filter upgrade?..

[ALAINA]

can a filter upgrade screw up my tanks cycle? mine was super old and i donated it to my friend.. now my tank is cloudy white? is it the new filter?

 

[aclockworkorange]

Did you keep any of the old filter media? If you used brand new media yes it will definitely screw up your cycle. The majority of your beneficial bacteria resides in filter media.

 

[Chizzle]

you should have kept your old filter running until the new filter's bio media was seeded.

 

[ALAINA]

oh crap.. ok i have an old one i can use thanks

 

[aclockworkorange]

The "old" one has to be from a tank with fish in it currently in use... You can't use old dry filter media. Do you have any other tanks right now?

 

[surfpalmsncycads]

meanwhile test your water and do water changes. your gonna need to establish BB in your new filter asap.

 

[ALAINA]

yeah i have an 80 gal that had an extra filter in it for this very reason.. im just an airhead sometimes.. there are snails in the tank that is white cloudy so how should i handle water changes? 20% every other day? its ashame cuz this tank was perfectly established grrr

 

[ALAINA]

well the water cleared up alot but the snails r being lazy so idk

 

[KaiserSousay]

The majority of your beneficial bacteria resides in filter media.

Just because this is repeated, often does not make it so.
No way can a statement like that be backed up by anything.
Most would be surprised at the amount of bacteria that is not in any filter media.
If you said, in my tank, before the statement, I wouldn`t have any problem with that at all.

OP,
Milky, cloudy tanks are a bacterial bloom.
In your case it was pulling the filter.
Whatever amount of bacteria that was in the old filter, when it was removed you got an explosion of new bacteria because there was more food than critters to eat it.
The tank should settle down as the bacterial colony readjusts.

 

[ALAINA]

thanks.. ill just be patient and wait a few days thanx a bunch