Over the weekend my HOB biowheel filter started making a racket. I went through a lot when it was new to get it to quiet down, and dont think I have it in me to go through it again.
So I am going to buy a new filter Aquaclear I think)
So my question, I know ideally I would run them both for awhile in terms of bacteria, but my hood wont allow that without cutting more holes. Would I be OK to take the biowheel itself out and float it in the tank for awhile while the new filter sets up bacteria? If so, how long would I float it. Tank is 10g with a lot of plants, and has been running for over a year. It runs really well, and hate to even mess with it but the noise is too much for me(It is where I sleep)

What kind of stocking do you have in the tank currently?

If you are lightly stocked, you may not even have to worry about it as there should be sufficient BB in the tank to hold. However, you should still at least squeeze out your old filter media a few times behind the new. This will help seed it.

How many fish are in your tank?

going by the inch of fish rule it is fully stocked, 10inches of fish

Ok then ... won't be as simple as just swapping it out.

With that ....

Set your new filter up and get it running. Take the old media out and place it in the new filter. Depending on what type of filters you have, it may just wind up being a simple swap. I'm not sure what the Aqueon cartridges look like for a 10g. I know the 20s are different.

If they aren't interchangable, squeeze the old media a couple of times behind the new. Then, what you can do it is place that directly behind the new cartridge.

That should do ya.