How Long ??

[lonerider]

My new fluval 304 arrived today from Big Al's. cost me $80.94 with shipping
and only took 3 days !! It's powerful,quiet and i had it up and running in
under 1/2 hr. This is replacing my penquin330 in my 55 gal. tank which i
intend to use in a smaller tank. How long should i run the 304 before i
remove the penguin330 ? 1 month,2months ? The penguin got a bunch of sq.
inch's of bacteria on those 2 bio-wheels i'll be taking out of there !! The
fluval has a bucket of porous ceramic rings but it will take some time to
get the bacteria built up on them. What is a safe guesstimate of time to get
an esablished colony of bacteria ??
Thanks,
lonerider

[Dinky]

"lonerider" > wrote in message
...
> My new fluval 304 arrived today from Big Al's. cost me $80.94 with
shipping
> and only took 3 days !! It's powerful,quiet and i had it up and running in
> under 1/2 hr. This is replacing my penquin330 in my 55 gal. tank which i
> intend to use in a smaller tank. How long should i run the 304 before i
> remove the penguin330 ? 1 month,2months ? The penguin got a bunch of sq.
> inch's of bacteria on those 2 bio-wheels i'll be taking out of there !!
The
> fluval has a bucket of porous ceramic rings but it will take some time to
> get the bacteria built up on them. What is a safe guesstimate of time to
get
> an esablished colony of bacteria ??
> Thanks,
> lonerider
>
>

Unless you have plans for the penguin, why not leave it on. A PF\canister
combo is IMO the ultimate in aquarium filtration! Otherwise, aquarium
bacteria can double their population in around 24 hours iirc, so a week or
less would likely be sufficient, depending on your bio-load.


--

billy
--
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[Dan J. S.]

lonerider wrote:
> My new fluval 304 arrived today from Big Al's. cost me $80.94 with
> shipping and only took 3 days !! It's powerful,quiet and i had it up
> and running in under 1/2 hr. This is replacing my penquin330 in my 55
> gal. tank which i intend to use in a smaller tank. How long should i
> run the 304 before i remove the penguin330 ? 1 month,2months ? The
> penguin got a bunch of sq. inch's of bacteria on those 2 bio-wheels
> i'll be taking out of there !! The fluval has a bucket of porous
> ceramic rings but it will take some time to get the bacteria built up
> on them. What is a safe guesstimate of time to get an esablished
> colony of bacteria ??
> Thanks,
> lonerider

Do a test. Turn off the 304 (to simulate eletrical outage) and see if it
leaks. Fluvals tend to leak under pressure. If it doesn't leak, chances are
you have a good one. I would still suggest doing the test once a month or
so.

[NetMax]

"lonerider" > wrote in message
...
> My new fluval 304 arrived today from Big Al's. cost me $80.94 with
shipping
> and only took 3 days !! It's powerful,quiet and i had it up and running
in
> under 1/2 hr. This is replacing my penquin330 in my 55 gal. tank which
i
> intend to use in a smaller tank. How long should i run the 304 before i
> remove the penguin330 ? 1 month,2months ? The penguin got a bunch of
sq.
> inch's of bacteria on those 2 bio-wheels i'll be taking out of there !!
The
> fluval has a bucket of porous ceramic rings but it will take some time
to
> get the bacteria built up on them. What is a safe guesstimate of time
to get
> an esablished colony of bacteria ??
> Thanks,
> lonerider

If that's cdn $, then that's a great price! The best I see them is $100
cdn (on sale), and normally $130+.

Normally I'd take the sponge off the powerfilter and just squeeze it into
the Fluval, or stuff the sponge in one of the filter compartments. That
doesn't work as well when transitioning from a bio-wheel filter. I think
I'd already mentioned running both, but if I recall correctly, you were
streamlining your interior appearance.

In a lightly loaded tank, I'd run them together for 2 weeks, then stuff
as much of the old sponge in the Fluval, and unplug the 330 (and feed
lightly for several days). If you register a mini-cycle, you can always
plug the 330 in just to rotate the bio-wheels again. In a heavily
stocked tank, I'd probably do the same thing, but watching my water
parameters more carefully.

The porous ceramic rings are actually designed to hold more anaerobic
bacteria, than aerobic nitrifying bacteria. These will reduce your NO3
levels, but it takes a long time to get established (months) and isn't so
critical.

My latest toy is an Emperor 400 ($60 bucks!). I guess I'll have to go
buy a tank for it next ;~)

NetMax

[lonerider]

"NetMax" > wrote in message
. ..
>
> "lonerider" > wrote in message
> ...
> > My new fluval 304 arrived today from Big Al's. cost me $80.94 with
> shipping
> > and only took 3 days !! It's powerful,quiet and i had it up and running
> in
> > under 1/2 hr. This is replacing my penquin330 in my 55 gal. tank which
> i
> > intend to use in a smaller tank. How long should i run the 304 before i
> > remove the penguin330 ? 1 month,2months ? The penguin got a bunch of
> sq.
> > inch's of bacteria on those 2 bio-wheels i'll be taking out of there !!
> The
> > fluval has a bucket of porous ceramic rings but it will take some time
> to
> > get the bacteria built up on them. What is a safe guesstimate of time
> to get
> > an esablished colony of bacteria ??
> > Thanks,
> > lonerider
>
> If that's cdn $, then that's a great price! The best I see them is $100
> cdn (on sale), and normally $130+.
>
> Normally I'd take the sponge off the powerfilter and just squeeze it into
> the Fluval, or stuff the sponge in one of the filter compartments. That
> doesn't work as well when transitioning from a bio-wheel filter. I think
> I'd already mentioned running both, but if I recall correctly, you were
> streamlining your interior appearance.
>
> In a lightly loaded tank, I'd run them together for 2 weeks, then stuff
> as much of the old sponge in the Fluval, and unplug the 330 (and feed
> lightly for several days). If you register a mini-cycle, you can always
> plug the 330 in just to rotate the bio-wheels again. In a heavily
> stocked tank, I'd probably do the same thing, but watching my water
> parameters more carefully.
>
> The porous ceramic rings are actually designed to hold more anaerobic
> bacteria, than aerobic nitrifying bacteria. These will reduce your NO3
> levels, but it takes a long time to get established (months) and isn't so
> critical.
>
> My latest toy is an Emperor 400 ($60 bucks!). I guess I'll have to go
> buy a tank for it next ;~)
>
> NetMax
>
Hi NetMax,
That was U.S. funds, L.F.S. around here are $136 U.S. for them. You
mentioned the 404, the 304 really has all the plants waving around from one
end of the tank to the other. Maybe in time when the filter media is a bit
more clogged it will calm down. The flow is adjustable but i like it like
this. The 404 would have been too much and the power would have wasted by
turning it down at the adjustment. The tank is lightly loaded about 20 fish
including 5 neons. Lots of plants too. Kinda hard to squeeze out the the
filter cartridge on the penguin, the filter media is bonded to a plastic
frame. I belive the emperor uses water pressure not just the over flo coming
out of the filter so it should be quieter than my penguin. The penquins have
a trickle soumd off the bio-wheel when the tank isn't completly full. I'll
give it 3 weeks and do some tests after the penguin gets shut off. If levels
rise i'll plug in the penguin and wait a bit longer. Now get off the
computer and go buy a tank for that emperor !!
Thanks,
lonerider