Ordered a NEW FILTER!

Find a way to hang the old filter media in front of the return.

Might be a bit messy, but it'll help seed the new filter media (as it picks stuff out of the water) and will baffle the flow on the return, and you can do a thorough gravel vac in about a month.
 
I could put the new media in my larger filter for a few days. Would that work? The other filter is a MArineland 300
Let's see if I understand correctly. You are proposing putting the media for your new filter into the established filter on your larger tank, and putting the old filter media into the new filter. Correct? If so, it could work. I just think a few days may be a bit on the short side. I run a filter for a month before being pretty confident it's properly seeded.

I just ordered two new filters today, and I'm going to run them on my 55 for a month, then use one to set up a shrimp tank and the other will be a bit of extra filtration/water movement as well as the filter I'll use when I need a quarantine tank.
 
That should work to prevent any cycling issues. Glad to hear you were able to fit the seeded media in there. I know on the penguin filter I had, there was plenty of room, but it was also a pretty big filter in comparison, being appropriate for a 55 gallon tank.
 
I managed to get the old media from the whisper 10i ino the marineland 100 without stopping the bio-wheel. Still creates a lot of current but the fish don't mind.

How did you manage to fit anything into the Penguin 100 along with it's filter cartridge. Like I say, I've got the same filter and there's literally a fraction of an inch on either side of the "right size" cartridge. There's no room for anything but the cartridge.
 
just an FYI. I've had filters stop in my tanks..there is beneficial bacteria all over the tank . they live in that light slime coating you feel on deco, glass etc. remember they are bacteria and as such are able to adapt and multiply as the food source becomes available .. they can multiply in a matter of hours.
I've seen the population compensate for filter changes and in new tanks in 12-24 hours.
 
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