Upgrading from HOB to Canister, bacteria retention?

[agueybana81]

Hi guys. I'm going to be upgrading the weekend from an hob filter to a canister. I would like to know what is the recommended way to do this, since I know the canister will take some time to grow bacteria.

At first I thought about running both filters for like a month to allow bacteria to grow in the canister. I also thought about placing the bio media in the canister, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea. Any suggestions?


*Upgrading from an AquaClear 50 to a Fluval 207.

 

[Mrtakeoff53]

If you have any live rock or sand, it should take care of it. To be safe, maybe run both for a week and then make the swap fully after that.

 

[agueybana81]

If you have any live rock or sand, it should take care of it. To be safe, maybe run both for a week and then make the swap fully after that.

Dry rock with 2" of live sand, so I guess it's probably better to run both.

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

Both can be done, but running both filters for a week or two is probably your best bet!

 

[DeniableArc]

Hi guys. I'm going to be upgrading the weekend from an hob filter to a canister. I would like to know what is the recommended way to do this, since I know the canister will take some time to grow bacteria.

At first I thought about running both filters for like a month to allow bacteria to grow in the canister. I also thought about placing the bio media in the canister, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea. Any suggestions?


*Upgrading from an AquaClear 50 to a Fluval 207.

I would transfer media and sponge from hob to canister along with new media to fill the rest up.

 

[brandon429]

nice all above about rocks and sand.

Removing remote deep sand bed

I setup a removable deep sand bed in my sump 9 months ago but now I’d like to remove it to give me more room in the sump. What do you think the impact to tank chemistry might be and how to mitigate any negatives?

www.reef2reef.com

that thread has implications here. it shows that when rocks and sand are in the display, we don't need any filters, bioballs, surface area beyond the rocks actually...per the sand removal thread we can even instantly do without the sandbed in anyone's reef tank here. only the rocks are required for nitrification in reefing.


that means however you change the filters it doesnt matter, if they go back running empty vs full of media, doesn't matter. only the rocks matter.


in any reef on this board with rocks in the display we can remove the sandbed, the canister, any remote dsb all at once and the rocks instantly carry the waste at the same nh3 constants before the removal. we literally don't need the extra surface area, so you're free to design knowing this. run zero canisters, run six, same nh3 consistency when measuring from digital testers.

where issues go wrong in the removal process is when stores of unoxidized waste are upwelled into the system, such as from deep in a sandbed. canister filters that run continually aren't all that risky, its a high oxygen environment in the canister.

 

[agueybana81]

Thanks for all the feedback. This definitely helps. Now the search for media begins. I host don't think the stock media will suffice. It's practically all foam, with one bio tray and one carbon. Was thinking of using something like PhosGuard, Purigen (or gfo if i f local) along with the carbon. I also think it would benefit with better bio, but I'm not sure yet. I'm still quite new to the hobby.

 

[brandon429]

Agreed thats the use for media, for nitrate or Phosphate control. But for controlling ammonia rocks have it handled. That’s how we removed the massive surface area above instantly with no harm