Time 2 Change Filter?

[Marxman187]

i was told in the past that my fish where having problems because i did a water change and put a new filter in wich killed the bacteria colony.so since then i have been shaking the filter out in a 5 gallon bucket of the tank water like i was told to.It has been about to months since the last time i changed it and do to the slight overstocking is building up a good amount of slime.My question is when do i change it to a new filter and how do i do it without killing the bacteria?

 

[nimdabew]

if you ever do decide to change to a new filter and are impatient, take the sponge or filter media and squeeze all of the water out of it into the new filter right after the impeller. (if it was an aqua clear filter, squeeze into the same part as the up pipe for the water before the mechanical stages.) this will wring all of the excess bacteria into the filter and start to seed. you will still have a mini cycle.

the best way to do it would be to put the new filter in the tank for a month before you replace the old filter. i would run both filters because it adds that much more filtration and i have 2 ac30's and a 15gal no-name filter on a 29 fw for two convicts. its your choice.

 

[jpappy789]

When ever my media gets slimey I just do what you have been doing already, washing it in a bucket of tank water.

If you are thinking about getting an entirely new filter I would run it at the same time as the old one to get it seeded like mentioned above.

 

[jm1212]

how often do you normally change the water? a water change should not cause a cycle.

 

[Marxman187]

i change 1/3 or 33% every 2 days

before i was doing 25% every other day but it got a lil expensive and i think i was killing to much bacteria because my fish where freaking out

 

[Bnoble]

if you ever do decide to change to a new filter and are impatient, take the sponge or filter media and squeeze all of the water out of it into the new filter right after the impeller. (if it was an aqua clear filter, squeeze into the same part as the up pipe for the water before the mechanical stages.) this will wring all of the excess bacteria into the filter and start to seed. you will still have a mini cycle.

the best way to do it would be to put the new filter in the tank for a month before you replace the old filter. i would run both filters because it adds that much more filtration and i have 2 ac30's and a 15gal no-name filter on a 29 fw for two convicts. its your choice.

Good answer..i definitely agree!!

 

[wataugachicken]

water changes do not kill bacteria when done correctly (match temperature, use dechlor properly, don't expose filters to untreated water). did you ever test for ammonia and nitrite after a water change or just base your thoughts on the behavior of the fish?

 

[Marxman187]

i regret to say that i still do not have any test kits ...so the behavior of the fish wich right now is the most ective anh the happiest ive seen them in a long time.

i did however finally get another job and will get paid this thursday and all three test kits are the first things on my list

 

[Marxman187]

i have been using these three products with every water change. any comments?

 

[wataugachicken]

cycle really doesn't do anything to help your tank.
Aquasafe can be used as a dechlorinator, though there are cheaper and more effective options available.
Easybalance is unnecessary. water changes are better than using chemicals that claim to reduce water changes. Nitrates, even if the product does actually remove them, are not the only thing that water changes are for.

I don't think you should be adding all of these chemicals to the tank at once every time you change the water. just choose a good dechlorinator like Prime and leave it at that.