Seeding filter

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convict360

convict360

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Dec 9, 2013
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Scotland
Would appreciate opinions please, on seeding a new filter in an established tank.

Current filter is a standard hob, I've stuck in an internal right next to it with the intention of running that alone and removing the HOB.

Both have been running concurrently for a week, I would usually run alongside for 2 weeks, but given the proximity of the filters, and the only occupant of the 52 gallon being a juvenile GT, do you think the internal would be sufficiently seeded?
 
If you feel uncomfortable with that, then snip off a small piece of the media from the HOB and place it directly inside the internal.

(Obviously if your HOB filter media is composed of individual units, you can simply grab some of those as well and place them in the internal.)

I think I would do one or the other, then not worry as long as you plan to keep just the one fish in the tank for a while (6-8 weeks.) However, if you plan to add more fish much sooner, I'd probably not swap out the HOB until the whole group has been housed for a while.
 
To seed a new system, I always clip a piece of filter media. I also have a few stones in every tank that I shuffle around if I need to seed a cycle. It's never failed me.

I clip a piece of filter media and just let it float around loose in the tank for a few weeks. All that gross looking (but not foul smelling, if your tank is properly cycled) gray sludgy stuff that comes out of the filter sponge is organic matter, full of beneficial bacteria. The tank may look gross for a while as the organic matter settles to the bottom, but within a few days it generally takes up residence inside the filter. After a week or two, it's safe to take all the gray material out of the tank, because the cycle will be seeded.
 
Thanks for the advice all, good shout on clipping it; the hob has baskets inside, so I reckon I'll just sit them in the tank next to the internal for the next week :)
 
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