Advice? Changeing / Upgrading filters.

543 Views 3 Replies 4 Participants Last post by clownplanted, Mar 31, 2017

Yande!

Discussion Starter · Mar 30, 2017 (Edited by Moderator)

New tank, now 1 month old.

I started out with the "Power Dynamic' Filter, "SunSun" copy, that I paid $AUD39.50 for. (see pic) It was quiet, but only foam medium within the cannister. 3 weeks later, (uncycled) I bought this Fluval 106, ($AUD100) BNIB, and set it up beside the SunSun, leaving both filters working at once, as they are still, at this time. A couple of days later, after installing the Fluval, near on a month, my tank cycled. I had left both filters operating as I did not want to remove any media that may contain any beneficial bacteria. Had been adding beneficial bacteria etc also. BTW. I am winging it, learning as I go.

I am now planning on removing the "Power Dynamic" Cannister Filter, though keeping the clear piping, (see picture) swapping it out for the Ribbed Piping (unseen) that the Fluval came with. Anyone have experience with that? Prefer the smaller input/out take piping, compared to the huge Fluval's. It just seems too intrusive in my 38 liter (10g) tank.

Into the Fluval 106, I added extra Biomass. The 106 is somewhat noisier than my $AUD39.50 EBay special, "Power Dynamic," but it won my heart as 2 days after installation, my tank cycled. Not to mention that easy cutoff, when a rinse is needed.

Also, my order of Seachem Prime and Stailbity arrived, assisting my situation.

Any thoughts? Even hoping to assist anyone starting out.

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PlantedRich

· #2 · Mar 30, 2017

My standard new tank advise? If you have to make changes, do it very slowly and gently! Better still is to wait?
Reason for this is the bacteria are still growing. While there may technically be enough to support any fish, they are just in thin layers in a few spots. The filter media is designed for them but after some time, they will be found as a slick layer on almost everything. So when one does something like cleaning the bottom, moving the bottom or cleaning the tank walls or filter, he risks losing too much of that bacteria we need. Killed or removed it stops working on the ammonia and we can suddenly see ammonia or nitrite spikes we want to avoid.
So the safer move is to go very gently at first and do not clean too much. Patience and learning to ignore that bit of dirt, algae, etc. at first can make for a better start.
Have you been out in a small boat? Good to set down and be very quite until we know how the boat acts so that if we should tip it, we know better how to deal with the crisis!

But if there are no animals in the tank, you don't have a big problem as you just wait a bit for the tank cycle to get together again.

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soc200

· #3 · Mar 31, 2017

PlantedRich said:
My standard new tank advise? If you have to make changes, do it very slowly and gently! Better still is to wait?
Reason for this is the bacteria are still growing. While there may technically be enough to support any fish, they are just in thin layers in a few spots. The filter media is designed for them but after some time, they will be found as a slick layer on almost everything. So when one does something like cleaning the bottom, moving the bottom or cleaning the tank walls or filter, he risks losing too much of that bacteria we need. Killed or removed it stops working on the ammonia and we can suddenly see ammonia or nitrite spikes we want to avoid.
So the safer move is to go very gently at first and do not clean too much. Patience and learning to ignore that bit of dirt, algae, etc. at first can make for a better start.
Have you been out in a small boat? Good to set down and be very quite until we know how the boat acts so that if we should tip it, we know better how to deal with the crisis!

But if there are no animals in the tank, you don't have a big problem as you just wait a bit for the tank cycle to get together again.

This is the best advise I never heard. I just got a nasty ammonia spike on a 1 month old tank that had finished the cycle. I thought it was good to go and started making some changes. Next thing I know....I'm getting all kinds of ammonia readings and my shrimp are dying. Then the fish got ich. Heed the advice and be patient...let everything settle for a while. It is very easy to disrupt a "young" tank.

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clownplanted

· #4 · Mar 31, 2017

You should keep the ribbed hosing for the Fluval and not swap it for the clear. Reason being is you will have a very hard time getting the clear hosing to bend the way it needs to for the out in the tank. The clear hose will most likely crimp before it bends correctly. I have a 206 and also Fluval fx4. I think the hoses are great and very easy to work with and bend the way they need to.

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Advice? Changeing / Upgrading filters.

Yande!

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