MT79 said:
Since you have a good amount of LR the Bio-wheel will just cause nitrate problems.
I have to respectfully disagree with that general assumption. IME any filter including canisters, HOB units, & even sumps can become nitrate factories with improper cleanings.
Bio-Wheels do just what they are designed to do and that is to create bacteria to complete the nitrogen cycle just as any wet/dry filter would. Bacteria is created whether you use fresh, brackish, or saltwater and the amount of bacteria is in direct proportion to the bio-load in the tank.
Most of the Bio-Wheels receive the water
after it’s gone through a basic filter/GAC filtration unit so essentially it never becomes clogged. The only exception to this is if you hook the Bio-Wheel up directly to a power head in which you should have a pre-filter/sponge put on the ph to avoid clogging.
It is extremely efficient at taking the toxic nh3/no2 and converting it to the less toxic no3 due to the large surface area and it constantly being exposed to oxygen. It can only create no3 from the nh3/no2 present in the tank and
can not produce no3 on it’s own.
Any filtration unit can become clogged with improper maintenance and lead to excessive no3 due to the
non-removal of excess waste which leads to excessive nh3 levels.
After using the Bio-Wheel for over 10 years in FW, Brackish, & SW I’ve never experienced no3 above 10 ppm and routinely keep it at 0 ppm by diligently cleaning the unit (About every week or every other week) and by not overstocking/overfeeding my tanks. It’s easy to maintain/setup and is a great addition or alternative to SW tank owners who don’t want to use or fully depend on lr for bio-filtration.
Personally I use the
Magnum 350 Pro in addition to 90 lbs of lr in my 55 along with a 20 gal sump/10 gal refugium. I like the 350 pro because it sits below the tank and is easy to maintain
I also love being able to just transfer one of the two wheels to my 20 gal qt tank’s Magnum 250 for “instant” bio-filtration.
Jermz79, IMO I also trust Marineland products and think the
Marineland Penguin 200B Power Filter would be a great addition as long as you are diligent on keeping it clean and waste free.
With it only producing 200 gph If you don’t already use a ph I’d get one or two to aerate the tank and keep it flowing nicely.