Replacing Filters & Maintaining Good Bacteria

L

lithe

AC Members
May 2, 2012
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How sufficient is it to squeeze the little bit of water that is soaked into the old filter into a new, clean filter during replacement (in terms of retaining as much of the bacteria as possible)?

I am trying to avoid constant cycling but had to replace some filters. I squeezed two filters from my healthy tanks into the new filter so it had some established bacteria and added several cap fulls of Stability (and will continue with the Stability regimen). I also did this after a 50% water change to clear up some medication in the water.

Is just the squeeze enough to help colonize the new bacteria?

Thanks in advance for your help!
 
It can help a little. Why did the filters need repleacing? Unless they are falling apart they should be good and maintained by just rinsing them out in old tank water. What kind of filter do you have?
 
You can also transfer the media itself from one filter to another if you want to. Thats how I replace filters that break (which is rare)
 
Replacing a filter cartridge should never cause the tank to cycle over. A mechanical and chemical filter cartridge should never be considered part of the biological filtration. No manufacturer designs or intends for that to happen in their filters.

It is perfectly fine to rinse the cartridges out under tap water and reuse them to maintain the mechanical filtration. This will not refresh the chemical filtration however. That is why its a good idea to replace the cartridges regularly.

Andy
 
You could always "seed" your new filter by placing it in with the old one for about a week
 
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