New sponge filter

[Greggle]

Hi all, greetings from Dallas. That beauty is my betta, Chorizo. I had him in a five gallon with a co-op nano filter, but I moved him and the filter to ten gallon. I bought a co-op small filter to put in the new tank but I was hoping for some info on safely switching from the old established filter to the brand new larger filter with out crashing my tank. Thank you in advance. 

Edited June 23, 2022 by Greggle

[Ken Burke]

Welcome!

how long have you had Chorizo in the 10 gallon tank?  If you recently moved him, then the tank is not as established than if it were 2 or 3 months ago.  Either way, I would  run the filters in parallel for a while.  Then you can pull the nano filter when the new filter is established.  Or you can leave both in the tank.  

 

[Greggle]

Hi Ken, thanks for responding. He’s been in the ten just over a month. It has all of his gravel, plants, and hardscape from the old tank that I transferred without washing to maximize the BB transfer. It established immediately. I’m sure I’m being overly cautious, but I feel like I’m trying to redeem my poor aquarium practices in my younger days. 
how long would you recommend running them in parallel?

Edited June 23, 2022 by Greggle
Clarification.

[TeeJay]

I personally would keep them both in there all the time. That way whenever you clean one you always have another to stay established. Especially if it's the only filtration you are using.

[Greggle]

the two sponge filters would take quite a bit of real estate in the small 10 gallon. would there be any benefit to running the new sponge filter but leaving the old filter sponge in the tank for a number of weeks?

 

[Katherine]

On 6/23/2022 at 10:29 AM, Greggle said:

would there be any benefit to running the new sponge filter but leaving the old filter sponge in the tank for a number of weeks?

I think that would work just as well. I'd probably try to tuck it in behind the new filter. 

Personally, I would have it for a month, but that may not be necessary.

[Dancing Matt]

You could also squeeze the old one out into the new tank.

[Greggle]

i think that will be on my list of options. the fish is staying in the same tank, i'm just switching to a new, unused sponge filter and i was worried that just removing the old  sponge filter might cause my cycle to crash.

[JettsPapa]

On 6/23/2022 at 11:52 AM, Greggle said:

i think that will be on my list of options. the fish is staying in the same tank, i'm just switching to a new, unused sponge filter and i was worried that just removing the old  sponge filter might cause my cycle to crash.

It might.  I'd recommend running both of them for a few weeks to give time for the beneficial bacteria to get established in the new filter, then remove the old one.  I assume the new one is larger?

[Greggle]

it is. i'm going from the nano sponge filter to the small, with the plan to put the nano into a five gallon. the ten has a lot of plants and rocks, so fitting two sponge filter bases is going to be a problem. that's why i wondered if just leaving the actual nano sponge against the running small sponge filter would be sufficient.

  

[Ken Burke]

I would think 2 or three weeks should work.  Likely not needed, but why rush things. 

[gardenman]

A single betta in a ten-gallon tank won't need a ton of biofiltration. Since you moved everything with him, I would suspect there's more than enough bacteria already there. And you've got plants besides. Your biggest problem may be finding enough food for the existing bacteria. Bacterial colonies need food to survive and grow. A brand-new sponge filter in what could be a food dessert for bacteria may never develop a large bacterial colony. Just because the tank is bigger doesn't mean you need a bigger filter. If the bio-load was being handled by the old nano filter, it should handle the bio-load just as well in the ten-gallon tank. You can just keep using the nano filter and forget the new one until you need it later. Given your situation, without an increase in the tank's bio-load, I'm not sure a new sponge filter would ever have enough food to become fully colonized. I'd just keep using the old nano filter and set the new one aside for later use. Filter makers like to suggest filters based on tank size, but bio-load matters more than tank size. You're keeping your bio-load the same, so you can just keep using the old filter. It'll take up less space and is already working well.

[JettsPapa]

@gardenman makes a very good point.  If the single betta is all that will be in the tank there's really no need to use the larger filter.

[Scotts Guppy Haven]

What I have done for a lot of years with success when replacing an old sponge filter with a new one is fill a 5 gallon bucket half way with tank water and take the old sponge and squeeze it out really well in the bucket. Take the new sponge on submerse it into the bucket and squeeze it really well quite a few times to suck in the stuff that's floating in the bucket to help establish the new sponge. Take it out of the bucket and place it in your tank and hook it up, you should be fine especially with only one fish in the tank.

[Greggle]

i just now realize i only mentioned the betta. first off, thank you, everyone, for being so polite and helpful for what is, i'm sure, a newbie level inquiry. in the 10 gallon, for about 5 weeks. i have Chorizo, 2 nerites and a small group of espei rasboras. i remember putting IN 2 stone catfish (tiny little guys) but i have only seen them a very small handful of times since then. my parameters are good and the nano sponge was doing the job, i just wanted to relocate it to a smaller tank and give this one the better suited size. i've been away from the hobby for close to 20 years, and everything i used to know is no longer what would be best and i'm trying to learn the newest, most fish-friendly techniques. btw, this low tech sponge filter stuff is amazing.

 

Edited June 24, 2022 by Greggle