Stingray tank question

[bcfd144]

Well as most of you know, I have several tanks for my rays.
I decided to switch my filters over to all Fx5's
I got the first one in today. Figured Id start doing my swaps on the 150's first, then do the 250's. So got my first Fx5 in the mail a few days ago. On one of my 150g tanks, I have two fluval 405 on it.. So I took one of the 405's off and put the Fx5 in its place. Still have the other 405's up and running.. My question is, how long will it take the new Fx5 to esp to the tank. I have another Fx5 on order, but will not put on the tank till I know the first Fx5 is est.
150g tank..
est 405 on it
new Fx5 (one in question) with Bio-max in bottom, bio-ball and ammonia block in middle tray and pre-filter and carbon in top tray..

I know I might get answers also in setup and filtration, but Id rather ask ray owners who know ray tanks.. Esp since retics are in this tank.

days, weeks, months??

 

[scott s]

it takes around a month for a tank to cycle. so I wouldnt do anything for at least a month. maybe longer depending on the bio load.

 

[fishman646]

I do this all the time and never really experience a cycle! keep up on water changes and feed alot to get the BB going! Biological bataria multiplies FAST and with there being one filter that is established you barley harm the system.

 

[Juxtaroberto]

I would say three weeks, which is about the same time it takes for a new tank to cycle if you seed. You just have to wait for the bacteria to colonize the new filter (since it takes nitrifying bacteria about 24-48 hours to double their population, it takes a while).

 

[md1017]

Well as most of you know, I have several tanks for my rays.
I decided to switch my filters over to all Fx5's
I got the first one in today. Figured Id start doing my swaps on the 150's first, then do the 250's. So got my first Fx5 in the mail a few days ago. On one of my 150g tanks, I have two fluval 405 on it.. So I took one of the 405's off and put the Fx5 in its place. Still have the other 405's up and running.. My question is, how long will it take the new Fx5 to esp to the tank. I have another Fx5 on order, but will not put on the tank till I know the first Fx5 is est.
150g tank..
est 405 on it
new Fx5 (one in question) with Bio-max in bottom, bio-ball and ammonia block in middle tray and pre-filter and carbon in top tray..

I know I might get answers also in setup and filtration, but Id rather ask ray owners who know ray tanks.. Esp since retics are in this tank.

days, weeks, months??

I assume that your tanks, all of them, were established. That means you just need to move the bio media (ceramic rings or substrat pro etc) from your old filters into your new fx5. That would establish the fx5 almost instantly. If your previous filter is smaller then you can add more biomedia into the fx5.

Adding bacteria booster is also a plus and dont worry about it too much as long as you dont do anything dramatic with the tanks (like moving out the substrat for example)you will be ok.

If your tanks got sand substrat, the anaerobic bacteria will still be there. Check water perimeter every day for at least 2 weeks to make sure.

Good choice on the filter. Fx5 is one of my favourite. It will become a bit noisy in few months
Hope this helps. Regards

PS: May I suggest not to use bio ball in canister filter. Bio ball is good in trickle wet/dry system. It is less effective in canister system. If I were you, I would grab that eheim substrat pro and jam the fx5 with those only...also forget about carbon, it doesnt do much because once your tank is established the work of the carbon is done. It's only good in absorbing poison not much of ammonia absorber. If you want ammonia absorber, you better use zeolit, even that I find it useless because once your tank is established it will be 0/0/0 just watch the feeding. I think Perfect biological filtration is the key in succesful fishkeeping just like nature.

Fluval ceramic ring (bio max ) is also very good. But eheim substrat pro is the king. You jam all of your media basket with substrat pro, have it running for 2 weeks side by side with your established 405 then you can decide to retire the 405 or have it running side by side. I would use it side by side if I were you. Never retire a filter unless the pump is broken and cost a fortune to fix, I have 4 filter running in my 6ftx2ftx2ft tank.

 

[md1017]

oh btw, You can and better ask other opinions at filtration subforum but I think filtration system for rays is nothing different than filtration principle in general. You need to have a good filtration system for any fish. The more filter in your tank the better. More info and knowledge are better.

I don't like chemical filtration. All of my tanks have biological filtration. (mechanical filtration is provided by jap mats or in your case fx5 got huge amount of sponges)

 

[md1017]

I do this all the time and never really experience a cycle! keep up on water changes and feed alot to get the BB going! Biological bataria multiplies FAST and with there being one filter that is established you barley harm the system.

What do you mean you never experience a cycle? Do you mean your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate are always bit high?

Ok here's my own experience...

I used to struggle with this problem but I found a way. The key is to be a bit cruel to your pet fish and starve them.

Starve your fish for a week and do 20% water change every day for a week.

Do not worry to use carbon or zeolit to keep amonia low, it's only short term. Please remember when you have water problem you have to tackle the root of the problem not just temporary.

Use all bio media in the filter, get the best bio media you can buy. The bacteria that eats away the ammonia and nitrit is the key to crystal clear water. Not zeolit not carbon.

Get a second filter and run it side by side. Use bacteria booster if you want too. (i know some people dont like bacteria booster)

I know having a substrat in your tank is a matter of choice but for me I find it more beneficial because the substrat can be home for anaerobic bacteria (those who dont need air) because most of aerobic bacteria lives on your ceramic rings. It's very hard to keep tank with no substrat, i tried, nitrit level is always bit high.

To cure this problem I use plants.

This is my own experience, if anyone got different opinion, please share. Thank you.

 

[bcfd144]

I assume that your tanks, all of them, were established. That means you just need to move the bio media (ceramic rings or substrat pro etc) from your old filters into your new fx5. That would establish the fx5 almost instantly. If your previous filter is smaller then you can add more biomedia into the fx5.

Adding bacteria booster is also a plus and dont worry about it too much as long as you dont do anything dramatic with the tanks (like moving out the substrat for example)you will be ok.

If your tanks got sand substrat, the anaerobic bacteria will still be there. Check water perimeter every day for at least 2 weeks to make sure.

Good choice on the filter. Fx5 is one of my favourite. It will become a bit noisy in few months
Hope this helps. Regards

PS: May I suggest not to use bio ball in canister filter. Bio ball is good in trickle wet/dry system. It is less effective in canister system. If I were you, I would grab that eheim substrat pro and jam the fx5 with those only...also forget about carbon, it doesnt do much because once your tank is established the work of the carbon is done. It's only good in absorbing poison not much of ammonia absorber. If you want ammonia absorber, you better use zeolit, even that I find it useless because once your tank is established it will be 0/0/0 just watch the feeding. I think Perfect biological filtration is the key in succesful fishkeeping just like nature.

Fluval ceramic ring (bio max ) is also very good. But eheim substrat pro is the king. You jam all of your media basket with substrat pro, have it running for 2 weeks side by side with your established 405 then you can decide to retire the 405 or have it running side by side. I would use it side by side if I were you. Never retire a filter unless the pump is broken and cost a fortune to fix, I have 4 filter running in my 6ftx2ftx2ft tank.

well didnt think about using the media out of the 405 and putting it into the new Fx5. Think it was because I had planned to use the 405 on a different tank. Just getting all my large tanks on Fx5's..
I left one of the 405's on the 150g tank so that there was still an est filter on the tank while the Fx5 got est. I have another Fx5 comming, should be here in a few days, but I will not be putting it on the tank till I know for sure the first Fx5 is est. Prob will jut start working on other tanks doing the same thing..
Just wanted to see how long a Fx5 filter will take to est to a tank when that tank already had a filter est running on it at the same time..
Asked also under Filtration and setup, but not getting much info and I wanted to ask my stingray mates what they thought..

 

[md1017]

well didnt think about using the media out of the 405 and putting it into the new Fx5. Think it was because I had planned to use the 405 on a different tank. Just getting all my large tanks on Fx5's..
I left one of the 405's on the 150g tank so that there was still an est filter on the tank while the Fx5 got est. I have another Fx5 comming, should be here in a few days, but I will not be putting it on the tank till I know for sure the first Fx5 is est. Prob will jut start working on other tanks doing the same thing..
Just wanted to see how long a Fx5 filter will take to est to a tank when that tank already had a filter est running on it at the same time..
Asked also under Filtration and setup, but not getting much info and I wanted to ask my stingray mates what they thought..

Ahh...

I think there is a post about this in filtration subforum. I think it's titled, fx5 plus eheim pro 3e. You can have a look there. They were comparing the 2 products and they measure the time both filters take to cycle a tank. I think the eheim pro 3e won.

But the question now is why would you wanna do that? Why not use the media in your 405 and make the fx5 usable almost immediately? Unless you wanna put a new media in your fx5 and leave the 405 running together I don't think you can achieve anything by just testing how long would it take to cycle. You can do so however, in a complete new empty tank. Just add 2-3 gold fish in this tank to kick start the bacteria colony and you can run your fx5 in this tank and see how long would it take to cycle the tank in question.

If you have an established tank with an established media (colonized with bacteria), this is a huge advantage in switching filter as you don't need to wait for the new filter to do its job in your established tank.

but it's all up to you. It's fun to play around but remember don't stress the fish, please make sure your 405 is still running with the current media otherwise your rays will die.

cheers

 

[johno27]

I would think 2-3 weeks should be plenty of time. You also give yourself some wiggle room by using the ammo block and activated carbon which is chemical filtration and doesn't need to seed with bacteria.

I am a bio media whore but to each his own