Replacing filter

I am planning on removing the built-in hood (lighting and wet/dry) for upgrades on my 40ga. however the porcelain bacteria holders will be removed along with the filter unit. Should I worry about my ammonia spiking up once I change out the filter? I was planning on getting a simple HOB filter with carbon just for clarity however my good bacteria will be removed....if I understand correctly. Am I stupid or does this make sense?

Thanks!!

~Newb

 

what your saying makes sense
why dont you set the new filter up and let that run for a month or so then remove the old filter?
i think what is most important is how old is the tank and how much live rock is there?

 

Well the new filter is just really going to be mechanical for carbon so would that hold bacteria??

It's about 6 months old with say 40 or 50lbs of LR.

 

i would say since your tank is still fairly new if you remove the old filter you will definalty see some sort of chemistry change! not sure if it's gonna be a good one or a bad one.
if your tank is mature enough i dont think you will have a problem
yes the new filter will hold benificial bacteria thats why i said before add then new one for a month or so then remove the old one

 

K3rack

a lot depends on other factors
how much rock is in the tank
was it live rock or base rock
how much water movement do you have
whats your current live stock?

as you suspect removing your biological filer media could cause a spike in ammonia/ nitrites etc , if you dont have bacteria colonising other areas

bacteria does multiply quickly once established but a high bio load and or sensitive species may not do well during that period where your main biological filtration moves from the wet dry to the rockwork

if it where mine this is what I would do

I would add the HOB and initially fill it with the ceramic from your current wet and dry
this means you keep your biological capacity and should avoid any spikes

then later I would remove one quarter over 4 weeks as this will cause bacteria to increase in other area to compensate

after week 4 your HOB will be empty and you can then use carbon there

Steve

 

About 40-50 lbs of LR, no base.

Decent water movement, Kor1 and filter powerhead on each side.

Goby, nig.trigger, 2 cleaner shrimp, small CUC, 2 clown and leopard wrasse

That seems like a great idea! I cannot keep both the wet/dry and the HOB filter at once because of the design and hood etc. So what you're saying is take as much of the porcelain media from the wet/dry and put in my HOB, slowly remove it over the course of a month or so and monitor ammonia right? I've been so good with my water chemistry I don't want to pull genocide on my tank