Changing Filter?

[hard_hooker]

My water is finally cycled after 9 weeks of daily water changes.

I need to change my filter however I thought the good bacteria lived in the filter. By replacing the filter cartridge don't I interrupt/break the cycle??

I have a 30 gallon tank with a tetra whisper 30 filter that uses a bio bag with the cotton and charcoal all in one system. What's the best way to do this?

Thanks
Tom

[DirtyDawg10]

I usually just take out the filter cartridge and rinse it out in some of the water change water (don't use chlorinated water as you will kill the good bacteria). You are really just removing the larger particles on the outside of the filter. The carbon is not really necessary for everyday use.

[hard_hooker]

So don't even bother replacing it with a new one? Just a good rinse in some of the old water should do the trick?

[DirtyDawg10]

That's what I do and I have had no problems with either of my tanks. A good filter should last quite a while with this method.

[Trixie]

Yup. I usually leave the HOB cartridges in until they are about to fall apart. In my HOB there is space for 2 cartridges. I just replace one at a time.

[tkos]

I have been using the same sponges in my HOB filters for years now. I sometimes add soem filter floss to really help remove fine particulates, but that is it.

[joephys]

It all depends on what you plan on doing. There is a good deal of bacteria in the filter because a lot of water moves through there. If you change the filter (by changing the filter I assume you mean the filter media) on a regular basis (every 2 weeks or so), most of the bacteria will develop in the tank, and changing it out shouldn't ever be a problem. With that filter, I would just try and rinse out the filter media using the method mentioned above. If you would like to actually replace the filter bag once in a while, I would use some time of biomedia instead of the carbon, and just move that from bag to bag.

[canadancaa]

how often should you change the white floss material??
I don't know what else to call the stuff

[joephys]

Depends on who you ask and/or how you do it. If you actually change it, you should change it once every other week at the longest. Every week would be better. The reason is so that the bio filter establishes in other places of the tank, so you aren't removing it when you change the floss. If you don't want to change it that often, your best bet is to never change it, and just rinse it out once in a while with old tank water after a water change.

[hard_hooker]

So this cartridge that I have with the Topfin 30 is considered a sponge or a carbon filter? (real newbie)

My fish and tank are doing great. I do have 2 clown loaches that just started showing signs of ich, literally with in the last3 hours. Very slight. Read about all the treatments here.

If I use meds they say to remove carbon but I don't know if they are talking about that cartridge in my filter or the filter that uses the charcoal and floss. (I asked this in earlier post too)

[DaisyTattoo]

I think I remember something about those meds being bad for scaleless fish(such as clown loaches).

[hard_hooker]

Yes....I read that. I'm between the salt method and using a 1/4 to 1/2 dose of the med which I read was OK.

I'm scared of raising the temp and harming the other fish.

4 corys
3 mickey mouse platys (and one very small baby in a breeding net lol)
5 red eye tetras
2 dwarf gauramis
2 clown loaches

[Trixie]

I have used only the salt/raised temp method and have not lost a fish that way. Haven't lost any plants that way, either.

[hard_hooker]

How high did you go with the temp? How quickly did you introduce the salt. I have aquarium salt (large particles). Do I just mix that with th enew water during changes?

[johnpeezy]

If you raise you temp a degree everyday until you reach your desired temp you should be okay.

I'm the same way and don't like rasing my tank temps up past 80 degrees.

The only thing raising the temperature up does is increase the rate ICK goes through its life cycle. You can only kill it at one stage in its life, if you raise your temp to between 82-84 degrees you can dramatically speed up the life cycle process. and that means ick will hit the vunerable stage quicker and more frequently. You can do the same thing with a lower temp it would just take longer.

[johnpeezy]

As for the salt question, What I do with it is this:

Perform a 50% water change and for every 2 gallons of water added back into the tank, add 3/4 teaspoon of aquarium salt try and dissolve as much of the salt as possible in the new water your adding to the tank.

the next day do the same thing. That salt dosen't disolve very well and if you dump it straight into the tank your fish may try and eat it (my tager barbs love it) I don't think it very harmfull to the fish, it just dosen't do the tank very much good when its in the belly of a fish

[DirtyDawg10]

This is directly from the Ich article:

Temperature

Any temperature elevation will help speed things up. Temperatures at or above 86*F are generally considered to be fatal to ich. I have read a couple of articles that cite strains of ich surviving temperatures as high as 90*, but this is very rare. So if you are comfortable with 86* go to that point, if you aren’t at least go to 82-84*. Remember what type of fish you have when considering how high to go. Warmer water does not carry oxygen as well as cool water. Fish that prefer high O2 levels, will be more affected by higher temperature...
...Temperature should be raised 1-2 degrees per hour at the most until the desired temperature is reached. Drastic or rapid temp changes can be stressful to your fish.

Salt

To add salt, mix it in small volumes and add to your tank. It is not recommended to dump salt in directly as a solid. My method is to mix it with a bucket of tank water and siphon it into my filter with a ¼ airline. This ensures it is mixed, and adds it slowly to a high flow area to be further mixed as it enters the tank. I add ¼ tsp. per gallon once an hour for four hours. This brings me to a level of 1 tsp. per gallon in four hours. At this level, I am far more relaxed and will generally increase it to 2 tsp. per gallon in ¼ teaspoon increments every 3-4 hours. I always watch my fish closely for reaction. Once I am above 1 tsp. per gallon, if I see signs of increased stress I will slow things down and allow my fish more time to adjust.
Whatever method you use to add salt is fine, but raise the level slowly and mix it well. It will be easier on your fish to do so.

[DaisyTattoo]

When i use the salt/heat method, I use plain old tablesalt. I always dissolve it in water first and set up a kind of drip system with some air tubing to gradually introduce it into the tank. If you put salt directly into the tank, you risk burning your fish. Pretty much the entire ich article is right on. If you follow that, you will do just fine.

I did want to add that I have not lost a fish...or even a snail...when using the salt method.

[Trixie]

Originally Posted by DaisyTattoo

I did want to add that I have not lost a fish...or even a snail...when using the salt method.

That has been my experience as well. I have not lost a plant, either. The only casualty was the Ich.

Granted, it is more labor intensive than just throwing drops, powder or tablets into the tank, but I think it is well worth it.