile mixing up the media? And should I go to the trouble of 'easing in' the new media with the current media so as not to shock the system?(maybe throw it in front of the current filter pad for a week or two?) Or should it be fine at this stage just to throw the new media straight in and take the old out?

Also, re the substrate, the fish store advised me that this is as much as I should lay otherwise there would not be enough water volume to allow proper oxygenation ... so, should I ditch the tall plants or lay more substrate? And if the latter, how much?

Cheers and thanks again

[evolim83]

evolim83, no I'm referring to general filters. I tend not to use the prescribed filter media that comes with the filter (especially true for my Ehiem Liberty).

Terence, I was referring to your recommendation on cannister filters.
It's Eden 501, not 301!
Not on the part on the media.
Sorry!
Caused some confusion there.

[evolim83]

There are a few stages to a filter:

Sponges are more for mechanical filtration(traps dirt and waste),
Ceramic rings for biological filtration(cultivate bacteria which convert nitrate into nitrite which is less toxic),
Activated carbon for chemical filtration(in this case to absorb chemicals in the water, which apply for the fert you have been dosing too)
You should not replace your medias all at a go. You should introduce new medias while the old ones are still running so that the bacteria can colonise on the new medias.

Try doing a search in the forum. You will get much more information

[DudUser]

Once a tank is cycled there is bacteria everywhere. So even if you remove the filtration media (which puts a big blow on the bacteria population) there is enougt left to quickly repopulate the new media. Exceptions are bare tanks and tanks with high bioloads.

I'd advise you to remove the carbon and fill the filter with a little fine filter wool and the rest coarse filter wool or a biomedia that works good in small filters (some gets so much waste empty space around them it's not worth it)

And in the future, don't change the media so often, just take it out and rinse it in roomtemp water. This will keep most of the bacteria and be more economical. Of course the media won't be everlasting, eventually it must be replaced anyway.