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Switching from HOB to sponge filter


Fauxrenier
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Hi all, I am looking for advice on switching filters. More like how to not mess up the bacteria and cycle I just got going.

TL;DR: Should I take the fine sponge off of the HOB intake and hopefully it would fit the new sponge filter and continue using that while removing the HOB filter? Or if the old sponge doesn't fit, should I just let the new sponge filter sit in the tank and for how long before removing the HOB?

Currently running a newly cycled 7 gallon rimless aquarium. Planted, scaped, and newly stocked with a nerite and 6 cherry shrimp ( + one shrimplet that slipped into net at LFS as they were bagged up). I am currently using a Tetra Whisper pf10 with coarse sponge in the filter and a finer one on the intake. I also have an air stone running. I would like to consolidate them into a sponge filter (which I just ordered from the shop here) as the top that came with the aquarium does not quite fit as it should with the HOB. I've been putting up with the misalignment since I got the filter a while back but my nerite is getting adventurous and I'm realizing I need that top fitting properly.

I was thinking I could take the fine sponge off the intake and hopefully it would fit the new sponge filter and continue using that while removing the HOB filter. If the old sponge doesn't fit, should I just let the new filter sit in the tank and for how long? Still new to a lot of this and just worried that might crash the cycle if I remove half the sponge media with the old filter. I do have dragon stone, driftwood, mosses and sand substrate (in the front) so there should be still a lot of surface area. 

Any thoughts?

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The great news is that much of your bacteria is found inside your aquarium on the substrate and decorations. What I have done in the past is run both for awhile. It worked perfectly. 
 

However, recently I upsized my prefilter on my canister’s intake. Since I was replacing a very old (smaller) prefilter I wanted to seed the new filter a little. So I took the old prefilter and squeezed the junk out of it next to the new prefilter. Because most of the stuff was small I doubt much of it was caught by the coarse prefilter I doubt it caught much of it. 

Edited by Mitch Norton
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