I currently have a tetra whisper 10 on my 10g aquarium. I want to upgrade to a aquaclear 20. I am about halfway through the process of cycling the tank. When is the best time to upgrade the filter? Also, how is the best way to go about doing it? I don't want to lose any of the good bacteria that is growing. Should I wait till the cycle is completed to upgrade? Thanks for any advice!
You can add a new filter anytime, its best if you can run both for a while to let new BB colony form in the new one while the old one still runs, and/or transfer some/most media from the (partial) cycled filtration to the new filter, again letting the oringal fitler run for a bit (several weeks) you should be fine. Keep an eye on ammonia/nitrate/nitrite using test kits, you'll know when its done.
added info:
My old filter for my 10 gallon (no clue brand was given it with tank) died and never restarted (I think it was pretty old) so i had to transfer the media to a new filter (was just a carbon bag, upgraded to a 3 media type filter) so i crammed it in with the other stuff and ran it, keeping an eye on water readings and my fish. Everyone did fine, there was only a temporary ammonia spike from the original filter initially stopping but with a w/c and new filter running it was all good ^^ Having both running with partial media transfer is more ideal/safe when the option is available though.
Ok sounds good. My current filter is using a carbon bag with a mesh thing in front of it, but it shouldn't hurt to have that much current in my tank since I don't have any fish yet. Thanks for the help!
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