Jeff Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 My 10g planted tank has been running for two years now. I've had an AquaClear 30 on it since day one. I'm going to switch to a small canister. After adding the canister, and while the HOB is still running. How long do I wait and how will I know when it's safe to take the HOB off, and leave the canister? Aka...how do I know there's enough beneficial bacteria in my canister to safely remove the HOB? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Widgets Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 Is there any way you can transfer the media from the AquaClear to the canister? That way the BB will be maintained and you don't have to worry. Over time you can replace the canister filter media in phases, if you want. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 I have gone from a hob to a canister. I leave the hob running but pit the seasoned media in the canister. I leave the hob running because the plastic itself houses tons of bb. I usually wait 1-2 weeks or so. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modified lung Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 You can't know until you test it. My guess would be 2 weeks, maybe 1 week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 any substrate or hardscape in the tank? if so, you can probably just do a swap. take one off, put one on. if it were mine, id add the canister, and let them both run for a few days. 3 days will give the bacteria more than enough time to colonize the canister. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted April 28, 2022 Author Share Posted April 28, 2022 On 4/28/2022 at 9:23 AM, modified lung said: You can't know until you test it. My guess would be 2 weeks, maybe 1 week. How do you test? On 4/28/2022 at 9:45 AM, lefty o said: any substrate or hardscape in the tank? if so, you can probably just do a swap. take one off, put one on. if it were mine, id add the canister, and let them both run for a few days. 3 days will give the bacteria more than enough time to colonize the canister. Old hard scape removed. Substrated stayed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tihshho Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 On 4/28/2022 at 12:32 PM, Jeff said: How do you test? I believe they are talking through water tests if there is a mini cycle. Moving over some of the BB based media to the canister and running the HOB as @Guppysnail recommended is a safe method and probably will be one of the fastest ways. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 On 4/28/2022 at 11:32 AM, Jeff said: How do you test? Old hard scape removed. Substrated stayed. lots of good bacteria in that substrate. have no fear swapping filters out. best to give it a couple days running both, but with substrate holding all that good bacteria, it will be fine even if you just pulled one and put on the other with no over lap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted April 28, 2022 Author Share Posted April 28, 2022 @Tihshho ah; gotcha. Figured normal testing...wanted to make sure there wasn't something I was missing with testing my new filter somehow, or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modified lung Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 On 4/28/2022 at 9:32 AM, Jeff said: How do you test? Just an ammonia and nitrite test a few hours after feeding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted May 4, 2022 Author Share Posted May 4, 2022 On 4/28/2022 at 9:21 AM, Widgets said: Is there any way you can transfer the media from the AquaClear to the canister? That way the BB will be maintained and you don't have to worry. Over time you can replace the canister filter media in phases, if you want. Are you saying transfer the media immediately from my HOB to the canister; and remove the HOB instantly? Otherwise, I'm confused, as there wouldn't be a reason to keep the HOB going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Widgets Posted May 5, 2022 Share Posted May 5, 2022 On 5/4/2022 at 10:14 AM, Jeff said: Are you saying transfer the media immediately from my HOB to the canister; and remove the HOB instantly? Otherwise, I'm confused, as there wouldn't be a reason to keep the HOB going. Yes, you could move all the HOB media to the canister and switch immediately. You would have all the BB from the HOB plus additional media (assuming the canister is bigger than the HOB). Or, you could move some of the media to seed the canister and keep the HOB until you are comfortable removing it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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