Switching canister filter safe? or will I loose all my good bacteria?

T

TookayS2K

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Oct 17, 2009
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I have a 80 gallon tank with a Magnum 350 canister filter while using sand as my substrate of choice.

I vacuum the top of the sand once a week to clean up all the poo.

My problem is that I want to change out my filter. I have a brand new magnum 350 I want to swap out beacuse:

1. I have a problem with gnat larvae (see this thread if interested)
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=198059

2. It's been about 5 months since I have had my tank and I have not cleaned the filter, ever. btw, I still have excellent flow.


so my concern is if I swap out to a new filter with all brand new filtering and media, will I have a problem with cleaning out too much good bactera?

Thanks.
 
You won't restart your cycle as long as you use your OLD MEDIA from your magnum and put it in your new Filter or you put your new Filter in the tank for 2-3 weeks so it will be seeded with "good" bacteria.
 
OD, he's not asking for filter recommendations. He already has a new filter as he stated. He's asking about the transferance of bacteria. But good job on completely missing the question being asked.

Now, for what the OP was originally asking. Yes, you will lose a good amount of the beneficial bacteria. It lives on the walls of the canister, in whatever media you have packed in there. You do however have some living in your tank, the wall, the decor etc. If you do switch to a completely new filter and new media, you will probably get what's called a mini cycle. Possible cloudiness from a bacterial bloom and possibly a small jump in ammonia/nitrates but regular water changes over the next few weeks or so will keep those in check. Hope this help and good luck with your gnat problem.
 
iLunar said:
You won't restart your cycle as long as you use your OLD MEDIA from your magnum and put it in your new Filter or you put your new Filter in the tank for 2-3 weeks so it will be seeded with "good" bacteria.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I just did and it worked just fine!!
 
You can also let both run for a week or two so that they new one has time to get seeded, then remove the old one.
 
EllTee424 said:
You can also let both run for a week or two so that they new one has time to get seeded, then remove the old one.
Click to expand...

Agreed! Although rinsing out (in old water) reusable media from the Mag 350 that has been running for month with strong flow (a testament to its superiority) and placing that established media in a new Mag 350 will work, It is far better to add the new Mag 350 to the tank side by side with the old for a period of time (1 month) and like a relay race handing off a baton the bacteria will be established in the new filter.

Why I run two filters so that I can completely clean one while the other remains and I have never had a spike even if I decide to replace all the media when using 2 filters.

However in your case having waited so long, you probubly should not wait any longer and old water rinse the old media, however clean the canister body, impeller & chamber, valves and hoses with very hot tap water the tube & cable brush provided. Then just put that proven Magnum 350 back in service.

As for the gnats I have never heard of such a thing except around fruit bowl or plant soil in flower pots. The gnats have nothing to do with the canister filter, maybe an HOB power filter but not a canister like the Magnum.
 
iLunar said:
You won't restart your cycle as long as you use your OLD MEDIA from your magnum and put it in your new Filter or you put your new Filter in the tank for 2-3 weeks so it will be seeded with "good" bacteria.
Click to expand...

Unfortunely, The only type of media I have is the filter sleeve and micron water polisher. I can't put either of these in my new filter because I have a problem with gnat larvae and I don't want to risk transfering gnats larvae to my new filter. And obvsiously this also applies to soaking the new filter in the tank...

FastFly67 said:
OD, he's not asking for filter recommendations. He already has a new filter as he stated. He's asking about the transferance of bacteria. But good job on completely missing the question being asked.

Now, for what the OP was originally asking. Yes, you will lose a good amount of the beneficial bacteria. It lives on the walls of the canister, in whatever media you have packed in there. You do however have some living in your tank, the wall, the decor etc. If you do switch to a completely new filter and new media, you will probably get what's called a mini cycle. Possible cloudiness from a bacterial bloom and possibly a small jump in ammonia/nitrates but regular water changes over the next few weeks or so will keep those in check. Hope this help and good luck with your gnat problem.
Click to expand...

Thanks for letting me know about that "mini cycle". Out of all the replies will probably be best for me. Since I want to switch out ALL of my media and I can't allow my new media to soak in the new tank.

Would you guys happen to know how if sand holds bateria well or not?

katana1200 said:
Tooks, did you ever ID the gnats? Are they, infact, springtails?
Click to expand...
Unforunately, no. I googled springtails and they look nothing like them. :(


EllTee424 said:
You can also let both run for a week or two so that they new one has time to get seeded, then remove the old one.
Click to expand...

Can't do this... i have a gnat larvae problem and I'm hoping by switching to a new filter it'll help. Using both filters at the same time would be useless in my situation.


thanks everybody for the help!
 
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