I Hate to Ask Another One of These Questions

[Bderick67]

I am confused, so this is my take. 55g has an established fluval internal filter and a 3 week old penguin. You mentioned you also have another established tank running the same type filter, what is that filter, fluval or penguin?

Are you wanting to remove the fluval from 55g add start another tank or are you just trying to phase out the fluval from your 55g?

Do you have any other established peguin 350s running on any other tanks?

 

[pwmin]

Okay, sorry for the confusion. The fluval is an established filter and I need to put it in my 20 gallon that is empty. I am going to take 20 gallons from the 55 that the fluval is in along w/ the fluval to start the 20g. The penguin 350 is the 3-week-old filter and it is staying in the 55. I have another P350 on another 55 (it's established).

I could put one of the filter sponges from the fluval into the penguin, but IDK why I didn't think of this before: I could swap one of the bio-wheels and some of the AC foam from my other P350 and put it in the new P350 and it should be good to go, right?

I had one more thought. If I would take some of the filter foam from the established P350 and I make a sponge filter from it and put some water from the established tank I took it out of, would it be ready to go right away? Can I just cut a slit in the foam and stick a small airstone hooked up to an air line and pump? Would that work as a sponge filter correctly? I have never used a sponge filter before, so I'm not quite keen on them yet.

 

[Dr Joe]

Okay, sorry for the confusion. The fluval is an established filter and I need to put it in my 20 gallon that is empty. I am going to take 20 gallons from the 55 that the fluval is in along w/ the fluval to start the 20g. The penguin 350 is the 3-week-old filter and it is staying in the 55. I have another P350 on another 55 (it's established).

1) I could put one of the filter sponges from the fluval into the penguin, but IDK why I didn't think of this before: I could swap one of the bio-wheels and some of the AC foam from my other P350 and put it in the new P350 and it should be good to go, right?

2) I had one more thought. If I would take some of the filter foam from the established P350 and I make a sponge filter from it and put some water from the established tank I took it out of, would it be ready to go right away? Can I just cut a slit in the foam and stick a small airstone hooked up to an air line and pump? Would that work as a sponge filter correctly? I have never used a sponge filter before, so I'm not quite keen on them yet.

1) Yes

2) No, sponge filters need an air lift tube, and that little bit of foam would only support a guppy .

Sponge filters are a great thing, they're a mechanical filter, biological filter and an aerator all in one simple package. If youget one that you can replace the airstone in, replace it with a limewood airstone, it makes finer bubbles which creates more lift which moves more water which filters and aerates more water.

And they're only 2 for $10. http://cgi.ebay.com/LARGE-AQUARIUM-...ryZ46310QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

or

$13.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lustar-Hydro-Sp...ryZ46310QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Dr Joe

.

 

[Bderick67]

Paul, I would take the fluval out and put it in the 20g and add an ammonia source to keep the BB going(maybe keep that FH/trimac for another week). Take one biowheel from the established 350 and swap it with one biowheel from the new 350. I think you'll have no prblems with this, but always a good idea to watch params when making changes like this.

 

[pwmin]

1) Yes

2) No, sponge filters need an air lift tube, and that little bit of foam would only support a guppy .

Sponge filters are a great thing, they're a mechanical filter, biological filter and an aerator all in one simple package. If youget one that you can replace the airstone in, replace it with a limewood airstone, it makes finer bubbles which creates more lift which moves more water which filters and aerates more water.

And they're only 2 for $10. http://cgi.ebay.com/LARGE-AQUARIUM-...ryZ46310QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

or

$13.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lustar-Hydro-Sp...ryZ46310QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Dr Joe

.

OK, great. I saw that they had a lift tube but I wasn't sure what it was for. For some reason, none of my LFS have sponge filters that I've seen How tall does the tube need to be? The foam blocks I have are made for an AC110 filter...how big are the ones that come with sponge filters? edit: NM, those auctions had dimensions listed

 

[pwmin]

thanks, everyone for all the help.

Paul, I would take the fluval out and put it in the 20g and add an ammonia source to keep the BB going(maybe keep that FH/trimac for another week). Take one biowheel from the established 350 and swap it with one biowheel from the new 350. I think you'll have no prblems with this, but always a good idea to watch params when making changes like this.

I have other fish I can put in there till I get the aro, but if you are wanting to wait a week for the FH, I could do that. Otherwise, I will just put a different fish in there. I will check the water parameters in both tanks daily for a week or so to make sure the filters are doing their jobs.