Hello; If you get a new filter, you may be able to run both at the same time for a while to give the bb (beneficial bacteria) time to colonize the media in the new filter. Some suggest hanging some of the old filter material in a mesh bag in the tank when changing to a new filter. The bb will be on many surfaces in the tank. I think that bb tends to colonize the filter media, perhaps in greater numbers than other spots, is because the flow of the water carries organic material into the media where it decays. Some have posted about doing a fishless cycle by throwing a raw shrimp into a new tank and allowing it to rot to produce the ammonia to feed the bb. I have not tried this method as it seems likely to smell. The bb need some ammonia to feed on, from fish or some other source. My take on it is that the bb will be on a lot of surfaces in an established tank, but only in a population that can be feed by the respiration byproducts of the fish, snails, plants, decaying organic material and such.