General Care Discussion :: Just added a Fluval 406 to my set up

[paul939]

Hey guys, quick question:

I recently purchased and added a Fluval 406 to my 55gal tank. I've had a HOB Marineland filter with the "rotating media things" in the front. How long should I run both filters simultaneously in order to establish the media in my canister? I set up the media as described in the media set up thread, but would like to move the HOB back to my 20L tank. What do you think?

Edit: The HOB has been running for about 3 months and is established as far as I can tell.

[steve]

Do you have any bio media? I'd just move it now, I don't think waiting will make much of a difference.

[ljapa]

If you've got an established 55 gallon with the HOB, you have nitrifying bacteria on all the internal surfaces of the tank. If you pull the HOB now, you may have a mini cycle, but it won't be like a new tank.

However, the best thing you can do is if the HOB has any removable media, even filter floss or carbon, add some of that to the bottom chamber of the 406. The water flow in the 406 is down the long side sponges and then up through the baskets. Putting something that already has tons of bacteria in the bottom basket will speed the seeding of the filter.

[paul939]