I have some questions about my AC30 filter.

[CrunchyLeaf]

The tank that I have is a 10 gallon that had a TopFin 10 HOB filter. I went to the store and bought an AC 30 hob filter last month. For the last 2 weeks I have been running both filters together on the tank so that I could seed the AC30 with good bacteria.

How long should I leave them running together? Has it been long enough or should I leave it for a couple more weeks?

Also when I do water changes on my tank I turn the filters off. When I turn off the AC filter, the compartment where the media is drains of water so it's dry. Will that kill of the beneficial bacteria? The Topfin filter holds the water so the media is constantly wet.

 

[petluvr]

If you are worried just move a small amount of the media from the Topfin to the bottom of the AC. The two together is a lot of filter for a ten, as long as the media doesn't dry out totally during the change it will be okay.

 

[dudley]

The AC filters tend to do that once the inlet strainer is no longer under water. You can always pour water into the media compartment after it drains out since you will have to prime the filter with water before plugging it back in again anyway. I usually rinse my AC sponge out first, put it back in the filter then add the tank water to refill the filter.