new canister filter - how do i cycle it

[mystic.bertie]

i bought an xp4 to replace my fluval 205 and 304 so i would just have 1 filter to maintain, the xp4 is new so what would be the best way to introduce the new filter to get it mature enough to take over from my fluvals ?

is there anything i can add to the water to encourage the BB to grow quicker ?

thanks

 

[cichlid2006]

if its replacing the fluvals completely then you can add your bio media from the fluvals and fill the rest of the xp4's trays with whatever media goes in them and run it. that should be fine. or run one fluval alongside it for a week to be sure.
if your gonna put new media in it the you will need to run it alongside the fluvals to seed the filter and get it matured. run it alongside 2 fluvals for a week then run it alongside just one fluval for another week or 2 then run it on its own and it should be fine.

 

[mystic.bertie]

thanks for the advice, im going to connect everything up this evening so ill do as you suggest and keep my fluvals running while the new filter and new media is maturing, i will be selling my 2 fluvals so i will be selling them along with the media included.

 

[cichlid2006]

thanks for the advice, im going to connect everything up this evening so ill do as you suggest and keep my fluvals running while the new filter and new media is maturing, i will be selling my 2 fluvals so i will be selling them along with the media included.

you may be able to make more money if you sell the media separate from the filters. i dont know about where you are but mature media sells quite well here as most people cant wait to let their tanks mature naturally. just an idea to get you a few extra bucks.

 

[mystic.bertie]

you may be able to make more money if you sell the media separate from the filters. i dont know about where you are but mature media sells quite well here as most people cant wait to let their tanks mature naturally. just an idea to get you a few extra bucks.

THanks, ill look into that but here in the uk i cant say i have noticed people selling the mature media for a good price.

 

[mystic.bertie]

i have the xp4 up and running, its very quiet compared to my fluvals, however it had no bio media inside the box only sponges course, medium and fine. it had a bag of chem zorb too which is their carbon i thought i would use it for now to see how it goes, im using the spray bar but the flow aint terrific considering its meant to be 1500 lph

 

[cichlid2006]

the rated flow that is on a box is usually measured without media, known as optimum conditions. this rating is however incredibly useless to us fishkeepers. i think the good rule of thumb to follow is to take about 20-30% of the rated flow off to give actual flow with media but i could be wrong.
the flow should increase a little when you take some of the sponge out and replace it with ceramics if thats what your gonna do.
there is one manufacturer that actually states the working flow rate with media and everything but i cant remember who it is.

 

[crisper]

What made you decide to go with the rena instead of the fluvals.

 

[mystic.bertie]

the rated flow that is on a box is usually measured without media, known as optimum conditions. this rating is however incredibly useless to us fishkeepers. i think the good rule of thumb to follow is to take about 20-30% of the rated flow off to give actual flow with media but i could be wrong.
the flow should increase a little when you take some of the sponge out and replace it with ceramics if thats what your gonna do.
there is one manufacturer that actually states the working flow rate with media and everything but i cant remember who it is.

yeah i understand my fluval 304 was rated at 1000lph, i measured it and got 600lph (40% less) i upgraded the tubes to 22mm plastic pipe and i managed to achieve 820 lph with media.

although im keen for a higher flow rate im thinking along the lines of with a slower flow rate and the large amount of filter media possible it will produce better quality water whn running slower than having a higher flow rate.

it would be good to see if there is a chart displaying water quality with different flow rates thru and external filter.

 

[mystic.bertie]

What made you decide to go with the rena instead of the fluvals.

i suppose the to start with i wanted an fx5 but i could not fit that in my cabinet so i opted for the next filter with the highest flow rate and the xp4 is rated at 1500lph where the fluval 405 is 1300lph.

the older fluvals i had always suffered from noise from trapped air and a noisy morot prodicing a rattle, and i have found my 304 which is more modern still has tese problems.

i set up the xp4 and right away it was running very quietly, no trapped air and no noisy motor and build quality is good. also i have a lot of room for filter media